A load of old rubbish : Recycling is now more important than ever

The Telegraph recently reported that more than half a million homes in the UK have lost their weekly bin collection since the last election. There is definitely an increased trend towards fortnightly collection, which can become a real problem. To put it bluntly, no-one wants to face an overflowing bin or piles of ugly full bin liners sat next to it every morning! On the theme of rubbish, there is also an interesting new campaign underway, mounted by a charity called the Campaign for Real Recycling. They would like to see UK householders separate out their own recycling waste into various categories before it’s collected by local councils. At the moment, the councils do collect mixed recycling, but the campaign is calling for a legal review which would mean the Government obliged councils to start ‘separated waste’ collections. One way or another, in the UK we certainly seem to be sifting through our rubbish piles right now, if you’ll pardon the pun. Whatever the outcome of the changes for your household, here are some tried and tested easy ways to cope better between collections.

A Trash Basher is a wonderfully handy gadget to compress the contents of your wheelie bin, so you can get more in between collections. Tuck this rubbish bin next to a full size recycling one inside a Rowlinson double wheelie bin store. Your outside space will still be attractive and you won’t be bothered by foxes. Flatten cans with a foot operated Can Crusher to make more space in your recycling bin. Next, make sure your kitchen becomes a zero waste place! Recycle food waste by storing it temporarily in a hygienic and practical kitchen caddy with compostable liners. Periodically empty the caddy into your garden compost bin. Finally, any remaining waste can often be turned into free fuel - paper logs for your fire.