Ultimate in reusing!!

[Shirley]

http://www.designboom.com/contest/winne ... ntest_pk=6

This is amazing!

I'm trying to choose my favourite but there are just so many ideas that it's impossible.

I quite fancy having a go at some of the ideas though - much better than chucking stuff in the recycling bin isn't it.

What do you think?

Shirlz xx

[shiney]

That's a great find Shirlz, I shall be going back to have a snout at greater length later on!

[ina]

Some very interesting ideas...

However: I just had a look at that four-compartment recycling bag. Don't think that's a great idea at all. The bags themselves are rubbish and should be avoided! Plus, you always get the same capacity for your waste varities, which probably leaves you with half filled bags some weeks, and overflowing in others - so more waste of bags.

I'm just picking up on that because our council has recently introduced bins instead of bags. Well, not a bad idea - until now the bin men used to pick up any number of bags you chose to leave out for them; now you are supposed to get everything into the one bin and recycle the rest.
Bins were delivered in time for the start of the project, however, they didn't have the trucks ready yet. The first week the bin men had to take all the bags out of the bins and throw them into the back of their lorry...
Now they do have the right vehicle - but the bin we have been delivered for our office rubbish (counts as trade waste) doesn't fit it - so again, the bin men take out all the bags and throw them in by hand... What if we said, we want to reduce our waste and not use bags???

The bins get emptied every fortnight. I wouldn't manage to fill mine in 3 months, unless I cleared out my garage. There's a couple 3 houses down who need two bins at all times, just for the two of them - no kids with nappies etc. How can you produce that much rubbish? Beats me.
(Sorry. That's just me being smug. )

Ina

[shiney]

Oh Ina, I am not surprised that most people need at least one wheely bin a week emptied. Most of them eat trashy food that comes in packets etc and don't recycle. (oooh..... handbags Nat, my humble opinion only folks)

I know this as I worked for our councils refuse contractors for two months last year. God, I got all the abuse in the books for the new bin system. (one week composty stuff in the green bin and the next householdy stuff in the grey) Basically, some people are bone idle, lazy and buy lots of their food etc in lots of packaging.

I can't wait for the dual system to come to us. Typical, the most ecologically aware town in our area, comes last to get thew new system! PAH!

I recycle/compost so much stuff. Yes, I have a family, yes, I buy things in plastic bottles (milk) and cardboard, but I do my bit to get rid of it by sorting and reycling it.

RANT over ladies and gents.... I am orf to me bed.

[Shirley]

Picking up on a few points...

We use milk in plastic from the shop... I am investigating the doorstep delivery option at the moment but it's generally more expensive and we are totally and utterly skint at the moment. We too recycle or reuse our plastic milk containers... they make the most fantastic egg boxes when attacked in the right way with scissors!!

The four compartment recycling bag... was off to a loser as far as I was concerned... for the same reason as you stated (Ina) - the recycling and compost always fill up quicker than the stuff you chuck in the bin!

We've had wheely bins for ages around here... and in some parts of Aberdeenshire they've just been issued with new bins... and there were complaints about the excess bins going to waste etc... so I sent the link to the design that made usable chairs out of wheely bins to the council... who wrote back to say how clever it was... I did suggest that they could make things like this out of the rubbish that is generated in Aberdeenshire, and involve the local youth in doing so... but that seemed to fall on deaf ears.

[ina]

I am investigating the doorstep delivery option at the moment but it's generally more expensive

I did suggest that they could make things like this out of the rubbish that is generated in Aberdeenshire, and involve the local youth in doing so... but that seemed to fall on deaf ears.

We used to have doorstep delivery out here, but that was plastic bottles, too - so no advantage in that way. However, it meant that I didn't have to go out shopping twice a week.

And give the council some time. Or better even, remind them of your ideas. After all, they are not private entrepreneurs - so why should they go out of their way to get anything done quickly?

Ina

[herbwormwood]

The bins get emptied every fortnight. I wouldn't manage to fill mine in 3 months, unless I cleared out my garage. There's a couple 3 houses down who need two bins at all times, just for the two of them - no kids with nappies etc. How can you produce that much rubbish? Beats me.
(Sorry. That's just me being smug. )

Ina

I live in a block of flats where we have communal bins. Whan we have got some rubbish we are supposed to put it in one of the big metal communal bins.
I use a supermarket carrier bag in a bucket as my kitchen bin and I empty it into the communal bin about 3 times a week. Other people use a black bin liner and seem to put theirs in the communal bin more often than me. They also put furniture, toys, cardboard boxes, beer bottles and cans, and pizza boxes in.
I pressurised for us to get some recycling bins so now we have 2 Biffa type bins, 1 for newspapers and 1 for glass. They keep getting vandalised and not used much for their proper purpose.
Sigh...

[ina]

I've had similar experience with communal bins. Unfortunately, the attitude seems to prevail - "what, me? wasn't me, officer..."

[circlecross]

I luuurve the watering can idea - how stylish!

I seem to find it ludicrously easy to recycle, (we go through GALLONS of milk in our house, but the bottles get recycled, either as soup carriers, watering jugs or just recycled), but then I guess I have it easy. We have fortnightly collections of usual recycling/compostables, and the Celestial City is trialing plastic and card collections. I compost stuff myself, and as I do go to the evil supermarket on occasion, it is no problem to take any other recycling with me if driving, and also to carry shopping bags. Cloth nappies mean less rubbish, and buying second hand means less packaging (sometimes). Our neighbours produce amazing amounts of rubbish. I wonder what it is? I think they must throw out lots of inflatables or something!

Susan

[Wormella]

The bins get emptied every fortnight. I wouldn't manage to fill mine in 3 months, unless I cleared out my garage. There's a couple 3 houses down who need two bins at all times, just for the two of them - no kids with nappies etc. How can you produce that much rubbish? Beats me.
(Sorry. That's just me being smug. )

Ina

I live in a block of flats where we have communal bins. Whan we have got some rubbish we are supposed to put it in one of the big metal communal bins.
I use a supermarket carrier bag in a bucket as my kitchen bin and I empty it into the communal bin about 3 times a week. Other people use a black bin liner and seem to put theirs in the communal bin more often than me. They also put furniture, toys, cardboard boxes, beer bottles and cans, and pizza boxes in.
I pressurised for us to get some recycling bins so now we have 2 Biffa type bins, 1 for newspapers and 1 for glass. They keep getting vandalised and not used much for their proper purpose.
Sigh...

We are in exactly the same situation. only our flat don't seem to care about the recycaling even.

All they care about is that they don't want to chell out any more money.

[2steps]

we have wheelie bins here - a green one for rubbish and a brown one for garden waste. The green ones are emptied every week and most houses put theirs out stuffed full and I see very few of the brown bins left out I find the brown bin useful as you can put cardboard and large sticks in that wouldn't be easily composted at home into it. Kitchen waste isn't allowed but thats ok as I compost that myself :) we don't have a scheme for tins/glass etc to be collected though there was where we used to live and I found that really useful. Now I save up a kitchen bin full of each in our larder and then take them to the recycle place myself. There is a street near here who have a collected recycling scheme and mostly I only see the can box put out and 90% of the time they are full of beer cans

[nogginthenog]

We have a great sceme around here (Richmond, west London). We have a special bin for food waste (peelings, bones, egg shells etc). This is collected once a week. They also provide a little bin for the kitchen.

I recycle my paper, plastic, tins & now food waste. This means practically nothing goes in the bin. And because there is no food it doesn't smell. This means I only put out the bin maybe once a month, if that. Fantastic idea. All councils should do this.