Is recycling worthwhile?

[vinteuil]

.

... or perhaps you could take the redundant bins one-at-a-time and deposit them on the steps of the Council offices? Or perhaps outside the Residence of the Chief Executive of the Local Authority...

And of course encourage your friends and neighbours to do likewise.




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[oddoneout]

We have all been advised that (a), (b) and (c) will not be removed once redundant

Good to know that your council has so much money to throw away that it can write off lots of wheelie bins, and that it's setting such a good example of preventing and dealing with unnecessary waste.....
Can you put a card in a shop window or a post on Freecycle for someone to come and take them away? If you have allotments nearby there might be plotholders who would be happy to take them off your hands - they are prized items on the sites in our town either as waterbutts or for general storage,depending on what's wrong with them, but very hard to come by.
FF's first option should avoid the potential problem of being done for fly-tipping since you are simply returning council property, but another approach might be to hire a van, collect the surplus from other equally inconvenienced residents and get the local rag to cover the story of the consequences of council decisions with lots of photos.
Has Private Eye covered this?

[french frank]

We have all been advised that (a), (b) and (c) will not be removed once redundant. We will have to use them for something in our gardens. Nor would they remove (e), (f)

All is not quite perfect down here in Bristol. For a couple of weeks after the lorries had been, there was a black box and a green wheelie bin which were apparently unclaimed outside my gate. The green bin eventually went (presumably reclaimed by the owner who was paying for it) but the black box remained. The following week I asked the refuse collector whether he could remove the unclaimed box, and he was quite agreeable. When the lorry drove off, I saw that he had moved it a couple of doors up, outside a neighbour's gate.

Much against my environmental instincts, I took it into the back garden, found an old saw and cut it into bits that would go in my wheelie bin. [My] problem solved.

[Lat-Literal]

Thank you for the further, interesting posts. At lunchtime, my local councillor kindly contacted the Chief Executive and asked if she would arrange for a reply. There is also some detail about broad reassurances that were given and do not appear to have been met in the case of our road so it now includes my neighbours, not that they know yet. More in due course.

[french frank]

At lunchtime, my local councillor kindly contacted the Chief Executive and asked if she would arrange for a reply.

Another point I was going to mention. Your councillor was just passing the buck if s/he suggested that council officers only took notice of councillors in the ruling group. 'The council' is all elected councillors, just as elected councillors represent all members of their ward - not just those who voted for them.

Spookily I could see your street and your house on Google Earth and it does seem as if most of you would have a problem if they were forced to use (or dispose of) all the receptacles that you have. I know where I would ask my builder to construct a place for your wheelie bins: should reduce the value of your house to £30,000

[Lat-Literal]

Another point I was going to mention. Your councillor was just passing the buck if s/he suggested that council officers only took notice of councillors in the ruling group. 'The council' is all elected councillors, just as elected councillors represent all members of their ward - not just those who voted for them.

Spookily I could see your street and your house on Google Earth and it does seem as if most of you would have a problem if they were forced to use (or dispose of) all the receptacles that you have. I know where I would ask my builder to construct a place for your wheelie bins: should reduce the value of your house to £30,000

I think she is doing her best. She is a very experienced committee person but has only had the pleasure of representing us for four years, all in opposition. What hasn't helped is that the boundaries were redrawn so that this year we went from three councillors to two. In parallel, we lost the seasoned one to well earned retirement. He was getting a personal vote from me long before I considered voting for the national party. He did 28 years. The one who he replaced in 1990 did 52 years. So the two of them maintained the character of the area for 80 years from 1938. That is some doing. I sense it is all about to turn now. Do I ask where your builder would construct a place? Not sure but you are right about most neighbours being in a difficult position too. My house on this Street would only be worth £30K but luckily it is a bungalow in a Way so it's very much more (though zero if the debacle continues).

[french frank]

Do I ask where your builder would construct a place?

I'm emailing a photo to you Bear in mind this is NOT calculated to enhance the appearance of your property. My house has much less room in front of it than yours, so my (smaller) black wheelie bin is in front of my front window, with just enough room for the gas meter reader to get past it to read the meter on the front wall of the house. Some people have erected either walls or fences to obscure the bin from view. A lot of the neighbours have their variously coloured boxes in front as well, but I do feel one should draw the line somewhere …

[Dave2002]

I just found this which might also explain the scale of the problem indirectly - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larg...European_Union

Although London does not head the list as the largest FUA, it does on inspection head it in terms of density, at 5,900 people per square km. This confirms what I have suspected for quite a long while.

I wish "they" would follow the advice of the late Sir Harvey Jones "when you're in a hole, stop digging".

[oddoneout]

I wish "they" would follow the advice of the late Sir Harvey Jones "when you're in a hole, stop digging".

That requires the intelligence to recognise the hole for what it is, and the political will to implement the appropriate action.....

[french frank]

I just found this which might also explain the scale of the problem indirectly - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larg...European_Union

Although London does not head the list as the largest FUA, it does on inspection head it in terms of density, at 5,900 people per square km.

There a few (smaller) places with higher density. Genoa at 7,900 pp sq km, Las Palmas 6,800, Bucharest 6,500, Palermo 6,000.

Bear in mind that: Government funding to local authorities been cut by 40% since 2010. That was just over a year ago. They were 26% lower overall because they can raise the local taxes (council tax, business rates) over which they have control. The government funding cuts are due to continue and for most councils the environment/recycling isn't at the top of their list.

[Lat-Literal]

I'm emailing a photo to you Bear in mind this is NOT calculated to enhance the appearance of your property. My house has much less room in front of it than yours, so my (smaller) black wheelie bin is in front of my front window, with just enough room for the gas meter reader to get past it to read the meter on the front wall of the house. Some people have erected either walls or fences to obscure the bin from view. A lot of the neighbours have their variously coloured boxes in front as well, but I do feel one should draw the line somewhere …

Thank you.

I have replied and you have accepted that the solution was less than ideal (and you were not entirely serious) but it's a great deal more than I have got from the Council.

Not that I will unnecessarily prolong the correspondence for your sake but I have sent a follow-up asking for your opinions on the football teams in Bristol.

Should I choose City or Rovers?

[french frank]

I have sent a follow-up asking for your opinions on the football teams in Bristol.

Should I choose City or Rovers?

And I have answered you I am unreasonable, and it's none of my business what other people choose to eat when they're out. But in my neck of the woods cafés and restaurants serve all-day breakfast as well as dishes from every country in the northern hemisphere. You name it, we got it - and they choose ALL DAY FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST.

And you know what I'm talking about …

[Lat-Literal]

And I have answered you I am unreasonable, and it's none of my business what other people choose to eat when they're out. But in my neck of the woods cafés and restaurants serve all-day breakfast as well as dishes from every country in the northern hemisphere. You name it, we got it - and they choose ALL DAY FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST.

And you know what I'm talking about …

Which raises questions about whether some should really be called rovers. News just in from my friend in Woking. He was travelling home last Saturday on the M25 when he was suddenly overwhelmed by a terrible smell. He feared that it was emanating from him. It was only on turning off that he remembered that he had a dustbin on the back seat. I assume that the impact was delayed until he crossed the border into Surrey CC's purer air. This will, of course, all be evened down when fracking starts on the Vaughan Williams estate.

[Serial_Apologist]

Which raises questions about whether some should really be called rovers. News just in from my friend in Woking. He was travelling home last Saturday on the M25 when he was suddenly overwhelmed by a terrible smell. He feared that it was emanating from him. It was only on turning off that he remembered that he had a dustbin on the back seat. I assume that the impact was delayed until he crossed the border into Surrey CC's purer air. This will, of course, all be evened down when fracking starts on the Vaughan Williams estate.

In Bristol when they want to know what you've been up to they ask "Where's thee bin?" Anyway, let me know when the mass protest sing-in takes place at Leith Place and I'll be there, fracked or otherwise, along with me vocal chords.

[cloughie]

In Bristol when they want to know what you've been up to they ask "Where's thee bin?" Anyway, let me know when the mass protest sing-in takes place at Leith Place and I'll be there, fracked or otherwise, along with me vocal chords.

In S Yorks it’s ‘where’s tha bin’, and Birmingham ‘where ‘ve yore bin’. What do you think to it so far?