“The Government has finally scrapped Labour’s “pay as you throw” plans for a bin tax”
Have you ever heard of anything that was so patently wrong ?
We the consumer were going to be taxed on the amount of rubbish that we throw into our bins. The then labour government and the local authorities seem to spend so much time looking at different ways to squeeze more money out of the consumer.
Why is that ?
It couldn’t be because we are an easy target, we don’t have the money to fight back and we don’t have the ear of the politicians.
Why don’t they, the government and the powers that be, expend the same amount of effort and create some legislation to force the onus back onto the source of all this waste. By that I mean the manufacturers, the supermarkets, the post office and leaflet distributors.
My wife and I are both over 50, still working, cook every day etc. etc. We are both of an age and from the sort of background where we were taught not to waste food or pretty much anything. Our local authority provide two wheelie bins for waste disposal. One for general household waste, the other for recyclable items. The binnies empty each bin on alternate weeks.
So which bin is typically full ? The recycling bin of course. The general household waste bin is usually no more than a third full and that’s what makes me so angry. Whilst I can control what goes into the household waste I don’t have much control over what goes into my recycling bin because it is the manufacturers, the supermarkets, the post office and leaflet distributors that pretty much determine the content of that bin.
- The supermarkets, it seems to me, package their products for appearance. Practicality does not come into the equation.For instance, why do the supermarkets insist on packaging 6 sausages in a plastic tray which is then wrapped or sealed with a clear plastic film. All of this is then inserted into a cardboard sleeve. How about they drop use of the cardboard sleeve ? It’s a small step but it would be one less item that I have to carry home and dispose of. Yes I could go to the butchery department and they would put my 6 sausages into a plastic bag with a paper label stuck on the outside. Much more environmentally friendly. However, not all the varieties of sausage available pre-packed are available there.
- How about tins of baked beans and tomatoes when bought in multiples or 4 or 6. These are variously supplied with plastic shrink-wrap, plastic rings or cardboard sleeves.Why not just do the price discount at the till and still supply the tins separately ? The technology is certainly thereMind you, watch out, as a multi-pack can be something of a con. A 4 tin multi-pack is not always cheaper than 4 singly priced tins.
- Why do I get so much junk through my letter box ?
The postman delivers leaflets for double glazing, insurance, pizza and lord knows what else alongside the legitimate mail. This negates all the trouble I’ve gone to opting to have all my utility bills delivered by e-mail. At least with e-mail I can turn on the spam filters and reduce the amount of junk I receive.Even with the telephone there is the Telephone Preference Service to prevent cold calling although this is largely ignored by the overseas callers that still come through occasionally
Where is the spam filter equivalent for the postman ?
And what happens to all the leaflets that he has delivered….straight into my recycling bin. Well not quite straight there…. I do have to carry them from the letterbox to the wheelie bin. Perhaps I should place the bin next to my letter box.
- Any time you buy a magazine they are filled with junk leaflets & scratch cards. I thought by subscribing to my favourite motoring magazine I would avoid all the crap. But no, there it all was secreted inside the shrink-wrap just waiting to drop on my carpet.
- Pretty much on a bi-weekly basis the local kebab, southern fried chicken and pizza emporiums drop me their latest menus. And can anyone explain why one of our local fast food shops, that supplies all of the food variants previously mentioned, pretends to be three different shops and supplies three different menus but all with the same address and telephone numbers. But the menus are delivered on different days ???
If the government would pass legislation making it illegal to overpack and prosecute the companies that break the rules then we would have less waste going into the wheelie bins. Less waste to recycle.
If the government would pass legislation making it illegal to post unsolicited leaflets through my letterbox there would be less waste going into the wheelie bins. Less waste to recycle.
If the Post Office would provide some mechanism that allowed me to opt out of receiving the junk mail they currently insist on delivering through my letterbox there would be less waste going into the wheelie bins. Less waste to recycle.
If they could just achieve just one of the above it would save oodles of money and make me feel a whole lot better.
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