04.24.06
Refuse disposal
Our refuse disposal system has changed.
To date we buy special bags from a local shop. It’s 3.50 per bag and only these bags are collected by the bin men. It acted as a major incentive to reduce our rubbish. The less rubbish, the less expense. That’s when I got going on the composting and set up different bins for plastics, tetrapaks, glass, cardboard, paper, tins etc. Really the only waste that went in the bags were the nappies and cooked food. But our system has changed to a wheelie bin one. We pay a fixed fee (€220) for the year and leave out the wheelie bin every week. They are HUGE! So I throw in my black refuse bags…and they look very small in it. It’s like getting a big shopping trolley at the supermarket when you only need a couple of things. Soon you start to fill it. Already I feel the pressure lift when I am deciding where to throw some rubbish. It doesn’t matter anymore if something recyclable goes in the bin for collection. There’s room and I won’t be charged…
Now obviously I am committed to recycling and reducing etc BUT the wheelie bin thing DEFINITELY removes a powerful incentive to be strict about it.
Colman said,
April 24, 2006 at 10:42 am
Astonishingly stupid policies ‘R us. I presume the problem was that the previous system wasn’t generating enough revenue precisely because it worked to reduce the amount of waste people produced.
Bernie Goldbach said,
April 24, 2006 at 10:48 am
Down the country, you can get granny bins that are much less expensive than the one you’re using.
Sarah said,
April 24, 2006 at 10:50 am
I must confess it is more a matter of the market economy. In Co. Meath refuse disposal is totally privatised. So there are a number of companies who operate different systems. With the plastic-pay-per-bag system, the company wouldn’t come down our road to collect the bag so we had to put it in the car and bring it up to the top of the road every Tuesday morning. This lead to a number of problems.
Firstly, my husband is frequently away overnight on business and as we only have one car I was left depending on others to bring my bag up. I am hugely dependant on others for day-to-day things and the opportunity to eliminate this burden was welcome.
Then, the bin-men insisted that the bag was left up first thing in the morning, but frequently they wouldn’t show up until well into the afteroon. So the birds had attacked the bags by this stage and the top of our road was getting dirtier and dirtier (since the men only took the bag and left the debris).
So an enterprising neighbour rang a rival company and they agreed they would implement the wheelie bin system and come down the road if 7 houses on the road participated. We were quite willing to participate since it was cleaner and more convenient. But it was only when I actually got the wheelie bin that I realised what the side effect would be.
I don’t know who decides the size of the wheelie bin – but perhaps we need to get on to them OR charge per collection rather than have a fixed charge. I know that “discriminates” against large families but feckit, polluter pays.
Johnny K said,
April 24, 2006 at 12:05 pm
Obvioulsy less waste is better Sarah. So if there are more than 7 of you participating in the scheme one option would be to halve the expense, and share 1 wheelie bin between two households. Do your best not to return to the wasteful ways of the past.
On an unrelated note, your feed only recently started working in Rojo (it’s like Bloglines). I thought your postings had been pretty light.
Sarah said,
April 24, 2006 at 1:02 pm
Bernie, the actual company provides you with the bin so you have to use their’s – I think it fits on the lifter that dumps into the truck.
btw I see you observed the “Geek Avenue” innovation. What do you think? I thought as I had so many software readers they might appreciate it AND it wouldn’t piss off the non-geeks who might click on the blogroll. To be honest, I think blogrolls would be of more use if people were stricter about who they put on it..I can take you off if you like..
John – I will absolutely behave myself – but of course I fear for the less disciplined masses
Pete said,
April 24, 2006 at 10:24 pm
>the less disciplined masses
If rubbish collection is anything but totally free, the less disiplined masses (aka scum) just dump their rubbish in the countryside, or a river, or your local park. According to the Office of Environmental Enforcement, 21pc of households in Ireland are not availing of any legal rubbish collection service. I live in the countryside and I see that “polluter pays” has led to more pollution, not less. I say bring back free rubbish collection.
http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/6302798?view=Printer
Pete said,
April 24, 2006 at 10:29 pm
Now that you are charged a flat fee for rubbish collection, you can set up your own rubbish-disposal business. Let your friends who are still paying 3.50 a bag dump it in your bin for 1.00 a bag. You should at least cover the cost of the 220 euro flat fee. Danger, market forces at work.
Johnny K said,
April 25, 2006 at 2:24 am
Nah it’s grand. I get your point though, I publish restricted views of the feeds I read. There are some feeds which I always read, some because I enjoy them, and others because they are necessary to keep up to date with the latest innovations or news. Some blogrolls are so crowded they give off hostile feelings and make them unreadable.
jenniferr said,
August 2, 2006 at 8:46 pm
hello,
i now have a good environment within reach