CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh

"Wheelie bins to be almost halved in size"

(52 posts)

No tags yet.


12

  1. acsimpson
    Member

    That all sounds very sensible. I think the important word is choose. We all make choices which have environmental consequences. I'm not going to pretend I'm perfect, amongst other things I spend a certain amount of time airborne in any given year.

    I don't have an issue with people who choose to use disposable nappies, or choose to own a tumble drier but what I dislike is seeing the council handing out larger capacity bins to anyone who asks for them (with, I guess, no review for whether they stop being eligible.

    Their policy on this seems quite similar to their policy on cars... yes we know you could cycle/walk/take the bus to work but as you've chosen not to we'll build a new road/create a new car park/add parking places to out flagship cycleroute.

    My final question for now is what check the council will have in place before a new bin is issued. Will the refuse department be checking our household records to see exactly who lives there or just taking our word for it?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  2. steveo
    Member

    have I said 'everyone must use cloth nappies'? No.

    By the same token, I've taken it as read you are more organised than I and have never suggested you should be using disposables and a tumble dryer.

    I do need this device (and a great many others), I don't have the time spend on top of everything else I want to do with my time. Adding more washing on top and the consequential increase in my electricity bill and general dampness round the house is the decider on disposables not the supposed convenience of the things.

    Any environmental concern either way is completely obliterated by the fact we have children in the first place. A bakfietsen with two kids makes the child free owner of a 4l V8 Rage Rover look positively green.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  3. kaputnik
    Moderator

    I want to do with my time. Adding more washing on top and the consequential increase in my electricity bill and general dampness round the house is the decider on disposables not the supposed convenience of the things

    There was a (Rospa I think?) survey a while back about how drying laundry in your house can be a bad thing due to the dampness it puts into the air especially if your house is smaller, has a pre-existing damp issue, lack of ventilation etc.

    I've certainly found that even in my basement tenement flat with the window open, in the summer, when it's fairly warm, even light items like t-shirts and underwears can take 1 or 2 days to dry inside when they might take 2 hours on the line. Add on to that baby clothes, bibs, blankets etc. and for many people it might not be a healthy environment surrounded by damp washing. Overhead pulleys can be great, but not everyone has the luxury of either strong overhead rafters or a compliant landlord (or in newer builds, sufficient overhead ceiling clearance).

    People's choices will be very much dictated by their surroundings. Even finding the space in a small tenement flat for the big blue box for glass bottles and the big red box for card and metal, and the bag for newspapers and the caddy for garden waste can be a real achievement. I can see why many people probably can't be bothered with it all.

    And heaven knows where I'd fit a tumble dryer in! Glad to be moving to bigger premises, although still might end up struggling to fit in a tumble drier with adequate ventilation. Previously had one of those condensing ones in an old flat that collected water in a wee tray, but wasn't that imrpessed with it. I'm scheming up one of those old fashioned pulley systems to be mounted out of the back bedroom window.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  4. Roibeard
    Member

    I'll roll out Hans Rosling for the second time in two days - I would question whether human population maintenance (or even growth) is an evil...

    Although to be honest, that's probably as much a faith issue as a philosophical position - humans are not the despoilers of the earth, rather stewards of it, designed to tend the earth rather than exploit it.

    Anyway, in an independent Scotland, we're going to need population growth to balance the books!

    NB no judgement passed either way on personal choice or personal circumstances - children are not the be all and end all, nor an environmental disaster...

    Robert

    Posted 11 years ago #

  5. steveo
    Member

    Although to be honest, that's probably as much a faith issue as a philosophical position -

    Probably, being entirely hypocritical and hard nosed; the last thing the planet or more realistically the inhabitants of it need is more humans especially if they have an expectation to live in the way "we've" become accustomed and they have every right too. As a species we are using resources faster than they can be replaced I'm sure you'll agree this is not great stewardship. Maybe we'll get cold fusion in a decade and all will be good.

    Fusion, replicators and warp drive before I die please..

    Posted 11 years ago #

  6. cb
    Member

    "designed to tend the earth rather than exploit it."

    No design about it, it is just the position we have found ourselves in.
    But certainly if no one has any more children then we might as well burn all the coal and not waste a lot of time manufacturing lots of grey wheely bins.

    There is a theory that life anywhere in the universe will destroy itself after so long when it evolves to a certain level.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  7. chdot
    Admin

    "humans are not the despoilers of the earth, rather stewards of it, designed to tend the earth rather than exploit it."

    Nice theory, not working well in practice.

    "Anyway, in an independent Scotland, we're going to need population growth to balance the books!"

    That is certainly the case based on current conventions of needing more people to earn more money to pay for more old people...

    Whether that is done by "breeding" (Ukip) or 'sensible immigration policies' (SNP) is probably not important!

    Faith and philosophy may or may not conflict on this one.

    It seems clear that the current and future population of the world cannot realistically aspire to the 'lifestyle' - use of land, food, water, energy, etc. of the 'average' European (not even 'just' in Europe).

    A new source of non-polluting energy would be nice. I'm not convinced it will be available in 'wind and wave rich Scotland' before the oil under the North Sea runs out. (In any case that's really only dealing with electricity, not transport or all fossil fuel based inputs into agriculture).

    Posted 11 years ago #

  8. Roibeard
    Member

    "humans are not the despoilers of the earth, rather stewards of it, designed to tend the earth rather than exploit it."

    Nice theory, not working well in practice.

    Indeed, original design and current expression of that design have diverged...

    <scowls>

    There will be a reckoning - and not just by any future generations.

    </scowls>

    Oops, came over all sandwich board there, anyway sorry to have aligned myself with UKIP above!

    Robert

    Posted 11 years ago #

  9. chdot
    Admin

    "There will be a reckoning - and not just by any future generations. "

    Not sure if that is a biblical reference or about Climate Change - or a combination...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  10. Roibeard
    Member

    <grin>

    Probably both, although there may only be a solution for the ultimate reckoning - I'm not sure if there's a messianic hope for climate change...

    Robert

    Posted 11 years ago #

  11. chdot
    Admin

    "
    Homes in the northern, eastern and southern districts of the Capital will receive a 140-litre waste bin and one box – replacing the red and blue recycling containers – in the first phase of 140,000-home roll-out launching on September 1.

    "

    http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/new-smaller-wheelie-bins-to-encourage-recycling-1-3458925

    Posted 11 years ago #

  12. wingpig
    Member

    Yay. Should cover us. Wonder if my neighbours will pretend their dog and rabbit are babies to keep their big bin, which is never not overflowing on bin day...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  13. chdot
    Admin

    "

    ENVIRONMENTAL chiefs have admitted the Capital is playing catch-up on recycling as they revealed the latest areas in line for “slimmed-down” wheelie bins in a bid to drive down landfill rates.

    City households are currently recycling just over 40 per cent of all waste – nearly 10 per cent behind a national target which should have been hit this year.

    "

    http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/politics/slimmer-recycling-bins-rolled-out-1-3469653

    Posted 11 years ago #

  14. neddie
    Member

    In every other civilised country in Europe they charge per kg of non-recycled waste. They simply automatically weigh the bin as it is loaded on the lorry.

    If you 'can't be bothered' to recycle (like Unintelligent Chauvinist) then you have to pay for it. Simples.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  15. LivM
    Member

    The challenge there would be communal bin charging.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  16. acsimpson
    Member

    Not to mention finding a way to stopping people putting rubbish into other's bins and not penalising people for picking up litter.

    For instance there is a lady in our street who regularly walks around the neighbourhood picking up rubbish which people have left behind. Why should she then also have to pay for the collection of it?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  17. kaputnik
    Moderator

    The new house has a very swish bin unit hidden in a cupboard with 2 big caddies and 2 small caddies, each of which can be removed on its own. We've had a house meeting and decided general waste and packaging recycling go in the 2 big ones, compost and paper in the 2 small ones.

    If we could recycle more than just plastic milk jugs and bottles, we'd easily get away with a small caddy for the general "landfill" waste.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  18. chdot
    Admin

    http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/army-of-staff-to-tackle-litter-problems-in-city-1-3472456

    Posted 11 years ago #

  19. Min
    Member

    So we are apparently in one of the experimental areas and have just got the new instructions. I was hoping it would simplify things but what we have ended up with is some sort of fiendishly complicated chart that reminds me of a weird game show from years ago that I can't remember the name of. You had to jump across a floor with lots of coloured shapes on it and if you jumped on the wrong shape, something called the Vortex would get you and jettison you into outer space or something. It was all very perilous. If I put the wrong bin out on the wrong coloured shape, I'm doomed.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  20. Stickman
    Member

    Min - I think it was called The Adventure Game.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  21. Min
    Member

    Ooh yes, that was it! Thank you. :-)

    Posted 10 years ago #

  22. Min
    Member

    The Adventure Game

    It looks as if I am actually thinking of the Drogna game rather than the Vortex.

    There is a rule determining whether a user is allowed to move from a particular drogna to another drogna. (One common example is: A player may move to any drogna with the same colour or shape as the one on which they started the turn. For example, you may move from a red triangle to any red shape or a triangle of any colour.)
    A player may only move to an adjacent drogna. However, a player may move across multiple drognas in one turn provided they all meet the given criteria. Hence, the drogna on which the player started the turn is not necessarily the drogna they have immediately left.
    If a player breaks the movement rule, the crystal retracts such that it cannot be taken.

    Just substitute the word "crystal" for "wheelie bin" and this is pretty much the new rules.

    Posted 10 years ago #

RSS feed for this topic

12

Reply

You must log in to post.


Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin