Funny old world. Week before last I shared in my local paper a new place I happened across to get rid of cartons. The following week someone wrote in to suggest that I had it wrong as it wasn't in the right place.For all the good it will do (some do get a critical bit betwixt their teeth no matter what - I got the feeling they felt I was the one in charge), I have tried to clarify:
While I share Mrs. X's frustration with the lack of a coherent national waste policy, extending from logistics to communications, especially as it dribbles piecemeal down to a ready, willing and keen to engage public from central and/or via local government, perhaps it is often best to celebrate that something gets done, if poorly, rather than nothing at all.
While I feel 'honoured' might be going a tad far, and as one who still struggles what to do usefully with Tetrapaks, in sharing the new facility's existence I was simply happy to find that, at last, there was an option now available for their recycling at least; one which I was not aware of.
But of course, having moved from what to do with them, we end up with where. I guess this can create as much spirited discussion in the positive as say, the location of an energy-from-waste facility can in the negative. If 90% [interesting to ponder how the writer arrived at this stat] of those arriving at Red Meadow to recycle do so by car, and solely for this purpose, then that is more than unfortunate. However if they park there to go swimming or, as do I, to walk through en route to town, then I feel the existence of a new means to get rid of more waste in a selective manner was still worth sharing.
Agreed, Station Approach is another good location (though I'd be more likely on a dedicated car-borne trip to go there, showing that what's good for one may not always be so for another [what's the opposite of a NIMBY?]), and if it does not enjoy a similar option that is a pity.
Is it run by the same folk? In fact this has got me to wondering about the sheer number of diverse entities, with targets to meet and quotas to fill (plus bonuses for doing so), who are actually doing what, where... and to how good an actual enviROI (a measure of return on investment to the environment in genuine reduced greenhouse gas emission terms that I coined and apply) all over our fair county and land. One often just has to trust that those tasked to do so, be it by the EU, ministerial desire or whatever, are actually doing so in the right way, for the right reasons.
Frankly a heavy steel skip to haul 90% fresh air in 1 litre card skins on a large diesel truck doesn't seem the best wherever it may be located, especially without knowing the distance to reprocessing. But I guess one tries to seek the positives. So until there is some trustworthy (!) single (!!) nationwide initiative (!!!) in place, communicated sensibly and clearly (! x a lot), so consumers can do their bit in the best way (eg: drop offs by kerbside or only en route in a car; and rendered in a minimum volume form for maximum recylcate content in skip/container prior to shipping), I guess I'll just concern myself with telling any who care to listen about new ways to stick it, simply hoping it's a 'better way' to spare their rubbish going into a hole or up in smoke if it doesn't have to. Whilst continually lobbying those in power to improve the situation at every turn.
And I encourage all of us to do the same. Hence I, and I am sure such as Mrs. X, would value an official view of what’s out there, plus why and how ‘we’ can best do our bit in light of the major efforts to encourage us to ‘recycle’. It’s clear that is not quite enough.
Hey, it's Easter Monday. I'm on a break.
