2nd Week of the new rubbish (non) collection scheme

Well it's half nine and neither the blue or the green bins have so far been emptied. That means that food waste has now been rotting in those bins for nearly two weeks.

A black sack of non-recyclable/non-green waste that I put out last night has vanished, but there are still other black sacks along the street so I've got no idea what happened with that one.

So will the rubbish actually be taken? Are they not collecting the recycling this week either (it's usually taken early in the morning)?

I don't have high hopes, it would be so easy for the Council to impress me but we'll see what happens...

11:40 Edited to add: The recycling bins were collected a short while ago, I don't think the green bins have been emptied yet.

12:00 Edited to add: I've been nosing around the Council's web site to see if there might be an apology for missing a collection last week (unfortunately no there isn't) or any attempts to boast about how well it all went (thankfully no there isn't). yWhat I did find was a page that gives the collection times:

• blue-top bins from 6am to 12 noon
• green-top bins from 12 noon to 8pm
• black bags in the afternoon and evening.

So they might be running to schedule after all, though my dissapearing black bag is mystery!

13:40 Edited to add: Well they've actually been around and taken the green rubbish! That included the Christmas trees! There's a lot of rubbish in the street though, most of which appears to be recycling stuff for some reason. However this is a massive improvement on last week!

Photos of my street

Well it's no surprise to say that the rubbish still hasn't been collected from Floyd Road. I'm glad that it's not summer, it really would smell around here if it were.

As I was walking up the road today I took some pictures of how it currently looks. There's also a lot of black bags out when they shouldn't be, black bag day isn't until next Monday. I didn't take photos of them because they're really the fault of people not reading the leaflets they were sent with the dates. The uncollected rubbish is squarely the fault of the council though.

The photos have also been emailed to the News Shopper and Cleansweep.

News Shopper have already picked up on the story, you can read about it here.

A nappy sack

A big pile of rubbish bags, the red ones are labelled "commercial waste"

A Christmas Tree and another nappy bag.

Another Christmas Tree

Green Waste was collected from SE10

Oh, a little update. Green waste, the bins and Christmas Trees, was collected from some friends of mine in the SE10 area on time on Monday. I wonder what other areas have been neglected and which have seen activity by the Council?

I've tried to phone the Council again to ask about the collection of the bags of nappys and trees in my street but as expected the phone lines are busy.

I suspect I'll go out tomorrow and take some photographs and email them to both the Council and some local newspapers, at least I'll feel that maybe I'm doing something to help keep the area tidy.

The carton recycling point it back at Sainsburys!

One of the new(ish) recycling bins at Sainsburys has been converted to be a carton recycling point.

I did write to them complaining that they'd taken away the facility they had to recycle the cartons that they themselves were selling (you can read about that here) and I doubt I was the only one that did. So it's nice to see that they have come to their senses and given us the bin back. It means that there's a few less things that will go into my black sack of, what I presume will be, landfill rubbish.

After the apparent debacle of the new rubbish collection scheme those of us who are keen to try and be green have some positive news.

On the subject of the new scheme there are still Christmas trees and nappy bags in my road, which is nice.

The morning after

Well something happened rubbish wise between late last night and early this morning. The bags of rubbish that the nice chap emptied out onto the street, and that had spread around a fair bit come midnight, have been tidied up. Which is good.

I'm not sure if the green waste has been collected though. There's some new bags of it in the green bin and I'm not so interested to find out that I'm willing to go digging. At a quick glance it looks like it hasn't and there are still Christmas Trees abandoned outside as well.

However quite literally as I began typing this a big rubbish lorry has just gone down the road, maybe they're finally getting around to it...

Edited to add: and then a few minutes later the big rubbish lorry went back up the road not stopping to collect any bins from here...

An exciting (cough) update about the green bin collection, or lack of it.

Well the green bin hasn't yet been emptied, which isn't a promising start.

After popping out I've also just seen a guy empty a green bin out onto the street and wheel the bin back into his front garden. I'm not sure what was in the bin but it was in carrier bags which certainly shouldn't have been in there (what is it people don't understand about the "no plastic bags" sticker on the bins?).

The number the Council give to call about refuse collections, 020 8921 4661, is engaged. I don't think it's just me whose had a problem today...

First bin collection under the new scheme

Well today's the first collection under the new bin scheme. I've seen the big "rubbish" lorry come and collect the recycling, which is good. I've not seen if the green bins have been emptied yet, I'll check later as that's the stinky waste that I want to make sure is being taken.

One thing I did notice this morning was that a number of people have put black sacks out. Around here the collection scheme is "Yellow Monday" which means that they're not due to be collected until next week. Still as things go that's a minor hiccup and people will learn from it.

Greenwich Watch have posted quite a negative take on this new scheme, you can read it here.

I'm a huge fan of Greenwich Watch but I do think they're wrong on this issue. If people do what they're meant to do then I don't think this new scheme is going to be a big issue. In particular there shouldn't be much waste in the black sacks, that will be out on the streets, that will appeal to foxes. Well I think it wouldn't appeal to foxes. I guess we'll find out next week when everyone should have their black sacks out.

Well the new bin scheme didn't last long...

... I had a look in the green bin earlier and someone had already dumped a couple of carrier bags of food waste, some of it still in it's plastic packaging, in there.

Great.

So fearing the bin men refusing to take it and the neighbours all being out I took on the somewhat sickening job of sorting it out. There was fish in there too, I still feel quite queazy.

Notes have gone through doors, hopefully it won't happen again, if it does I'm not dealing with it.

The new rubbish system is underway...

So the new rubbish collection system is underway, the green bin is now for food and other compostable waste.

We've had a little green caddy for the kitchen delivered along with some bigger cornstarch bags that can go into the green bin. I've been out and about a lot this week but even considering that I'm surprised at how much green waste we're generating. I'm glad that it's now not just going to go into landfill.

The Council are selling a number of "bag solutions" if you're interested, you can find out about them here:
http://www.greenwich.gov.uk/Greenwich/YourEnvironment/RubbishRecycling/DoorstepCollections/CompostableLiners.htm

I do wonder how strict the council are going to be about what goes into the green bin. True enough there are big stickers on them saying that they're for green waste now but will everyone realise that you can't just bag it up in a plastic bag. Surprisingly I do think that the Council have made a reasonable effort to let people know all about that. I've had a number of leaflets and addressed letters, but still some people are stupid and/or selfish.

Another slight concern is what football fans will pop into the bin on their way to a match. We don't have enough room to get our bins off of the street. Will we have to fish burger packaging out of it?

So I do feel some uncertainty about this new system. I'm very much in support of it though and I'm very much looking forward to having the recycling taken weekly, we're producing an awful lot of it as we really crack down upon what we do with our waste.

Let's see how this goes...

Some firsthand local history

A while ago I posted some of the history of Charlton Staiton, you can read it here. Well the other day a very nice man called Dave emailed me with a first hand account of growing up around her in the 1950s and in particular with some more information about the station.

I really enjoyed reading his email, it had some great pieces of real personal history about the area. In particular it was interesting to read that there were bombed out houses along Woolwich Road certainly up to the 1950s and possibly into the 1960s. It was also nice to see that it wasn't just me for whom a childhood day out was to go on the Woolwich Ferry :)

Anyway this is the email that he sent me:

With reference to your blogs about Charlton Station, a few memories still exist in my mind of life when I was a youngster, about nine years old at most.

I can recall travelling by train from Charlton, I think to meet an aunt arriving at Liverpool Street Station in the City. This was before the present station was built in the sixties. The ticket office was situated in a wooden 'shed' sited where the present tent like structure is built (the thing they built for the Millennium). There was a coal yard situated where the current run of modern houses are. You then had to cross the tracks via a bridge which crossed from the coast bound side to the London bound side. The bridge was sited at a point where there is now a shelter on the London bound side. The bridge was similar in appearance to the one that still exists at Maze Hill.
I have attached a photograph, which I believe was taken from the footbridge, which clearly shows the sidings to which you refer.

Further, I remember when the new station was built, vaguely. The Post Office used to be sited opposite the present station, in what is now a Chinese Restaurant( can't recall the name). For many years this building housed an insurance broker. Which is where I organised my first mortgage. When the new station was built, the Post Office moved to the new Concrete complex at its present location, but originally took up the whole of the building, rather than the truncated version that it now is. The Valley Cafe, which you also mention in your blogs,was for many years a Buthcher's called Lusby's. I can recall many visits accompanying my Nan, with whom we lived, to the 'Lane' to buy meat for my Dad's tea. Perish the thought that us kids ever ate anything like meat in the week. After buying three lamb chops, she would then pop into the shop next door to buy her snuff, sitting on the chair that was always placed in small shops in those far off days.

We used to sit on the wall of the road bridge overlooking the tracks as trains passed. One day upon returning home for my tea, I was greeted by my Dad, who immediately gave me a thick ear. He had seen me sitting on the wall as he passed by on his bike, on his way to work at the UGB (United Glass Blowers) in Anchor and Hope Lane, where theh Sainsbury Warehouse now is. It always struck me as strange that he never stopped to tell me off at the time.

As a young shaver, me and my mates took great delight in playing in the 'bombed out' houses that existed along the Woolwich Road between Charlton and Woolwich on the south side of Woolwich Road. Danger did not figure in our young minds, and the smell of burned wood still evokes memories of those 'safe' days long ago.This was in an area where the film 'Blow Up' was filmed, and although I have watched the film a number of times, I can't remember if the 'bombed' houses were shown. When I was nine or ten we moved to a flat on the Cherry Orchard estate, but I can remember that when they were filming Blow Up my Mum and Dad decided that we go for a walk around Maryon Wilson Park to view the film sets. In the film there appears to be a large terrace of houses backing onto the park. These never existed, and were just 'flats'.

Another great adventure I can remember is the day when our gang (No knives or turf wars in those days) decided to spend the day on the Woolwich Ferry. This was before the existing diesel powered boats were built. In those days you sat out on the deck in the open. I vaguely remember that the boats had two tall funnels mounted side by side, and I believe that they were paddle steamers, although I am not too sure about this. To get to the ferry in those days you went down a road called Ferry Approach which ran from Woolwich Road to the river opposite Hare Street. This area was redeveloped to make way for the new swimming baths.

Charlton ASDA

Now I've never been keen on the Charlton ASDA branch, something I just can't put my finger on makes me dislike shopping there. Part of it is that I've never been terribly impressed with the people behind the tills.

Anyway Pat sent me the following video, which is really rather funny. It also shows that the people behind the phones aren't a step up from their till based colleagues...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk9SOrtsEDA

Barrier Animal Care Clinic

A while ago I asked a few friends if they knew any local vets, the Barrier Animal Health Clinic was brought up. It's just around the corner from me and was personally recommended so I thought I'd give it a go.

I've now been there a few times for various minor things and so far I'm very pleased with it.

The staff, both on reception and the vets themselves, seem very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. I've seen my pet handled well and with affection not just on the first visit but on subsequent ones when the need to impress isn't so great.

When I've phoned them to discuss something they've seemed happy to talk things through with me and when they've said they would call me about something they have done.

To be honest there's not a great deal else I can say about them without going into a whole lot of detail. Suffice to say I'm very impressed with them, of the three vets I've had to use in my life they're up with the best.

As a bit of history the clinic is based in an old pub, it used to be called the "Lads of the Village" and then the "Thames Barrier Arms" when the Barrier opened. The clinic's been open since 1997 so it's reasonably well established too.

So anyway a big thumbs up from me and they've got my continuing custom.

The Details
Barrier Animal Care Clinic
32 Hardens Manor Way
Eastmoor Place
Charlton
SE7 8LP
Tel: 020 8293 6580
http://www.barrieranimalcareclinic.co.uk