Forum Topic

Food Waste Collection

I see there is an article on the front page re food waste collection.What I think the Council has missed is that food waste collection is a brilliant way to encourage the reduction of food waste.  Separating your food waste into a separate container really shows you exactly what you waste. That gives you the incentive to find out whether and ways you can waste even less which also helps you to save money.Your black sack waste is reduced and becomes less attractive to magpies foxes and rats etc and you won't ever have a dripping black sack to carry through your house to put out in your bin for collection.  It won't smell as bad either.www.lovefoodhatewaste.com  is a brilliant website which helps to keep on reducing the amount of food waste you make - telling you exactly what food labelling means and helping you to manage the food you buy better with storage info and plenty of recipe ideas, great for using-it-up recipes.One of the best bits of advice I heard was to not buy anything unless you know three ways of cooking with it - and that generally means one very easy way as well as a more difficult recipe in case you don't get around to the more difficult one!     

Philippa Bond ● 2007d6 Comments

Not everyone is good at sharing but sometimes Councils will allow neighbours to share bins rather than issuing one of everything to each household.  Residents would have to tell the council that they agree.  Someone has to be responsible for cleaning them when they need cleaning and we tend to be more tolerant of our own dirt than of other people's.It must be easier to share with just a couple of different households than with a block of flats.  It also depends so much on good information being given to all residents so that they understand what can be put in the recycling. We have reduced our food waste so that we actually don't make more than an inside caddy's worth, although we use the locking outdoor caddy to put it out for collection and sometimes share a neighbours when we are using a compostable bag (some magazines are now received in these). 

Philippa Bond ● 2004d

@ Maxine  I googled the book you mentioned last night and it looks good.  There is also another one by the same author on going greener which may also be worth a look.

Philippa Bond ● 2005d

There are weekly food waste collections all over the UK.  If you are revolted by what you don't eat how can you not be revolted by what you do? The less you waste the less of a problem it will be anyway.  Many councils only offer alternate fortnightly collections of recycling and residual waste so a weekly food waste collection is very welcome. It is actually an offence to put your household waste into street litter bins so I hope that is not what you are doing.We learnt the lifecycle of the housefly in biology at school so we know not to leave food out where flies can lay eggs on it.  No eggs = no larvae. Keep food covered. 

Philippa Bond ● 2006d

It's one of those ideas dreamed up by people who don't cook.  In practice it is revolting, creating flies, maggots, rats and also vile smells.  Discarded food deteriorates very quickly into a slimy mess.  I can't be the only person who disposed of it in bins that get collected every day?

Jenny Featherstone ● 2006d

My friend who lives in  wimbledon, a basement , has 16 bins now, outside,  as the property has 4 flats, of 4 bins including  recycling pails each ..Just think how many pails for wandsworth, and where will they all go, some have no front gardens at all, meaning smelly pail of food stuck inside, or in common parts . Sounds great, but all those pails will be plastic..and are only relevant if you are lucky enough to have space ..

Penelope Becker ● 2006d

I agree. There's an interesting book called Leftover Pie by Anna Pitt that gives useful information and advice on waste and some background on how we became as wasteful as we are.

Maxine Campbell ● 2006d