Recycling - John C. Kirk

03:03 pm - Recycling

Hmm, well, that didn't go quite according to plan. After consulting the council website, nou and I walked over to the Factory Lane recycling centre with a pile of cardboard boxes. When we arrived, the security guard wouldn't let us in, because we were on foot, and it's only for cars. We told him that we didn't have a car, but he shrugged, and couldn't tell us if/where there were any other recycling centres that would accept pedestrians. So, we had to leave again, taking the cardboard with us, and dumped it in a skip outside the Telewest offices (sorry chaps). Oh well, so much for that - at least it's biodegradable. It does seem weird to me though: "Save the planet - drive, don't walk!" Ah yes, burn those fossil fuels... Personally, I draw the line at hiring a taxi to drop off my recycling.

I'll be emailing the council to express my displeasure about this. Certainly they should put their current policy on their website, to save people a wasted trip. I'd like to see them accept recycling that's been brought in on foot; I can understand if they don't want people wandering around in the path of heavy vehicles, but they could have a small area near the gates set aside for this (on the grounds that people won't be able to carry huge amounts), then have one of their own vehicles moving it around inside whenever the area fills up. And ideally, they'd actually offer some kind of collection on the street, so that I can just separate my rubbish into two piles and then put the relevant bags/boxes outside my front door.

Oh well, it was good exercise I suppose.