Natalie B's blog

Is Recycling Getting Harder?

How is your recycling? Is it mainly your bottles and newspapers? Or have you, like me, become slightly obsessed with it - to the extent that you’re now removing all the cardboard sleeves from various food items, washing yoghurt pots and even putting the little paper envelopes from tea bags to one side?? No it’s just me...

This behaviour is all well and good if then can do something with said items - this is where the problem starts. Before moving back to London, I was in Nottingham, where I had a bin that I could put my papers / cardboard / plastic bottles and milk containers and another one for my bottles. Here in the capital though, it doesn’t seem that easy! I used to live in Balham where there were bright orange bin bags that you filled full of your items to recycle and it was collected on a weekly basis. Now I’m in North London, it seems the black box is the way forward which is collected weekly, but currently I don’t have one.

So I’ve been putting my recycling items in my car to take to the extremely modern and quite exciting recycling unit at Tesco – where you put your newspaper/cardboard in one section and then the fun really starts with the electronic hole in the wall that swallows your cans, bottles and plastics. Really it is fun... When it works!

The one I was using suddenly got moved to a different part of the carpark and every time I visited it seemed to be having maintenance work on. Needless to say, my obsession continues collecting the items to be recycled but… they are still in my car. So yesterday once again I set off to take my collection (yes I know it’s the ultimate irony to be driving to the recycling place). On my arrival – once again I was met with disappointment as the whole recycling unit had been set on fire!! How could someone do such a thing? Obviously mortified I continued on my way with my cereal boxes and milk bottles bouncing in my car to return home and call the council.

A very chirpy man took my postcode and house number and said he would send a black box to me straight away. As simple as that. So if you are currently making excuses for not making the effort, well there really isn’t one as it’s so straight forward. You can put the following in your box:

Glass bottles and jars, Newspaper, junk mail and magazines , Food and drink cans, Aerosols, Car and household batteries, Foil, Mobile phones, Shoes, Textiles, Engine oil, Yellow Pages

Go on give it a go.

Bye for now
Natalie B x

Posted by Natalie B on February 27, 2008 at 13:34PM

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