One of a series of Blogs as part of a sustainability study course
Sustainability, society and you: The University of Nottingham
Answers to the following questions……
- What were your biggest categories of waste – what do you do with these at the moment and can you do anything different with them in the future?
3 people in the house, Myself my wife and 15yr old daughter.
Our biggest waste category is general recyclables. 200lt Green bin, our waste service takes all paper, cardboard, all plastics, all metal containers. Food containers must be washed, which is a bit of an issue regarding water usage. We loosely fill the green bin every two weeks
200lt black bin for non recyclable general waste, mostly contains cat litter with some soiled tissues, contaminated kitchen paper, cooking foil or badly soiled food containers. Put out for collection about every quarter, mostly half full
120lt Brown bin, all food and garden waste, contents of the vacuum cleaner or any other compostable material. Half filled and collected about every quarter
All glass collected and brought to local bottle bank (1km from the house) monthly
Clothes, either local village charity shop or clothes bank in the village (500 metres from the house)
Other waste, old paint tins, oils, paint thinners, bulky items are disposed of with an annual trip to the local recycling centre. 5km from the house.
All electronic waste and batteries I bring to work as we recycling WEEE (http://www.electronic-recycling.ie)
- Would your waste look different on different days or at different times of the year?
Other than the amount of packaging at Christmas, waste is pretty even all year round
- Do you think your waste would look different if you lived in another part of the world?
Probably
- If someone else examined the contents of your waste bins, what would they learn about you?
That we segregate our waste well but could do with generating less packaging
- Did anything surprise you about your waste?
No surprises, I have been monitoring it for years as our waste collection services in Ireland are provided by a private waste company. The Local Councils in Ireland abdicated their responsibility for waste collection some years ago. We pay for everything by weight except the Green bin, which has an annual fixed charge (€65). I am also involved in the recycling industry so reduce, reuse, recycle is part of the thought process
- Can you offer any tips for the reduction of domestic waste?
Focus on reducing packaging.
Only cook food portions to the amount that will be eaten, clean plates the order of the day.
Think about the end of life issues and factor them into the value proposition when buying durable consumer goods