Working on a rubbish article

[Andy Hamilton]

Yep load of rubbish this new article, well it is about my rubbish.

Need to update it with the next few days but here is a taster, not sure if I should change the format or if it is a good idea.

http://www.selfsufficientish.com/rubbishblog.htm

[wulf]

It will be hard work to maintain - how about doing it for a season (taking it up for Lent might be a good one)? Also, if you're going to call it a blog, how about getting a free account with someone like Blogger(.com) so you'll get all the standard things like most recent entries at the top and the option of an RSS feed for people who want to keep up to date with your rubbish?

Wulf

[Shirley]

I rather like the idea of linking to a blog account.

I think the idea is great, and as I said before, we are going to cover this on my course with the OU... in fact, I'm going to recommend this site over there too so there may be a few new additions shortly!!

I think it would be good to have a thread in the reduce reuse recycle section where we can discuss or offer suggestions to your blog.

The only thing I would say is that it's only a good idea if it is done regularly. Nothing worse than any kind of website that is out of date... I guess you would either need to do on a daily or weekly basis.

[Wombat]

I like it! Mind you, I'm not sure that the words "taster" and "garbage" should be used in the same sentence!

Nev

[Millymollymandy]

Why do you take the labels off the things that you recycle? Do you have to do that in the UK?

[Andy Hamilton]

Why do you take the labels off the things that you recycle? Do you have to do that in the UK?

I think so, I always have done. I know that you used to have to and have just kept to it.

So looks like it is a goer with the rubbish blog then? - I don't like linking off site to much, but I think I might use a template for it as it is now a standard format. I need to work out how to accept comments if I do that though, I am sure it can be done.

I did not think of doing it forever as that would be a huge job, but perhaps a month long experiment and then just add signifcant rubbish after that.

[wulf]

You don't have to link offsite. If you've got FTP acces to a webserver, you can get the postings automatically shunted across. While I use a slightly more techie solution (slicing, dicing and balancing raw text files) for my home and church blogs but I'm just using a free Blogger account to feed data into my music and band ones.

Wulf

[Andy Hamilton]

You don't have to link offsite. If you've got FTP acces to a webserver, you can get the postings automatically shunted across. While I use a slightly more techie solution (slicing, dicing and balancing raw text files) for my home and church blogs but I'm just using a free Blogger account to feed data into my music and band ones.

Wulf

ah ha, cheers wulf.

[herbwormwood]

Why do you take the labels off the things that you recycle? Do you have to do that in the UK?

I think it is to avoid contamination. It is easier to recycle plastic, glass or metal whenit is all plastic glass or metal and not mixed with paper.
Also it is wise to remove address labels if your name and address is stuck on packaging which you recycle, to avoid unscrupulous junk mailers or fraudsters getting it.

[Pippin]

What are you talking about "unscrupulous fraudsters"?
Credit card receipts and bank statements I quite agree you shouldn't recycle, but removing your name and address just seems a wee bit anal (as in massively, obsessively weird) to me. Any unscrupulous fraudster worth their salt will have raid share registrar's registers, vote registers, bought info online and simply off companies who collect this information.

The excuse that you've always done it though, is quite rational (ish) and is the kind of thing I do.

There are many common ways to register not to receive junkmail for free. Some of them even work to an extent.

The rubbish idea sounds like a great but ultimately doomed exercise in monitoring. Sorry for being so negative today, I'm not usually like this. I've tried to control my finances by logging every spend for a month. I also wrote a journal of what I learned each day until the work server made me get back to work by banning my journal. Also it sounds like a lot of work for no particular reason. Is that why you stopped writing it?

[Shirley]

Talking to the recycling people on the info bus in Alford recently we were advised that we shouldn't recycle the labels from tins as they used an animal based adhesive which clogs up the recycling line... we were told just to leave them on as they would just be burnt off as part of the processing.

Also... we were told that we could leave the lids on bottles.. BUT that they must be scrunched down first and then the lid put back on again.

I must admit that I do destroy my name and address on any mail that I'm getting rid of... composting is a good method :D

[ina]

Many years ago, my father had a visit from the police, as rubbish had been found in the local woods, dumped in some boxes with our name and address on. We had a shop back then, and people often asked for and received boxes for parcels/moving etc. Fortunately the police were sensible enough to realise that my father wouldn't be that daft to dump his rubbish nicely adorned with his name - but still, the police had to check up...
So I can well understand folk removing their personal details from anything that leaves the house.

[Millymollymandy]

I always remove our name and address from any envelopes before recycling too.

[Ranter]

I too remove my name & address from all paper that goes into the recycling box, collected from the kerbside.

I remember when my Mum worked in the packing dept of a small factory & they used shredded paper as packing. Lots of this was from GP surgeries & not shredded properly, meaning patient details were clearly visible. I can't control what my GP does with waste (relieved that 'notes' are on computer though) but I can make sure my name & address isn't bandied around by my own neglience.