Recycling

Last year at this time I was all over Greenstar for the manner in which they introduced recycling. In the end, it worked out better than I feared at the time. We got a green bin and I found that I didn't really need a waste collection every week. Once we as a family got serious about recycling, we were able to reduce our weekly output to a couple of bags. Our black garbage can was not overflowing after two weeks without a pick-up.

That doesn't mean I wasn't right to wonder why we have to pay more than our neighbors in Dun Laoghaire for one collection less each month, but it was not the disaster I half expected. {I'm also glad that our son grew out of nappies before this new policy kicked in.}

Now another year is winding down and we're supposed to be getting mandatory usage charges for our household refuse in 2005. I haven't heard whether Greenstar plans to charge us by weight or volume, but either way I want to know what the story is with milk and juice cartons. Our milk cartons tell us they can be recycled. My children tell me that in school their teachers tell them that milk cartons can be recycled. In Dun Laoghaire, they specifically say "Yes" to milk and juice cartons, but the last time Greenstar mentioned this to us customers, milk and juice cartons were explicily listed as not recyclable.

This will be a big point in the new year. Cartons are probably our biggest garbage problem. We go through a lot of milk and juice and if we can recyle the cartons we'll greatly reduce our waste bill (and, oh yeah, help the environment. The Irish environment, anyway. Maybe not China's.).