Take Out the Trash Precisely, Now. It’s the Law.

[Kire]

Source: New York Times; European Section

Take Out the Trash Precisely, Now. It’s the Law.

By SARAH LYALL
Published: June 27, 2008

WHITEHAVEN, England — The citizens of Whitehaven try, really they do. They separate out their cans, their paper, their cardboard and their glass, and they recycle them all. They compost. They jump up and down on their trash to cram it into their government-issued garbage cans, and they put the trash out for collection at exactly 7 a.m., twice a month.

But when Gareth Corkhill, a bus driver, was fined $215 — and given a further $225 fine and a criminal record when he failed to pay — for leaving his garbage can lid slightly ajar this spring, Whitehaven’s residents banded together in dismay. They raised the money to pay the fine, and they began to complain.

“I consider the fine against Mr. Corkhill to be a matter of injustice, really, and as a Christian minister I’m required to speak out against injustice,” declared the Rev. John Bannister, the rector of Whitehaven, a seaside town in Cumbria, in the far northwest. Referring to the garbage cans residents here use, he said, “To be given a criminal record for leaving your wheelie bin open by three inches has, I think, really gone beyond the bounds of responsible behavior.”

Across Europe, residents are struggling to adjust to a new era of garbage rules. Britain, particularly, is in the midst of a trash crisis, with dwindling landfill space and one of Europe’s poorest recycling records. Threatened with steep fines if they dump too much trash, local governments around the country are imposing strict regimens to force residents to produce less and recycle more.




Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/world/europe/27garbage.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin

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OMG, this is hugh!!!

[Earth_First]

1. When we moved to the village, they issued us these wheelie bins...

Upon inspection of this trash can, I thought to myself, "My god! It would take us a MONTH to fill one of these!"

I look around on trash collection day and notice the amount of trash that our neighbors are tossing away on a weekly basis. Many of our neighbors fill one of these bins in a week! A few even overflow into self-purchased trash barrels in order to store all of their waste to be hauled off.

It's really a shame that so many produce so much waste.
We would have to try very hard in order to fill one of these bins in a week.

[mikeytherat]

2. We have one of those huge wheelie bins and, even with three cats,

if we fill it halfway each week that's a lot. We have neighbours who routinely fill their bins, and have additional bin bags (several!) next to the bin. I cannot fathom how much they waste (although I can also hear their air conditioners running when it's 65 degrees outside, so I shouldn't be surprised).

mikey_the_rat

[RC]

3. A/C running @ 65° - What's the humidity?

I run the A/C at 65° to get the humidity inside down to a reasonable level

[RantinRavin]

4. Use a stand alone room dehumidifier instead

I place it in one room and it keeps my 1500 sq ft home at or below 45% humidity even though it's very muggy outside.

[RC]

17. That throws heat into the room. Besides a dehumidifier is just an A/C with

both sides in the same space.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

18. you have to use the energy twice. Yup.

The dehumidifier uses electricity and also generates heat which must be removed by the air conditioner.

Like incandescent light bulbs that throw off heat that must be removed.

[joeglow3]

9. We filled 3 trash cans a week

Until my wife decided to do some hard core recycling (I am VERY bad here). The kids know literally look in the trash when I throw something out and usually ending up lecturing me on recycling as they pull something out.

NOW, we fill up 1 trash can and end up with a recycling bin that is overflowing.

[tpsbmam]

11. Good for your kids! Always gives me hope for the future. n/t

[tpsbmam]

10. The rule in this house

is to always have more in recycling than we have in the garbage. Most food stuff goes into a compost. We shoot for no more than one garbage bag per week, preferably one that isn't full. We've been able to get it down to one bag every 2 weeks sometimes. Not surprisingly, we live in a group of 5 houses (out in the country). Two houses are owned by Democrats and 3 by Republicans (sadly). The Democrats always have recycling out every week.....the Republicans, not so much. None of them recycle. Pathetic.

I had to guilt a couple of neighbors in MA into recycling when I lived there. It was a small city and the recycling rate was 11%. Yep, only 11% of households recycled. The mayor is now trying to implement a pay-as-you-throw program. Residents would have to buy city issued bags (with a seal on them -- garbage collectors wouldn't pick up bags without the seal) so that way they'd be paying for every load of garbage they add to the landfill. I know if I lived there I'd be less than thrilled with this program, but I'd still be in favor of it. If you can't get people to frigging listen any other way, I say do it.

[Mountainman]

14. The consumer doesn't produce the waste. Mostly it is packaging you through away.

How do you avoid throwing away packaging? And what would we say if our products were not packaged so that the products are protected? If the packaging was made of recycled materials than it wouldn't matter much as long as it was bio degradable or recyclable.

[Trillo]

5. Maybe they can get a lid

on the fresh stench of fascism.

Around here, coyotes and roaming dogs sometimes open trashcan lids looking for food. Of course, nature forgot to either give then an instinct or training to replace the lid.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. I live in the same town as the moronic, whinging Doretta Cocks

The twice-a-month collection regime, now in use in more than half the country, is particularly unpopular and became a contentious issue in recent local elections, in which the ruling Labor Party was trounced by its opponents. Among other things, said Doretta Cocks, who runs the 22,000-member Campaign for Weekly Waste Collection, having infrequent collections creates a health hazard, what with the smell, the maggots and the rats.

“It’s supposed to be environmentally friendly, but it’s not,” Mrs. Cocks said. “How can it be environmentally friendly to have two weeks’ worth of rubbish in your house?”

Never had maggots, never had rats, once had a bit of a smell when I was away for the morning the rubbish was collected, and hadn't arranged anything with the neighbours, so that it went a month between collections. Cocks' problem seems to be that she keeps her rubbish inside her house, rather than in the bin outside it. As I said, she's a moron.

[XemaSab]

7. That's why they give you outdoor bins with a lid

The lid's there partly to keep the vermin out. :P

[enlightenment]

8. I kind of like having a bit of encouragement . . . keeps me

from getting lazy. I discovered I could ask the concierge in the self-cater I stay in when I visit London and they'll give me recycling bags (and tell me the days of pick-up, etc). It's not that hard to do - I don't have to deliver the stuff to the recycling centre, just put it in the right sort of bag and have it to the curb on the appropriate day.

The idea that there are regulations makes me much more aware of what I'm throwing away. Still, because I live in Las Vegas, I don't think I could handle twice-monthly pick-ups . . . even in a covered wheelie bin, garbage gets unbelievably rank sitting out in 100+ temperatures for just a week. The collectors would have to wear bio-hazard suits if they only picked up twice a month.

I do have a question for folks in the UK. There is a grave concern about amount of waste produced, but if you go in the supermarkets almost everything is offered pre-packaged - three apples in a tidy little packet; four cucumbers, or a couple of mangos . . . it may be very convenient to just grab a packet of fruit or veg instead of rummaging through the bulk product, but doesn't that just contribute to the waste problem? I'm sure the packaging is recyclable, but still. And now that Tesco's has come to the US, they've brought the practice here (and it will probably spread).

Why the packaging?

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. No, I don't like the packaging here either

People are gradually starting to wonder about it (and I don't think it is recyclable, frequently - but you'll be glad to know you just inspired me to check a few packages again, and in the right light (and it really does need to be the right light, since it's transparent) I've found a recyclable sign on a packet of strawberries - so that's in the recycling bin from now on). People are patting themselves on the back about cutting down on plastic bags, but there's a lot more that most of us brign back from the supermarket.

In fact, my (and therefore Cocks') council has recently started weekly pickups of food-only waste (in boxes that 'lock' via a handle - so no animal, however determined, could open it). And Britain's temperature never gets over 100 (OK, it did once, on one day, in one place, through all the historical records).

Heh - I just found out Cocks was the Conservative who stood for the local council in 2006 in my ward - that was the year I wrote to the Conservatives complaining there was a direct lie in the election literature they used here (about the tax rates, not the rubbish collection). Never got an answer.

[enlightenment]

15. Glad you discovered you can toss that

packaging in the recyclable - the council would probably fine you for tossing it in the rubbish, even though the stores aren't making it very clear what can and can't be recycled . . . and it doesn't sound as if your council would be very responsive to asking why they don't suggest the stores cut down on the pre-packaging, either!

I've been trying to cut the plastic bag habit, but it's really hard to remember to put the cloth bags back where I'll remember them when I go shopping. Most of the stores around here are now selling cloth bags for $1 to encourage people to use them - I must have twenty of the damned things now, because guilt drives me to buy new ones every time I end up in the check-out line without mine.

Again - the threat of a fine, or simply banning the plastic bags so I would have it in my head that I HAVE to have an alternative transport method would "train" me very quickly, but I'm sure plenty of people would come unhinged at the thought.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

16. We have twice-monthly collection in Cambridge.

The only time it's ever been a problem for me was when I was living in a house with three other people, all of us on different schedules, so there was far more kitchen waste than you'd have for, say a family of four. But even then the only trouble we ever had was with parties - and that was mainly down to the *recycling* bins not being big enough. That's actually a far larger problem, I think, than the wheelie bins. I'm constantly running out of space in my recycling bins, even if I crush all that is crushable.

[DS1]

13. 7 AM?

They can kiss my white limey ass!

[superconnected]

19. I'm pretty sure the issue is government control and not

that people just have too much trash - raise their rates if that's a case.

As the article says, 'They think the government overstepped it's bounds' by giving the man a criminal record.

I agree.

And that's something all of us should fear no matter what country we're in. The gov completely taking control and punishing us like that.

This isn't really a little deal, it's a symptom of a far bigger problem - elected governments over stepping their bounds and becoming like dictators. An elected group can act as a dictator and Locke and Rosseau and even our founding fathers warned us about this. Yes this is happening in england but it's a sympton and these people "get" it. They're leaders have overstepped their bounds. I'm glad they're speaking up. Wish america had as so many of our rights were discarded over the last 8 years under the patriot act and many other nefarious laws congress voted in to "protect us".