Recycling & Waste

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In the UK each and every one of us produces about half a tonne of waste per year. Since some of us produce almost no waste whatsoever, others must throw away a lot. There are varying opinions about what to do with all this waste, but most people agree that it would be a good idea not to make it in the first place. If possible, don’t throw things away. Because, when you think about it, there is no ‘away’: our planet is a closed system, a firmly locked coffer hurtling through the lonely vastness of space, so whatever we discard stays with us forever.

What should we do instead? Well, repairing or reusing things is best and is a lot easier than many would think. We live in a consumerist culture where buying things, throwing them away and then buying more things to replace them is encouraged. Indeed, it is often though essential to keep the economy buoyant. However, this is quite a new concept and is essentially a bit like pyramid selling – it can’t go on growing for ever, but will run out of steam one day and collapse.

So, once you have got past the cultural pressure and settled into the idea of making things last, repairing and reusing is, as I said before, easy. If you buy sensibly in the first place you will be able to get replacement parts, and if you don’t know how to fix it yourself there is usually someone about who can help (try the Community or Forum). If you don’t want something, give it to someone else or change it into something you do want. For instance, never throw away clothes. Even if they are too horrible for anyone to actually wear, they will still have value as rags so take them to a charity shop anyway.

If reuse is not possible, the next best step is to recycle your rubbish. This is where ‘the thing’ is broken down into its component parts, each of which are mushed-up and reprocessed into new raw materials. Glass bottles, for example, are ground into dust, melted down and re-blown as new bottles. It would, of course, be much easier just to clean them out and fill them up again, but nobody seems to do that anymore.

Only as a last resort should anything actually be thrown away. This is where the concept of ‘Zero Waste’ comes in – not throwing anything away but repairing, reusing or recycling the whole lot.

Is zero waste practicably possible? No, not really. In my early 20’s I shared a flat in which we managed to get down to one bin liner of rubbish over six months, but we did cheat a bit so even that amount is not sensibly achievable. However, most people can do a lot better than they are at the moment. I am no rubbish guru (unavoidable pun, I’m afraid), but below are a few ideas.

First of all, buy things that will last and for which you can get spare parts. Toys are terrible for this, especially the mountains of cheap, noisy, plastic stuff that choke many a landfill site. It might initially be a bit more expensive to buy quality toys, but they need replacing much less frequently and will save you money in the long run. Think about buying second hand toys and selling your kid’s stuff once finished with.

In fact, buying and selling second hand stuff is a great idea all round. A lot of people seem to think the whole second hand thing is degrading or a sign of poverty. In fact, the opposite is true: the landed gentry seem to live in crumbling houses filled with ancient furniture, which is sat on by ancient dogs and people wearing grandpapa’s wellies. Very thrifty.

Never throw away waste electrical equipment (or WEEE as it is officially known). Anyone selling electrical or electronic goodies has to provide a disposal route for the old kit that their customers are replacing. They can do this by taking them off your hands at the store (when you buy something new), or providing places at which the old kit can be dropped off. The latter requires a dedicated trip to somewhere like your local dump (Civic Amenity Site), but you don’t have to buy anything to take advantage of it. Dell arrange for doorstep collection, which is nice.

When changing your mobile phone, try selling the old one to Envirofone. This will get you some cash and get your old phone reused (or recycled).

Perhaps the greatest source of waste is the kitchen. A massive 33% of food bought in the UK is thrown away, mostly without needing to be. That means for every £1 an average person spends of food, they are throwing 33p straight down the drain. Sometimes literally. So don’t. Don’t take ‘best by’ dates too literally and try to go shopping more than once a week. It is much easier to use what you buy if you shop using the ‘little and often’ philosophy. It takes a slight change in habits, but will end up saving a large amount of money and will let you eat better food. If you live or work close to a town centre or shopping area, try to use butchers and greengrocers. How about shopping twice a week in your lunch break?

Some food waste is inevitable, such as uneaten left-overs or the gnarly ends of leeks. If you have a big enough garden to make a proper compost heap, then all food waste can be put in it (although the bones don’t completely break down – try burning them in the bonfire after composting). These sorts of composts need quite a lot of feeding, so comparatively large quantities of stuff like grass cuttings are necessary, which in turn requires quite a large garden. Remember that woody prunings should not go in the compost heap but the bonfire. If you live in a town and so can’t have a bonfire, the local council should provide a green-waste bin (often brown in colour) so you can put all your woody stuff in there.

If you are having a bonfire, which are perfectly legal and reasonable, make sure the neighbours are happy with it and don’t have their washing out. This is really the reason why you can’t have a fire in towns – there are just too many neighbours to annoy.

If you have a smaller garden, wormeries will take most food waste and compost bins will take any uncooked vegetable waste. The actual compost itself does not smell, but the liquid yuk coming out the bottom stinks. If you compost/wormery collects it without smelling, then it will make a great fertilizer once heavily diluted. If it smells, let it drain out the bottom and away into the ground; this will stop the smell without causing harm. To find this sort of thing, try our shop or Wiggly Wigglers.

Another way to deal with the meat, fish and cooked kitchen waste is to invest in a bokashi system. This is basically a box that you fill up with the nasty stuff, layering it with a sort of bran that is made especially for Bokashis from bacteria and fungi. This Bokishi ferments and pickles the rubbish, which after 2 weeks is ready to be added to a standard compost bin or even dug straight into the garden. Bokashi doesn't realy smell so is OK to have in the kitchen. Groovy. There is some Bokashi stuff in the shop and at Bokashi Bucket.

Your local council (Borough, District, Unitary, City etc) will be responsible for collecting your rubbish. The way they do this is different for almost every council region, so there are no general comments about what can or cannot be recycled in your area. The best thing to do is visit their website or give them a ring to ask specific questions. Recycle More has a good round-up of the recycling collection systems around the country (i.e. who collects what for recycling, done on a postcode basis) plus a recycling bank locator (also called ‘bring sites’).

One of the thorniest issues about recycling concerns plastic, with some common questions being: what is HDPE and can I recycle the plastic tray the chicken came in? Again Recycle More can be helpful.

For general information, advice and chat about kitchen waste, visit The Rubbish Diet blog.

As a last comment - recycle stuff from all around the home, not just the kitchen.

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