I say southwark - fortnightly bin collections

[James Barber]

Hi Peckhamham,

Ondine Road is in the pilot but is in South Camberwell ward and i only listed the East Dulwich ward streets involved.

Hi TheArtfulDogger,

Success criteria - if sufficient food waste is diverted from landfil ie. green wheelie bins to brown bins it will be cost neutral. Veolia the contractor will have delivered something they contractually had to deliver in 2014 at their own expense for no cost to themselves now. Southwark has a higher recycling rate. Residents get to help achieve a higher recycling rate now. Pilot areas can show the rest of the borough how brilliant at recycling they are.

Hi Smallfry,

I can assure you that your recycling gets er...recycled.

The new Integrated Waste Management Facility on the Old Kent Road opens in 2011 and will have a visitor centre so you can go and see/find out exactly where all the waste stream go. It was orignally planned ot open this year but when Ken Livingstone was Mayor of London who tried to take over all London's waste which delayed everything until the then government decided against that idea. 18 months lost at the time 6 months recycled. Until you can visit the new waste centre please keep the faith that it is recycled.

[amyw]

hello. if you are worried about food getting smelly and you have a front garden then you could consider a compost bin. once you have them up and running there isn't a problem with bugs - you get fruit flies outside the bin when you open it, and obviously worms etc inside, but i dont really notice it now. its definitely less smelly than leaving stuff in a green bin. and the lid keeps smells in.

we have really noticed our rubbish has cut down - we put about 1 supermarket shopping bag out a week (family of two.) and we need to empty the compost maybe once a year.

we have a small bin that sits on the window sill and you just fill it up and empty it when needed. honestly very easy.

[charliecharlie]

Our street is in the pilot scheme but we (our street) is a bit of an oddity. We only have minute front gardens and the houses are very small (more or less one up one down). We do not have any back or side gardens. There is no space in the front to each have a green wheelie, let alone a brown one too. It is a great idea to collect food waste, but now we are overrun with hideous plastic... I do not want at small brown bin or the brown caddy in my garden or in the house.. as they are really UGLEY and I have nowhere to tuck them out of sight

I will end up with

? one bin/bag/blue box for mixed paper, glass, metal etc,

? one bin/bag for non recyclable stuff,

? one brown bag for garden waste and

? one bin/bag for kitchen waste

where on earth am I supposed to put them all...

can I put my kitchen waste (in one of the bags they have given us) into the big brown garden waste paper bags when I have garden waste, and just put the kitchen waste bag out on the morning they collect on the weeks I have no garden waste?

blimey... it seems to be getting so complicated that you have to completely rethink/redesign your house/front garden to accommodate all the bins/bags/boxes in a way that does not make you place look like a plastic junk yard!

I thought we were supposed to be using less plastic, not more...

http://www.ozville.org/blog/uploaded_images/waterbottles-742144.jpg

[Dorothy]

"resorting to unecessary and uncalled for name calling"

?

[James Barber]

Hi CharlieCharlie,

You can appeal to not take part in the Pilot. Call 020 7525 2000 and if you have problems email me for help.

OR could you share bins with neighbours?

Your description of 1 up 1 down implies houses that probably aren't generating enough waste to warrant a green bins, brown, etc each. Just a thought. If you can take part in the pilot that woudl be great.

[ClareC]

Dorothy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> To everyone worried about nappies:

>

> Shake the poo into the loo and flush it away, you

> mingers. Perhaps the fortnightly bin collection

> will encourage more people to do this. I was

> horrified, when my children were in happies, at

> how few of my fellow disposable-using Mum friends

> could be bothered to do this and were quite happy

> to leave a weeks worth of child poo festering in

> their wheelies.

You wrote the above following a number of people raising valid concern's about nappies.

[mrsw]

Dorothy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> "resorting to unecessary and uncalled for name

> calling"

>

> ?

To be honest I think ClareC has a point. I was beginning to regret raising the nappy issue. I love coming onto the forum and getting a bit of relief from an otherwise hectic day. I thought I had raised a fair point and it would be nice to have some measured debate. To be honest I thought the tone of your posts could have been a little less confrontational. Us mums need to be supporting each other.

[The Nappy Lady]

Those worried about nappy smells could try washable cloth nappies - it solves the problem very easily, and poo (yes even the runny newborn stuff) really can be flushed down the loo.

Re the comment about garden waste & food going to landfill (which is wrong anyway I know)....to correct a general misconception, landfill wastle is not managed in order for it to degrade - it it were there would be a risk of methane explosion. Solid waste stays there forever, liquid waste drains away, when each 'cell' is full it is covered over. So nappies in landfill are there forever, even the ones that claim to be Eco friendly. Of course Southwark do incinerate most of the waste from the green bins at the SELCHIP plant in Deptford now which is better, but we all still need to do what we can.

When comparing us to America, do bear in mind they have an awful lot more land mass than us - the whole reason we are having to find new ways to manage our waste is because we don't have the space to keep creating and filling up new landfill sites.

I am really pleased to be included in this trial. As a family of 4 our green bin is rarely more than one third full even now, and I look forward to seeing even less in there now the food waste can go into the brown bin.

The disposal instructions seem fairly clear to me.

[Dorothy]

Ok, I apologise for saying "you mingers". You have clearly taken me literally and I suppose I can't blame you as you do not know me and my sense of humour and these are words on a screen and you couldn't see the expression on my face and so on etc.

However, if it doesn't upset you too much, I feel I must say that I do not agree that just because I am a mum I need to be supporting you to not flush poo down the toilet where it belongs.

I am perfectly happy about the rubbish and recycling collection changes. Like many others on this thread, we are a family of four and am quite certain that we can manage with one green bin collection per fortnight.

[woofmarkthedog]

After initial resistance..

It has worked in other areas , though the waste food bin has proved a bit of a challenge for some..

"Cor, did I nearly eat that?"

W**F

[mrsw]

Dorothy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Ok, I apologise for saying "you mingers". You have

> clearly taken me literally and I suppose I can't

> blame you as you do not know me and my sense of

> humour and these are words on a screen and you

> couldn't see the expression on my face and so on

> etc.

>

> However, if it doesn't upset you too much, I feel

> I must say that I do not agree that just because I

> am a mum I need to be supporting you to not flush

> poo down the toilet where it belongs.

>

> I am perfectly happy about the rubbish and

> recycling collection changes. Like many others on

> this thread, we are a family of four and am quite

> certain that we can manage with one green bin

> collection per fortnight.

Apology accepted (-; I meant generally supporting each other not necessarily that we have to all agree (-; In fact I agree with you about scraping poo but I don't think it's always possible.

Anyway even though I am annoyed by these changes and the hassle I can see it is a good idea and it is forcing me to get no 1 out of nappies and think about reverting to washables for no 2!

[charliecharlie]

overall, the principle is spot on... I have changed gas supplier to Ecotricity for the very same reasons (I have have electricity provided by them for some years as they invest in green energy development), as they have started importing green gas from Holland... form a Food Waste mill... with the forward plan of investing in Food Waste mills for the UK.

http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/

http://www.sheepdrove.com/siteManager/sites/sheepdrove/userFiles/Image/diagrams/saved33CO2-ecotricity.jpg

However, my issues is that the visual impact on streets and homes has not been considered... (in case anyone wonders why I feel qualified to criticise... I am a Design Manager). Plus the system is not well thought through... the way to engage the user is to make it as easy as possible for them... the whole rubbish collection thing has become overly complex and (as many people live in small dwellings with limited space) overly bitty... I have a pretty good carbon foot print and have been interested in sustainable living practices since the 70's, so if I find it a turn off... then what is the non eco convert or just your average person going to feel???

[The Nappy Lady]

mrsw (and anyone else who is considering cloth nappies). Don't forget Southwark are signed up to Real Nappies for London, so they will give you a ?40 voucher towards the cost of nappies, wraps, boosters or paper liners.

HOWEVER, annoyingly they have given out their full allocation of vouchers this year (first time ever that demand has outstripped supply), so no more will be issued until next year. It is a real shame that this has happened now, just when the new waste collection scheme might have brought a few more people to try cloth nappies. But if you have a child under 18 months old you will still be able to apply for one in the new year.

Here's the link;

http://www.realnappiesforlondon.org.uk/wherewhatwho/boroughs/?borough=southwark

Sorry for hi-jacking the thread, but I thought this was useful and relevant information.

[The Nappy Lady]

That's true charliecharlie, but I don't quite now how we resolve it - I can't see people being keen on having to actually carry their waste to a communal area - e.g. sites at the end of each street, and in reality, we don't actually have space to do that either.

I think the change to the policy about sorting plastic/glass/paper etc. is in part to try to make it all easier for people - I have to say it will certainly save me some time each week.

It is a problem, and I wish there was a simple solution. I do know some neighbours who have relatively small amounts of waste who share bins, which I think is sensible.

As a Design Manager, do you have any ideas about how it could all be done better (not being sarcastic, genuinely interested).

[Mrs TP]

Did anyone get a kitchen caddy? We only got the outside bin but I see from the leaflet you can contact them for a free kitchen caddy. How much of a waste of effort is that delivering caddies to individuals as requested.

Anyway prepared to give it all a go.

[duchessofdulwich]

Mrs TP were the same as you we only got an outside bin. no kitchen caddy business ?

Going back to the nappy issue (UH OHH!) I remember travelling to greece and we couldn't even put toilet paper down the bog (yes even soiled paper) and it had to go in a little bin that stayed in the flat. we had no air con either!

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

My caddy was inside the bin - have you looked?

[charliecharlie]

yes, a few ideas...

firstly the council (or designers) need to think about how to design the waste collection system so that it does not spoil the street frontages or insides of people's homes. The large brown and green bins need to be functional for the collection team and cleanable for the home user... but these have already had a bad enough impact on our existing streets.

I am not suggesting this as a solution (as obviuosly too expensive) but...

http://hsw.co.in/images/hints_and_tips/kitchen/top10/simplehuman_recycle.jpg there must be better solution!

than this http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Au3XlP9X7wU/TIlKdtpdQxI/AAAAAAAAALU/INMXbOAxmhA/s320/Recycling3.jpg

secondly I think there has not been suitable consultation or consideration into what bins/systems, etc. are best suited to a variety of domestic situations... so I would suggest better research before investing into the cost of the pilot scheme. Overall there needs to be a much more integrated approach to all the elements... the system it self is workable, but the components are not satisfactory.

ps we can not share with neighbours as all our front gardens are too tiny for anyone to have one wheelie bin let alone two

http://www.londongardenstrust.org/images/choumert.jpg

[charliecharlie]

oh yes and I have just counted up all the elements

1. brown wheelie bin

2. green wheelie bin

3. blue box or bag

4. small brown good waste bin

5. brown food caddy

6. bag? for every other week collection of non recyclable/non food waste

7. brown paper bags (hope they are still a goer... only good element as flat pack and paper not plastic) for garden waste for those who do not have room for brown wheelie bins

guys... we need some joined up thinking here....

http://nihongo.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/9813444/2/istockphoto_9813444-joined-up-thinking.jpg

[Ted Max]

There's a bin for rubbish. There's a bin for compostable waste. There's a bin for everything else that is recyclable.

It's so confusing I'm thinking of emigrating.

[*Bob*]

There can be no magic solution though CC.

Either all the stuff is chucked conveniently together at source and then sorted at a processing plant or it's all sorted at source.. there are no other options.

If you list every possible receptacle then sure, it sounds a bit mental, but with a minimum of reorganisation and thought it can be accommodated fairy easily and actually means everything takes-up less space.

Nobody really *needs* the kitchen caddy (get a slide-out double bin, fit it under the kitchen sink - and line half of it with a compostable bag - Ikea did one for ?8 for example). Nobody really needs the giant brown bin (use the paper bags you mention - or there are the larger collapsable green mini 'builders-type' bags instead. Not having to sort plastics and glass has meant we've gone down from two blue boxes to one.

So we have one large green bin, one small brown bin, one bag for paper and one box for empties - plus garden bags being used as and when.

I prefer all of this to the one massive Addis flip-top behemoth that stank for three days out of seven.

[The Minkey]

"How many people on this forum are likely to fill more than two of these compostable bags a week with peelings and srapings off plates? Are the dustmen really going to wheel brown bins to a truck to empty two bags, especially during the pilot scheme when there's likely to be no garden cuttings in the bin."

No, they'll pull the bags out and carry them over to the lorry pretty much like they do with the contents of my green bin at the moment which rarely has more than one 1/2 full bag in it at a time.

[*Bob*]

That's why there's now a small brown bin - which isn't much over a foot high.

It's all there in the leaflet, in black and white, with coloured pictures.

[charliecharlie]

sounds good Bob... but I am happy to sort my own, just have really limited space and keep having to replan how I use my space each time they bring in a new scheme... quite happy to buy something that is more attactive but Southwark say that the collection team will not take bags that are put out for collection in any other bin (other than the brown small bin provided). I will talk to the guys that do our street, they are really nice and helpful, I am sure they will be OK about either just taking my one small food waste bag (anyway, hardly create any, as 1. we have communal composting and when full, 2. I don't create much waste... don't peel my spuds, and 3. try to eat everything I buy, cook etc... really try not to edible chuck stuff out...)

this might be useful for people....

http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200084/recycling_and_waste/1365/a_to_z_of_waste_and_recycling/7

[*Bob*]

I would have thought that you (more than most) would be happy to reorganise a little - in order to accommodate upgraded recycling facilities?!

If people such as yourself begrudge doing it, then what hope is there?