Just watch that the "cheaper than a skip " service is not one of those who take your money, assure you they will dispose of correctly and then dump anywhere other than a Recycle Centre. They do seem to be on the increase these days.
The problem here is if it is the only way to get rid of garden rubbish for some then they will use them. If the councils don't want people fly-tipping then they have to provide a service free or at reasonable cost. Composting in your own garden is OK if you have the space,many don't. Round here we also have a private company which provides garden waste bins on a monthly basis. If you have a contract for a full year it is the same cost as the council.Where it is better is that you can hire extra garden bins when you need them.So if you have a lot of garden waste at certain times of the year you can have as many bins as you need or in a quiet spell you could not have one at all!
“Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
I've noticed since working from home that people who haven't paid for the garden bin service just leave bags of garden waste out for the general waste collection and it gets collected :-(
I like the sound of that @madpenguin. I hope somebody sets up something similar here.
I compost but slowly Whilst I could try and put some of my garden waste in the dalek, I generally don't put grass cuttings, weeds or prunings in the compost. My current kitchen waste and cardboard input seems to generate a decent output so I don't want to tamper with that. Also, I don't use much of the finished product at the moment so the compost bin is generally pretty full.
Just watch that the "cheaper than a skip " service is not one of those who take your money, assure you they will dispose of correctly and then dump anywhere other than a Recycle Centre. They do seem to be on the increase these days.
The problem here is if it is the only way to get rid of garden rubbish for some then they will use them. If the councils don't want people fly-tipping then they have to provide a service free or at reasonable cost. Composting in your own garden is OK if you have the space,many don't. Round here we also have a private company which provides garden waste bins on a monthly basis. If you have a contract for a full year it is the same cost as the council.Where it is better is that you can hire extra garden bins when you need them.So if you have a lot of garden waste at certain times of the year you can have as many bins as you need or in a quiet spell you could not have one at all!
I see your point but we all pay for a "rubbish" collection in one form or another. In my particular area of SW UK. general rubbish is collected once a fortnight, Recyclable rubbish ( tho that does not include all supposedly recyclable stuff - you still have to make a trip to the local Recycle Centre for that ) is every week. The Green waste consists of a Wheelie bin for which we pay £57 pa for a fortnightly collection altho this can be a bit hit and miss these days. One of the problems I think is that whilst General Rubbish is included in the Council Tax payment, the Council tax does not differentiate between the number of people per household. In my particular case, there are 2 people but along the road, there are households of 4 or 6 people - all of whom produce a certain amount of rubbish each but are not charged accordingly. I'm not suggesting that this is just Green waste but a fairer way of charging for general waste may be a better idea and may give some of us a jolt in what we expect for what. The Fly tipping thing is surely a personal responsibility too - where is your excess rubbish going to be dumped ? Not saying all companies who offer a rubbish removal service do Fly tip but obviously many of them do. None of this Waste disposal business has an easy resolution.
In terms of brainstoming ideas, our council do a 'bulky waste collection' - which here equate to eight large bags of garden waste/rubble/ etc for £20. I don't have a car to take stuff to the dump so I do use that service if I'm digging out clay etc.
If employing a company to take stuff, look for the best and most reputable you can find so you are reassured they are not dumping in a wood somewhere.
I would guess there isn't a dump near you, but perhaps saving up waste and doing a dump run might be a possiblity. Or saving the waste in your garden until the waste service is back to normal.
There was some discussion of this last year when many services looked like they might be suspended for a while. There was a suggestion of getting a chipper so that hedging waste etc could be made good use of as mulch. Chippings mixed with grass mowings is an easy way to make compost if you have large bags to store them in.
Since a charge was introduced for garden waste bins in our local area (about three years ago) many neighbours share bins and do dump runs together. I wonder if your neighbours and you could work out some kind of collective solution... Someone local might well appreciate chippings or grass clippings for their own compost... We have a community garden where chippings are stored and anyone local is welcome to come and take.
Maybe contact a local allotment and find out some ideas or resources from them.
If you cut your grass a bit more often you don't need to pick up the clippings at all, they will just return to the lawn. It can be spread under bushes or other larger plants and I have used it pretty successfully this year under broccoli plants. Hedge trimmings etc well maybe a chipper would be an idea and again spread the resulting chips as mulch back under the hedge.
We don't have any recycling pick up here you can ring once a month 10 working days before your due date (which changes every month) and order a pickup, but oddly? no one does or more correctly no one can remember when you should ring and you have to drive down to the tip to collect the correct bags anyway.. so rather pointless.
But the general waste is paid for separately from house taxes and you can pick the size bin bag you want, it's also collected weekly. There's massive uproar here at the moment as they are trying to switch us from this system to one that requires 10 different "bins" or rather 3 bins divided into 10, and the price is going to go from the equivalent of £50 per year for a 125L bag once a week to £250 a year for a once a fortnight collection. Very annoying for us, we take all our recycling up the tip as I drive past it 4 times a week.
As to flytipping there is almost none here, the tips are free, you can go to them 24 hrs a day and they take everything. I really think with the cost of cleaning up flytipping it would be a saving overall to just make the tip in the UK not so difficult and expensive to use.
@Skandi The Recycling Centres in the UK don't charge a fee and there is usually at least one to cover the area in which you live - you obviously need a vehicle to transport the stuff and on busy days, you may have to queue but they are available albeit not 24 hours a day. Fly tipping has become a lucrative business in the UK - supposedly cheaper and easier and no worries - NOT
@Skandi The Recycling Centres in the UK don't charge a fee and there is usually at least one to cover the area in which you live - you obviously need a vehicle to transport the stuff and on busy days, you may have to queue but they are available albeit not 24 hours a day. Fly tipping has become a lucrative business in the UK - supposedly cheaper and easier and no worries - NOT
Posts
If the councils don't want people fly-tipping then they have to provide a service free or at reasonable cost.
Composting in your own garden is OK if you have the space,many don't.
Round here we also have a private company which provides garden waste bins on a monthly basis.
If you have a contract for a full year it is the same cost as the council.Where it is better is that you can hire extra garden bins when you need them.So if you have a lot of garden waste at certain times of the year you can have as many bins as you need or in a quiet spell you could not have one at all!
I compost but slowly
One of the problems I think is that whilst General Rubbish is included in the Council Tax payment, the Council tax does not differentiate between the number of people per household. In my particular case, there are 2 people but along the road, there are households of 4 or 6 people - all of whom produce a certain amount of rubbish each but are not charged accordingly. I'm not suggesting that this is just Green waste but a fairer way of charging for general waste may be a better idea and may give some of us a jolt in what we expect for what.
The Fly tipping thing is surely a personal responsibility too - where is your excess rubbish going to be dumped ? Not saying all companies who offer a rubbish removal service do Fly tip but obviously many of them do.
None of this Waste disposal business has an easy resolution.
Fly tipping has become a lucrative business in the UK - supposedly cheaper and easier and no worries - NOT