Ive just heard about these new green wheelie bins we'll be getting in the next few months, for green waste and recycling, which will be collected every two weeks.
I started a poll to gauge opinon on it, do you think its a good idea? and do you have enough space for one bin ne'er mind two! :shock: :mrgreen:

Here in Rotherham we have blue bags which we put our waste paper in - these are collected every other week. That seems to work well - there are always lots of bags out waiting to be collected.

We have the blue bag scheme in Leicestershire too, it works really well.

I think that it is about time that both Sheffield City Council and its residents started taking the national targets to divert waste form landfill serously (10% by 2005). This targets have not been set in order to make peoples life difficult and take up space in their yards, they have been set because the way that we curently manage our waste in this county is unsustainable. To ensure that our quaity of life persists, we need to take responsability for the impact that we have on our planet, which includes recycling!

In Manchester they have a box scheme where you can put anything (within reason) that can be recycled into it. Glass, paper etc. Collected free of charge too.

In NE Derbyshire we have a blue bag collection every 2 weeks for paper and a blue box for tins and bottles. I think it's a brilliant idea though looking how few other people do it I seem to be in a minority. Most people just can't be bothered. It is time that people who don't do their bit are financially penalised in some way. Most folk really don't have any excuse.

The proposed new bin's are an excellent Idea,it is something that has been needed in this city for a long time, to separate materials for recycling. What a waste to throw everything down a tip, when there are valuable metal's etc. that can be used again. All it need's now is for the population to be educated in using them,which I suppose will take time. :evil:

fantastic! will they operate all over sheff or just in selected areas for trials?

all over if i recall correctly

hiya

Sainsbury's are to introduce the green eco-friendly carrier bag which disintigrates within 28 days, which is a great idea.

Imagine how many plastic carrier bags are used, and most end up in the ground at tips, i bet they don't disappear for a long time!

Perhaps someone should make big bin liners for wheelie bins which biodegrade in the same time as the above carriers.

Lots of people use carrier bags as a bin for all their other rubbish, then tie these up and put them en mass into the wheelie bin. This would be much better if paper bags were used!!

The following is based on a True Story

"A man and his wife, both in their twenties have 3 small children and manage to limit their household waste to a half-sized wheelie bin (obtained from Sheffield City Council) each week as opposed to most of their neighbours who just about manage to cram a week's worth of waste into their overflowing full sized wheelie bin.

They are passionate about minimising their ecological footprint, and want their kids to have a decent life in the future.

Their youngest is in reusable nappies (which they find easy to use), and they recycle all paper, glass, plastic, foil, tin cans and aluminium. They got a 3-drawer storage unit from Argos which they use as different bins for recyclables and have a compost bin.

they avoid buying products with alot of packaging, get their electricity from a green energy supplier (at no extra cost), eat organic and use eco-friendly cleaning/washing products. They bank with ethical companies, and their pensions and investments were organised with the help of Ethical Investments.

They do not think they are special, but they do wonder why everyone doesn't do the same."

9 million disposable nappies are landfilled every day in UK and they take 200-500 years to decompose! How convenient is that?We currently find fossils from millions of years ago, and weapons on battlefields of yesteryear. Excavators in 500 years will no doubt be thrilled to discover millions of 21st century nappies! But hey, as long as P & G bombard us with frilly images of babies in plastic what can we do with a liitle voice?

The biodegradable carrier bags from Sainsburys is a terrific idea, kerbside collections are a great idea.
Alot of people getting off their arse to do what really doesn't take alot of effort? Priceless!

The best and most obvious idea would be to charge people at the point of service for the amount of waste they produce. In areas of Europe they have wheelie bins with barcodes on so people can be charged according to how much weight they throw out. Recycling rates are much higher.

Some councils in UK give rebates on Council tax and grants to people using reusable nappies because these take up 4% of household waste.

And why not have bins with seperate sections across the city? This would encourage people to think about what they are throwing away in town and maybe they'd take this idea home!

As it stands there is not enough incentive for the public to care about what they chuck out, and hitting people in the pocket is the only answer -
Incentives and penalties.

Of course, it would help if the companies that run the retail world didn't insist on individually wrapping so much stuff and using so much packaging-they are incredibly irresponsible, and I can chop my own vegetables thanks!

Come on then, be bold, bring it on! The green bin is a start and an attractive gimmick but keep it coming and do what's right not what's most popular. Take on the Sheffield apathy! PLEASE!

(End of Rant)

Ecomaniac
xxx

Originally posted by "Ecomaniac"

The following is based on a True Story

"A man and his wife, both in their twenties have 3 small children and manage to limit their household waste to a half-sized wheelie bin (obtained from Sheffield City Council) each week as opposed to most of their neighbours who just about manage to cram a week's worth of waste into their overflowing full sized wheelie bin.

They are passionate about minimising their ecological footprint, and want their kids to have a decent life in the future.

Their youngest is in reusable nappies (which they find easy to use), and they recycle all paper, glass, plastic, foil, tin cans and aluminium. They got a 3-drawer storage unit from Argos which they use as different bins for recyclables and have a compost bin.

they avoid buying products with alot of packaging, get their electricity from a green energy supplier (at no extra cost), eat organic and use eco-friendly cleaning/washing products. They bank with ethical companies, and their pensions and investments were organised with the help of Ethical Investments.

They do not think they are special, but they do wonder why everyone doesn't do the same."

9 million disposable nappies are landfilled every day in UK and they take 200-500 years to decompose! How convenient is that?We currently find fossils from millions of years ago, and weapons on battlefields of yesteryear. Excavators in 500 years will no doubt be thrilled to discover millions of 21st century nappies! But hey, as long as P & G bombard us with frilly images of babies in plastic what can we do with a liitle voice?

The biodegradable carrier bags from Sainsburys is a terrific idea, kerbside collections are a great idea.
Alot of people getting off their arse to do what really doesn't take alot of effort? Priceless!

The best and most obvious idea would be to charge people at the point of service for the amount of waste they produce. In areas of Europe they have wheelie bins with barcodes on so people can be charged according to how much weight they throw out. Recycling rates are much higher.

Some councils in UK give rebates on Council tax and grants to people using reusable nappies because these take up 4% of household waste.

And why not have bins with seperate sections across the city? This would encourage people to think about what they are throwing away in town and maybe they'd take this idea home!

As it stands there is not enough incentive for the public to care about what they chuck out, and hitting people in the pocket is the only answer -
Incentives and penalties.

Of course, it would help if the companies that run the retail world didn't insist on individually wrapping so much stuff and using so much packaging-they are incredibly irresponsible, and I can chop my own vegetables thanks!

Come on then, be bold, bring it on! The green bin is a start and an attractive gimmick but keep it coming and do what's right not what's most popular. Take on the Sheffield apathy! PLEASE!

(End of Rant)

Ecomaniac
xxx

I am all for recycling things but why must we feel the need to be dictated to by European Laws etc? Why must we do something because the rest of Europe is doing it? I am sure we are more than capable of coming up with our own system. To hell with the rest of Europe.

I don't want to be dictated to by Europe either, and we don't have to do whatever they do. It's just stupid not to look around and see what other countries or areas are doing about what is becoming a massive problem.
Why shouldn't we be smart enough look around before we decide what we want to do especially if others have success and we currently don't.

They also recycle more than us as a way of life in the USA - maybe you would agree with exactly the same model from somewhere else if you just hate Europe?

I think I missed your own ideas, apart from the one about sending Europe to Hell.

Originally posted by "Ecomaniac"

I don't want to be dictated to by Europe either, and we don't have to do whatever they do. It's just stupid not to look around and see what other countries or areas are doing about what is becoming a massive problem.
Why shouldn't we be smart enough look around before we decide what we want to do especially if others have success and we currently don't.

They also recycle more than us as a way of life in the USA - maybe you would agree with exactly the same model from somewhere else if you just hate Europe?

I think I missed your own ideas, apart from the one about sending Europe to Hell.

Instead of blaming Supermarkets for using too much packaging on vegetables there is a easy solution to this. Grow Your Own!

Yes, my point was why always look at what Europe is doing, so perhaps looking at the USA would be a more sensible option for a change

They would be a good idea IF you could put other than 'paper, cardboard' etc etc in them eg: bottles (glass), cans, plasic etc

anybody got one of these yet?

also, bad choice of colour for them, BLUE!

they are going to look a right eyesore, green would have been better and more neutral

We have already got 2 bins in our area as the blue bins for paper have arrived so the green ones will make 3. Luckily I do have room for them all (just).I do think they are a good idea as my blue one was half full in the first week I had to get my son to climb in and squash it all down. I would love to grow my own as I have a large enough garden ,the seeds and the tools but unfortunately am disabled so can not do the digging etc. Wish I could. My dad grew veggies and salad stuff when I was growing up and it was great on a Sunday going out to the garden to pick veg for the dinner all nice and fresh and no pesticides either.

I quite like the green bins.

Originally posted by "Lickszz"

I quite like the green bins.

but they are blue, not green!

(although they are green, if you know what i mean)

wish I had got one, I've got a boot full of newsapapers that I have been meaning to drop of at a recycling place for the last 2 weeks.

doh!

We received our recycle bin on Thursday, and by Saturday the local youths were busy using them to recycle mortar that had been delivered by the council! They were wheeling it away to use themselves!



RPG- Un Capiltalised the post for you

Does anyone know what the plan is for sheffield kerbside recycling? We have a blue bin for paper but have heard that green ones might be introduced. Don't know wether to get a compost bin or wait for a green wheelie

we have got the green bins allready and they can only be used for garden rubbish,but what iff you havn,t got a garden,they dont look good and take up alot of room,i am deffinatly against them

what nothing else compostable like kitchen scraps? Does seem bit of a waste if you can't use it for everthing biodegradable

Originally posted by hel_p_99
what nothing else compostable like kitchen scraps? Does seem bit of a waste if you can't use it for everthing biodegradable

Most people just chuck left overs in the Dog's bowl though, although yeah they should have a recycling facility for old kitchen left overs.

Whatever Council does, green bin or not, it will finish at the top of the garden, as unused as the blue bin. :mad: :mad:

Not another bin ,I have 8 steep steps to climb to put the grey and blue bin out .

just grass and privot and the occasional bit of cat p**

I think the green bin is a great idea, especially for summer when your cutting your lawn every week, we've got a fair bit of grass on our back garden and in summer we can fill the normal bin with cuttings so it sucked...

personally I think we could do with the blue box back though, for glass and metal and plastic... those are the main things we need to be recycling and at the moment they have to go in the normal bin :(

before you all start jumping for joy about green bins think on this.dronfield,coal aston have had them for awile,when it says emptied every two weeks thats what it means,one week your black bin,next week your green bin.....which equates to your black bin bieng emptied once a fortnight.....ok if your single but think if you have a family,you cant go two weeks without emptying your black bin,and in dronfield the refuse collectors will not move over spill.eg,black bags..also the green bin is discontinued in derbyshire from the week ending 20th november unti lspring..no matter how you recycle there is at the moment only ONE tip,the corporation have been granted an eec grant for recycling,providing the bins is just a front,untill the plant at BARROW HILL,derbyshire is finished ALL rubbish is tipped on the same site,its a con to recieve EEC grants,my company has been steam cleaning bins for nine years so i do know the facts...not as green as people think it is,before you reply find out the area of the alleged tip for recycling......all bin lorries tip at the same sites no matter which week the colour code of the bin is..

Why have a green bin for all compost, bio-degradable stuff that ya get in ya garden???
Its just more plastic , first new black wheelie bins, then blue bins emptied once a month for paper and cardboard now Green for garden stuff....................... whats next red for clothing? Yellow for food, Pink for feminine products and condoms????? I dont know about anyone else but im running out of space in my garden.

we`ve got the black one, the green one and the blue one, i wish the blue one was emptied more than once a month though as its always full after 2 weeks. We have no room for any more bins and in some places they have been used by local yobs to climb onto porch areas to gain access to open upstairs windows and also set on fire and in turn this has set the neighbouring house alight. Perhaps there should be anchor points outside properties and they could be unpadlocked on the day of waste collection and they should be lockable too. Shame really that people have to think this way but this is the way of things these days.

I think they should empty the blue bins more often as well,either that or start using the green bins for paper and the blue ones for garden waste. I have had the green bin since August and its never more then a quarter full,bit of a waste of time really.

Originally posted by Ecomaniac
The following is based on a True Story

"A man and his wife, both in their twenties have 3 small children and manage to limit their household waste to a half-sized wheelie bin (obtained from Sheffield City Council) each week as opposed to most of their neighbours who just about manage to cram a week's worth of waste into their overflowing full sized wheelie bin.

They are passionate about minimising their ecological footprint, and want their kids to have a decent life in the future.

Their youngest is in reusable nappies (which they find easy to use), and they recycle all paper, glass, plastic, foil, tin cans and aluminium. They got a 3-drawer storage unit from Argos which they use as different bins for recyclables and have a compost bin.

they avoid buying products with alot of packaging, get their electricity from a green energy supplier (at no extra cost), eat organic and use eco-friendly cleaning/washing products. They bank with ethical companies, and their pensions and investments were organised with the help of Ethical Investments.

They do not think they are special, but they do wonder why everyone doesn't do the same."

9 million disposable nappies are landfilled every day in UK and they take 200-500 years to decompose! How convenient is that?We currently find fossils from millions of years ago, and weapons on battlefields of yesteryear. Excavators in 500 years will no doubt be thrilled to discover millions of 21st century nappies! But hey, as long as P & G bombard us with frilly images of babies in plastic what can we do with a liitle voice?

The biodegradable carrier bags from Sainsburys is a terrific idea, kerbside collections are a great idea.
Alot of people getting off their arse to do what really doesn't take alot of effort? Priceless!

The best and most obvious idea would be to charge people at the point of service for the amount of waste they produce. In areas of Europe they have wheelie bins with barcodes on so people can be charged according to how much weight they throw out. Recycling rates are much higher.

Some councils in UK give rebates on Council tax and grants to people using reusable nappies because these take up 4% of household waste.

And why not have bins with seperate sections across the city? This would encourage people to think about what they are throwing away in town and maybe they'd take this idea home!

As it stands there is not enough incentive for the public to care about what they chuck out, and hitting people in the pocket is the only answer -
Incentives and penalties.

Of course, it would help if the companies that run the retail world didn't insist on individually wrapping so much stuff and using so much packaging-they are incredibly irresponsible, and I can chop my own vegetables thanks!

Come on then, be bold, bring it on! The green bin is a start and an attractive gimmick but keep it coming and do what's right not what's most popular. Take on the Sheffield apathy! PLEASE!

(End of Rant)

Ecomaniac
xxx

Welcome !

There are no recycling units near me for plastic , or glass bottles etc.
Not being a driver i would have to catch the bus to one, with all my bottles etc.
How did this family take their full waste units to be recycled , did they have it collected.
or did they use their car to take it .
In which case it rather defeats the object somewhat.
I would much prefer a bin for plastic or something, - not garden waste.
As just about nearly everthing is made of some form of plastic these days.

Originally posted by tara
There are no recycling units near me for plastic , or glass bottles etc.
Not being a driver i would have to catch the bus to one, with all my bottles etc.
How did this family take their full waste units to be recycled , did they have it collected.
or did they use their car to take it .
In which case it rather defeats the object somewhat.
I would much prefer a bin for plastic or something, - not garden waste.
As just about nearly everthing is made of some form of plastic these days.

i can see what you are saying. I have a composter. I would like one for glass!

Originally posted by xafier
I think the green bin is a great idea, especially for summer when your cutting your lawn every week, we've got a fair bit of grass on our back garden and in summer we can fill the normal bin with cuttings so it sucked...
(

But why spend money on recycling completely bio-degradable garden rubbish. Just think of all the energy and resources spent making the green bins, then all the energy used in collecting and disposing of rubbish that would quietly rot away in less than a year in the corner of your garden anyway at no cost to anyone.

Out of all the properties on my road I have seen less than 20% of these green bins being put out for collection on a regular basis.

good point yorkiepudd... but when its decomposing it starts to get rather smelly and you dont want that on your back garden, not to mention our stupid dog would make herself ill trying to eat it cus she's dumb...

personally though I think we would be better using the green bin for glass bottles and jars as at the moment we have nothing for that and in our house we get through more glass products than we do garden rubbish

Originally posted by Lickszz
I am all for recycling things but why must we feel the need to be dictated to by European Laws etc? Why must we do something because the rest of Europe is doing it? I am sure we are more than capable of coming up with our own system. To hell with the rest of Europe.

Because it makes sense?

Off topic, but the comment is a loads of codswallop. Being dictated to by Europe? There is always a British minister sitting there at the table who is responsible for voting on the matters.
And do we really want to follow the US in environmental matters? Driving a car for a 2 minute ride? Hardy any public transport, cars that do 30 litres to the mile? Boycotting Kyoto? Basically, putting the future of the planet at risk for the sake of shot term economic growth? No, I don't think so. It makes sense to recycle. And in a densely popuated part of the world like Europe it makes even more sense to cooperate on environmental matters, otherwise we might as well turn the Peak District into a landfill. And then everyone, and everyone's kids and grandkids, will moan.

To hell with narrow-mindedness! To heaven with well-thought policies that secure the future, no matter where they originate.

Originally posted by fhain29
Because it makes sense?

Off topic, but the comment is a loads of codswallop.

......cars that do 30 litres to the mile?


You can't fight codswallop with codswallop :P

I thought somebody here was doing an investigation in just what happened to the contents of our blue bins, - did anything come of that ? Is it being re-cycled or being exported to Indonesia as landfill ?

As for composting, be very careful how you do it. No good just piling stuff up in a corner at the bottom of the garden - it's a magnet for rats; especially if you put kitchen waste like potato peelings and eggshells on it. Do invest in a proper compost bin and place it on a concrete or flagstone base. (Voice of experience)

Originally posted by xafier
not to mention our stupid dog would make herself ill trying to eat it cus she's dumb...

lol :)

Yes "recycling" or, in this case, composting of organic matter is a good thing.

Yes, providing recycling containers, increasing recycling collections and decreasing black bin collections is a good thing for prodding people to a less wasteful lifestyle.

Walking down some of the terrace streets is becoming a slalom course of multi-coloured bins, and the back gardens/yards are getting full. I'd like to share a bin with my neighbours. If we have our own it will be virtually empty except on the one or two weeks a year when we've massacred the garden.

Originally posted by garrence
.....like to share a bin with my neighbours. If we have our own it will be virtually empty except on the one or two weeks a year when we've massacred the garden. What a very good suggestion - that would be an excellent idea for a lot of properties, as long as they don't try and do in Bristol (I think it was) where they also now have 'communal' bins (like the trade waste ones, but bigger) which have to have their own 'parking' space - and knowing Sheffield council !!!!!!.......

Originally posted by bonny
i can see what you are saying. I have a composter. I would like one for glass!

I won't use a green bin, I have a compost heap in the garden. I do however get through a lot of wine bottles and stella cans, so a can and bottle bin would be great.
Do you think the council are going to ask people if they want a green bin, or just give everyone one regardless of if they will use it ?

with all the bin we get now who pays for this service us the tax payer i say one bin

I'm reliably informed that you don't have to keep the blue or green bins. Simply contact Onyx and they'll remove them.

in derbyshire we have had the green bins for the last year they are the same size as the black bins and you put cardboard garden waste & other thing's that will rot down we also have blus boxes for tins & bottles and a collection for waste paper all this means that the black bin don't get full as quickly also money from recycling go's to the local school. :headbang: