Embracing the recycling revolution

« Did I mention that I married a pilot? | Work, Peep Show and Mint »

Embracing the recycling revolution

by GilraenH ^Pro @ 03/05/2008 – 15:44:38

Hi there,

It's been a hard struggle to get Hubster and I to embrace the carbon footprint awareness message, so for fear that my garage turns even more into a landfill site (although we are supporting a civilisation of small mammals in there) I have created a 'recycling corner' in my kitchen. Glass bottles are being retained as is all cardboard, paper and tin cans (the latter appear to dominate the collection, I have to say). I even went the whole hog, being inspired by my ever environmentally-friendly sister (she even buys that eco washing up liquid stuff) to get a compost bin thing for the kitchen for all the scraps. Polo was particularly distressed to see it arrive as he thought that he fulfilled that function quite nicely.

The upshot is that I may or may not be saving the planet, but I do feel better about myself.

My Dad has never, in all the 50 years that he as lived at his home, put a rubbish bin out. He recycles everything. He even brings things back from the recycling centre. Like front doors. My question is - is there anything you can't recylcle? Apparently not.

Don't throw those old tin cans away - make an amusing and horrendously scary-looking clock with razor sharp edges for your small child....

Ho hum. Gil x
Options:
Tags:
- embracing the recycling revolution
Trackback URL for "Embracing the recycling revolution "

Enter this code:

14 Comments on Embracing the recycling revolution

Hide subcomments

- sweetladyjane ^Pro
- 03/05/2008 @ 16:04:11
We recycle like crazy and we rarely have a full garbage can but always tons of recycling on garbage day.
- - GilraenH ^Pro
  - http://www.gilraen.blog.co.uk
  - 03/05/2008 @ 16:35:38
  You are to be commended - it does make a difference. Once you get the paper, cardboard and most of the packaging of food out the way (and the cans....!) there's little else to get the black bin bags out for. It does make me want to look for food that comes in minimal packaging.
  - Reply to comment
  - Permalink
- jackfrost
- 03/05/2008 @ 16:42:12
"anything you can't recylcle"

the hair caught in the shower drain...straight in the bim!!!
- - GilraenH ^Pro
  - http://www.gilraen.blog.co.uk
  - 03/05/2008 @ 18:19:38
  Straight in the compost bin, I hope, Jack!!
  - Reply to comment
  - Permalink
- trintrin1x
- 03/05/2008 @ 17:28:05
My sister has started to recycle, the council even gave her a box for food waste too, it is a good thing to do, as they say "every little helps", i read somewhere that you are organizing a blog meet in Edinburgh for November, i would be gratefull if u could give me some more information about it. Trina x
- - GilraenH ^Pro
  - http://www.gilraen.blog.co.uk
  - 03/05/2008 @ 18:22:37
  Hi Trin - cheers for the comment. We are indeed having a blogmeet in Edinburgh in November. I'm organising it, and would love to see you there. There'll be updates here, but mostly on the blogmeet group blog - see:
  
  http://blogmeets.blog.co.uk/
  
  Do you live in Edinburgh? Still thinking of good places to go...
  - - RunDontWalk ^Pro
    - http://menomamauk.blog.co.uk
    - 05/05/2008 @ 01:00:52
    YAY for the Edinburgh Blog Meet!
    - Reply to comment
    - Permalink
- magnox ^Pro
- 03/05/2008 @ 17:51:15
I think it was my next door neighbour who said I was going to 'Eco Hell' when my time on this earth is done.

I use 5 tonnes of jet fuel an hour when I'm at work, I get there with either a 4.5 litre V8 BMW or a race-modified, turbocharged Volvo T5.

However... I do not for a minute believe that my lifestyle is killing polar bears, and my passengers who are off to the Canaries for a week away from the daily grind are not responsible for melting the ice caps.

The eco-tax that was introduced for airline passengers ? What a load of crap ('scuse my language). It applies *per person*, not per aircraft so if we have only one passenger, the government only gets a few quid, despite the aircraft using a fairly similar amount of fuel as if it were full. It's a tax on *you*, to be spent on foreign wars and propping up bankrupt building societies. Not the environment.

If they were serious about it, the govt. would have taxed the airlines *per flight* and we would then consider how to pass that on to the customer.

The government wants you to allow them to build nuclear power stations instead of fossil fuel facilities, deferring the envinroment pain to generations who won't be born for thousands of years. They want you to have wind farms built that won't cover the emissions used to build them...

A lot of this is politics, but at the lowest end (i.e. what we do in our homes), I do agree. When you can recycle something there is no reason not to, but if you think you are changing the planet.. think again.
- - GilraenH ^Pro
  - http://www.gilraen.blog.co.uk
  - 03/05/2008 @ 18:28:25
  I'm still recycling your beer cans.....
  - Reply to comment
  - Permalink
- MissyMouse
- 03/05/2008 @ 22:26:08
I recycle everything I can and my "peely bin" in the kitchen is just fab. It takes all the veg peelings, egg shells, tea bags...the list goes on and on!
- - GilraenH ^Pro
  - http://www.gilraen.blog.co.uk
  - 04/05/2008 @ 10:21:41
  I've only had it for 2 days and it's nearly full!
  - Reply to comment
  - Permalink
- PurpleDragon
- 06/05/2008 @ 10:12:33
We recycle. I do paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, tins and waste foods (although the dogs do rather a good job in that department). I try not to buy stuff that I will have to throw away, don't accept carrier bags (I use fabric ones), blah blah. Our wheelie gets emptied once a fortnight, and it is always totally chocker. I still don't understand why.
- - magnox ^Pro
  - 12/05/2008 @ 04:12:51
  It's chocker perhaps because it's only emptied once a fortnight ??!! Your council won't have lowered your tax, although they have halved your service.
  
  This is what irks me about the recycling/environmental thingie. It's a convenient way to tax you or to provide less of a service for the same money... god forbid you question this or you'll be labelled a planet destroyer.
  
  I cannot imagine how a family with a couple of young children cope with a twice-a-month refuse collection facility. Maybe they knit their children nappies from hemp or something, and run their family car on vegetable oil.
  
  Oops.. silly me... forgot. If you run your diesel on used veggie oil, basically a recycled fuel with zero harmful emissions, you are obliged to declare this to the government who will apply the same fuel tax to you as they do to petrol pump users.
  
  Can anyone seriously stand up and say they don't think environmental policies are currently all about raising revenue ??
  - - PurpleDragon
    - 13/05/2008 @ 08:37:56
    Lowered my tax? Don't be daft! LOL When they went to fortnightly collection, they also gave us another wheelie, this time in blue, for our paper. Apparently this should have helped with the quantity of waste (even though this one is only emptied monthly) but I still do a weekly trip to the tip. I can't see how they think this is more environmentally friendly, because instead of one vehicle picking up everyone's waste, every household has to travel to the tip with a bootful of recycling. Ho hum. Who am I to question?
    
    We have three young children. One woman in the village has 5 but 3 is a normal amount for around here for some reason.
    
    I personally think the whole environmental bandwagon as spouted by the govt is a smokescreen to hide something they don't want us to notice.
    - Reply to comment
    - Permalink