Saturday, December 15, 2007

How to dispose of your green waste in January

For a while I've been worried about how we were meant to throw away our "green" waste in January when the new rubbish collection system comes in.

I didn't want to just go throwing rotting meat and vegetables into my green bin, that would not only stink but it's got to be a health risk.

Well one part of the solution is that we're all going to get a "kitchen caddy". A green flip top plastic thing apparently. Food waste can be kept in that until we put it into the bin.

The next, and real, part was tucked away in the new issue of Greenwich Time.

Food waste can be wrapped in newspaper, kitchen towel or paper bags to soak up the moisture and absorb smells. Do not us plastic bags because they're not biodegradable and can't be composted with the food.

So it sounds like the newspaper is the one I'll be using. I'll be joining Greenwich Council in filling Greenwich Time with cr*p :)

I'm pretty sure that you can get biodegradable bin bags, I wonder what would happen if I used them? Would the bin men refuse to collect the bin? I'll have a look in the shops and see what I can get and then I'll give the Council a call to see if they're acceptable.

However the idea of using newspaper, which I'm going to recycle anyway, is very appealing if it can keep the smell and hygiene under control.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You can also use a product called cornstarch bags ( or something similar) These are a bit more water resistant than newspaper, but are bio degradable. A quick bit of research in Sainsburys: yes they sell them , but they are more expensive than plastic bin liners.

Anonymous said...

You can purchase 6-litre paper bags and cornstarch bags from Greenwich council... there is some info on their website but you have to phone them up to order them. I think they are about £4 for 100 bags.