Walking the dog on rubbish day can be hard work at the best of times and more so just after Christmas. Both our dogs are completely focussed on the black bags stacked on the pavement waiting to be collected.

Rola and Lamb are both rescued Romanian street dogs and they are still very keen to know where their next meal is coming from. As I drag the dog’s attention away from the smelly rubbish bags I notice just how much the people in my village leave out.

Waste and Recycling at Christmas

I am shocked by the number of plastic bags on the pavement. I have been trying to reduce my household waste to make my life easier and to do my bit towards saving the planet. So I had just one bag, and it was only half full. I weighed it – 934g.

I am reliably informed that there is a spike in general waste in January (East Cambridgeshire District Council, 2017/2018 figures). General waste increases in December and January by about 10% (100 tonnes in December 2017 and January 2018). There is also a reduction in general waste as we go into February. This levels the three months out bringing this quarter in line with other quarters in the year.

Recycling goes up and down by corresponding amounts.

Collection timetables alter over the Christmas period to allow for the holidays and some people put the rubbish out on the wrong day. It sits there for longer giving the impression that there is more rubbish.

My rubbish

My rubbish consisted of some polystyrene chips that came with a hamper over Christmas – yes Waitrose I am afraid – one used puppy pad and some cellophane. I’ve had a birthday too and the flowers came wrapped in cellophane. With the exception of the puppy pad the other two items came in the post – unavoidable. Of course, there were other miscellaneous bits and pieces.

Zero Waste

I am challenging myself to leave out less and less rubbish because I want to avoid generating waste, and so eliminate the need to sort it, transport it, treat and dispose of it. If the whole community did it we’d avoid having to pay for these services. I am aiming for zero waste.

Waste and recycling at Christmas? Where does it come from?

• packaging from gifts and toys. Father Christmas must have gone overboard this year!
• packaging from processed foods. Buying pre-prepared and processed foods produces far more packaging than cooking with fresh foods. It isn’t cost effective either because there usually aren’t any left overs; it won’t make more than one meal.
• Christmas cards. According to the Greeting Card Association nearly 100 million Christmas single cards and an estimated 900 million Christmas cards in boxes – a total of 1 billion cards were sold in the UK in 2017. In addition cards were also bought online. (Greeting Card Association)
• Christmas Trees. The British Christmas Tree Growers Association estimates that 7 million Christmas trees are purchased every year. (British Tree Growers Association).

Who is responsible for the waste and recycling and who should pay for it?

• Individuals – should individuals pay for the quantity of packaging they buy and then throw away?
• Suppliers – should customers be able to hand back single use packaging to supermarkets for example and leave them with the responsibility of disposing of it? Waitrose has committed to reducing packaging.
• Producers – should the environmental costs associated with a product throughout the product life cycle be added to the market price of products?

What can the individual do about it?

Answer: Reduce what goes to waste and increase recycling.

Answer: Think about what they buy and how it is packaged in the first place. If everyone does it producers and retailers will change their ways.

What’s happening in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales

Ireland

People in some areas of Ireland pay for their grey (waste bins) to be collected and in other areas they pay for rubbish bags (the bag and its disposal once full). They complain of course, but Ireland comes in the top ten for ‘best waste performance’ according to Zero Waste Europe. Estonia comes in top.

England

In England the concept of reducing normal refuse collections to once a fortnight has met with much resistance. Some councils in England have reduced collections to every three weeks or once a month which has ‘forced’ families to buy in extra collections from private companies. Rather than change their buying and recycling habits people are opting to pay for extra collections. Old habits die hard it seems.

Wales and Scotland

Wales and Scotland are moving towards a monthly bin collection.

Opportunity Cost

Some have argued that the most visible service that people get for their Council Tax bill is refuse collection. It may be the most visible but it is not the only thing. Just because the other services are not visible ie you can’t trip over them in the street, doesn’t mean we don’t benefit from them.

It’s a simple matter of ‘opportunity cost’. Most people have finite resources; they have to choose what to spend their money on. And its the same for local district councils. Its an “either or” situation. If we spend local district council money on waste management then we have to go without something else and that ‘something else’ may be very important – sheltered accommodation for the homeless, for example. Its no good throwing the proverbial toys out of our prams because we can’t have both. Its simple maths.

What did you recycle this Christmas? Could you have recycled more?