Recycling

[fluffymoat4]

We all know how important it is to recycle and I just wanted to share news of a scheme that has grown very popular in our local small town. It's name is FREECYCLE. The basis of it being that if you have something you'd like to give away rather than send to the local tip, then you advertise it on a FREECYCLE site on the internet. You quote the item up for grabs and your local area. People who live in your locale can then contact you and arrange to pick up the unwanted item. If anyone would like further information then visit www.freecycle.org
We received details yesterday of all the latest items up for grabs and one caught my eye. It was offering a FREE working PC monitor (hubby is putting together a PC for his own use and was about to buy a second hand monitor). We emailed the person offering it and arranged to pick it up later today. The only thing that was missing was the power cable but we had a spare one anyway.
You can even advertise for items that you WANT for free. I've seen people asking for safety gates, empty fish tanks etc. The OFFERED items are things such as baby monitors, gardening tools, tumble driers, etc.

Once you have disposed of the unwanted item you then notify everyone via the website. It is so easy to do. Our FREECYCLE site is being run by a local lady who had been using another site in a nearby larger town. She got to thinking of the many people who couldn't afford such a long round trip and that's when she had the idea of starting her own, local website.
Any questions?

[lin]

HI MO..THANKS FOR THE LINK TO THE WEBSITE...SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA TO ME.
FUNNY BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN SORTING OUT CLOTHES ETC RECENTLY, AND I HAVE FOUR BIG BIN LINERS UP TO NOW.
I HAVE A LARGE COMPOSTER IN THE GARDEN SO THAT IS OK...OUR HOUSEHOLD WASTE IS A BIT OF A TRICKY ONE, WE HAVE DIFFERENT COLOUR BAGS FOR THIS AND THAT, BUT THEY COLLECT THAT ONCE A FORTNIGHT, AND IT'S FINDING THE PLACE TO PUT IT ALL...WE WASH OUT BOTTLES AND CANS ETC BUT STILL GET THE DARN CATS RIPPING THE BAGS UP...WOULD BE SO MUCH BETTER IF THEY PROVIDED BIG WHEELIE BINS THAT THEY CAN JUST EMPTY LIKE THEY DO IN SOME AREAS I'VE SEEN....OF COURSE THIS IS CARADON COUNCIL WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE...DUH!

LIN

[fluffymoat4]

Sorry everyone - I should have been more specific. Our local council already collects our cardboard and paper waste from a sturdy green container that they provided AND they collect our empty bottles and cans from a blue container that they too provided - both are emptied once a fortnight. They also provided any householders that requested them with a green wheelie bin for any garden and vegetable waste (our local council then makes compost to bag and sell to the general public).

I myself have three compost bins (and am contemplating buying another this Summer) and last year I didn't have to buy any compost for my borders!

The type of RECYCLING that I meant is a garage, shed or loft full of things you'll never get round to using yourself but can't be bothered advertising for sale. We have a hammock in our back garden for instance that's hardly been used. Come Summer I'll place it on the FREECYCLE website and I reckon it'll get snapped up on the same day. I usually wait until I see a "wanted" ad and, if it's something we have that's taking up room, then I answer the ad and manage to get rid of another "white elephant".

[lin]

Hi Mo....Still you do have those wheelie bins, more that I can say for this god forsaken place...did you used to get supplied with the old small dustbins as well? we don't, we have to buy our own, which I might add the bin men very often damage by smashing them onto the back of the cart to empty them when there's no need, all they have to do is take the bin liners out and throw them in the back of the truck.

We do have a place here that we can take tv's old tools, just about anything you could imagine, and they have different bins to place things in, they actually sell the big items you take in ...could be a fridge/freezer anything like that...would like to know where the money goes though?

Lin

[eileenman]

Here in our area, we have a black wheelie bin for normal household rubbish collected weekly,we have a green wheelie bin for glass and plastic bottles, tins etc which is emptied every 4 weeks, and we have a blue wheelie bin for newspapers and magazines etc, which is collected every 2 months, we were offered a brown wheelie bin for garden rubbish but had to refuse as we have no more room.

[lin]

Lucky you Eileen, we just have coloured bin liners for magazines etc...another for tins, cardboard is seperate again as is plastics, and bottles have to be put in carrier bags before being put in another coloured bin liner...of course there is the regular rubbish that is taken once a week...but the rest is every fortnight.

Lin

[fluffymoat4]

lin said:

Hi Mo....Still you do have those wheelie bins, more that I can say for this god forsaken place...did you used to get supplied with the old small dustbins as well? we don't, we have to buy our own, which I might add the bin men very often damage by smashing them onto the back of the cart to empty them when there's no need, all they have to do is take the bin liners out and throw them in the back of the truck.

We do have a place here that we can take tv's old tools, just about anything you could imagine, and they have different bins to place things in, they actually sell the big items you take in ...could be a fridge/freezer anything like that...would like to know where the money goes though?

Lin

Yes, Lin, we do have a large Black wheelie bin for our ordinary rubbish and this is collected once per week. All the bins and containers are free BUT if you lose one or damage it you have to replace it yourself. Which is fair enough I suppose.

What I mean about FREECYCLING is that some people do not have the transport to take something to the tip AND if it still has some life left in it then it's easier to offer it online for FREE. I have seen people offering say a Dining Table and only 3 chairs. I should imagine you'd have a difficult time selling it. To put it on the tip would be a waste. Put it on a FREECYCLE site and BINGO someone can always find a use for it.
At the moment we have a washing machine that's faulty but still useable so, once I've saved up for a new one, we shall advertise the old one as "OFFERED Free washing machine - needs attention" - it'll save us taking it to our local tip and it being used as future landfill. Someone out there may know someone who can't quite afford a new washing machine yet and so our "faulty" one would do them for now.
Any other questions?

[fluffymoat4]

To give an example:
I've just checked my emails and I have a couple from our local branch of FREECYCLE - one reads as follows:-
"I know this is a long shot but has anybody out there got a washing
machine that they dont want am willing to pay. mine has just died on me
and i have three teenagers in the house!. i am in carlton"
What a pity I don't have my new machine yet otherwise I could have answered this poor woman's prayer!

[lin]

Hi Mo...Yes I understand what you mean about the recycling, and the site is very good.

our ordinary bins are not wheelie bins, just the old small type...we're still living in the dark ages here...lol!

Lin

[fluffymoat4]

I even recycle the contents of my hoover and my tumble drier filter. I have begun adding both to my compost bins after reading somewhere that the "dust" we hoover up each day is full of nutrients from our skins shedding, soil trodden in from shoes etc. The fluff from the tumble drier are fibres of fabric that will rot down nicely too. I only add egg shells that I have crushed to a pulp - I have turned over compost in the past only to find egg shells still intact!
Anyone out there put anything out of the ordinary on their compost heaps??

[lin]

WE DO THE SAME WITH OUR COMPOSTER MO WE ALSO TAKE OUR SHOES OFF LIKE TOMMY DOES, SOMETHING WE'VE ALWAYS DONE.

LIN

[Lisa]

Hi Little Mo, I recycle ALL my kitchen waste, i.e, vegetable peelings, fruit peelings (not citrus), egg shells, coffee & tea grains etc. You can even compost your cardboard if well shredded, and tissues. I dont recycle my hoover contents in case they contain man-made fibres (which wont rot down) but I might think about it. I know the birds in Springtime love collecting the fluff from woollen jumbers and even pet hair. It wont be long before we have to recycle EVERYTHING. I've been recycling for years and even take my plastic bottles into Cheshire because MCC dont recycle plastic (not yet anyway). The compost from the composter saves me a fortune every year.

[lin]

DO YOU ALSO PUT HAIR INTO THE COMPOSTER? I PUT IN ALL THE SAME AS YOU DO LISA, BUT I ALSO PUT IN ANY HAIR CUTTINGS WHICH THEY SAY IS VERY GOOD.

LIN

[Lisa]

No Lin, I havent tried hair cuttings as I didnt think it would rot down at the same rate as organic produce. I do(did) throw my cat's fur out onto the grass as the birds use it to line their nests. I put it in an old orange net so they can pick at it as and when they need it.

lin said:

DO YOU ALSO PUT HAIR INTO THE COMPOSTER? I PUT IN ALL THE SAME AS YOU DO LISA, BUT I ALSO PUT IN ANY HAIR CUTTINGS WHICH THEY SAY IS VERY GOOD.

LIN

[fluffymoat4]

In the middle of cooking tea so can't stop on long but just wanted to say no, never used hair clippings in my compost bins, do they rot down?? I expect they must as you never see them digging up skeletons with locks of hair in programmes like CSI etc. do you?
Since getting a paper shredder I have been adding shredded paper to our compost bins too. If I put on grass cuttings I only ever use thin layers as it doesn't rot down too well if it's a thick layer then I only add them if I haven't used feed and weed on the lawn beforehand.
I do add torn up cardboard occasionally but since we have paper and card collections by the local council I don't need to dispose of it in that way.
I do add vegetable peelings and old salad items such as over-ripe tomatoes. Someone once told me to cut up old sweaters to add to the compost heap but I haven't actually tried it out yet.

When we first moved here I placed our empty compost bins on an area of compacted soil and began filling them with our household waste. You can imagine my surprise when on spreading the resultant compost around the borders that I came across a child's woollen glove. If I'd washed it I reckon it'd have come up as new! What is odd is that my compost bins back on to a neighbouring wall. She is a lovely elderly lady who never has children visiting so it isn't as though one of them could have thrown a glove over. Each of my bins has a lid on it anyway and the only time the lids are lifted is when I put some household waste into them. The only waste I use is our own so where did the glove come from?

Lin, when we moved away from the Blackley area of Manchester to here we left a black bin bag full to the brim with footballs, some cheap some expensive, at the gates of the house next door as it was their balls that they were forever kicking over. They stopped asking for their return when they broke our greenhouse once and we doubt they wanted to own up to it. They did sometimes come into our garden while we were out though so we nailed some carpet grippers to the tops of each fence panel and on the roof of our garden shed. Oddly enough the "visiting" stopped!!
You should all come and live round here in North Yorkshire - no gangs of yobs - no footballs flying over - no loud music - no swearing neighbours etc.... In fact the most nuisance I have had is the one where kids knock at our door and then hide but we've probably all done that one when we were youngsters ourselves?

Babs, lovely to see you back on here and still fiercely protecting your Mcr City - you are a true blue! Luckily I don't support any football team as I can't stand the game!

[lin]

HI LISA...YES IT DOES BREAK DOWN, WE WERE ALL SENT A LIST OF WHAT TO PUT IN THE COMPOSTER AND WHAT NOT TO PUT IN...

LIN

[lin]

fluffymoat4 said:

In the middle of cooking tea so can't stop on long but just wanted to say no, never used hair clippings in my compost bins, do they rot down?? I expect they must as you never see them digging up skeletons with locks of hair in programmes like CSI etc. do you?
Since getting a paper shredder I have been adding shredded paper to our compost bins too. If I put on grass cuttings I only ever use thin layers as it doesn't rot down too well if it's a thick layer then I only add them if I haven't used feed and weed on the lawn beforehand.
I do add torn up cardboard occasionally but since we have paper and card collections by the local council I don't need to dispose of it in that way.
I do add vegetable peelings and old salad items such as over-ripe tomatoes. Someone once told me to cut up old sweaters to add to the compost heap but I haven't actually tried it out yet.

When we first moved here I placed our empty compost bins on an area of compacted soil and began filling them with our household waste. You can imagine my surprise when on spreading the resultant compost around the borders that I came across a child's woollen glove. If I'd washed it I reckon it'd have come up as new! What is odd is that my compost bins back on to a neighbouring wall. She is a lovely elderly lady who never has children visiting so it isn't as though one of them could have thrown a glove over. Each of my bins has a lid on it anyway and the only time the lids are lifted is when I put some household waste into them. The only waste I use is our own so where did the glove come from?

Lin, when we moved away from the Blackley area of Manchester to here we left a black bin bag full to the brim with footballs, some cheap some expensive, at the gates of the house next door as it was their balls that they were forever kicking over. They stopped asking for their return when they broke our greenhouse once and we doubt they wanted to own up to it. They did sometimes come into our garden while we were out though so we nailed some carpet grippers to the tops of each fence panel and on the roof of our garden shed. Oddly enough the "visiting" stopped!!
You should all come and live round here in North Yorkshire - no gangs of yobs - no footballs flying over - no loud music - no swearing neighbours etc.... In fact the most nuisance I have had is the one where kids knock at our door and then hide but we've probably all done that one when we were youngsters ourselves?

Babs, lovely to see you back on here and still fiercely protecting your Mcr City - you are a true blue! Luckily I don't support any football team as I can't stand the game!

HI MO...DO YOU EVER USE THAT STUFF THAT HELPS MAKE COMPOST, CAN'T THINK OF THE NAME OF IT RIGHT NOW, BUT YOU SPRINKLE A LAYER ON AFTER WATERING THE WHOLE COMPOSTER, AND IT BREAKS EVERYTHING DOWN IN DOUBLE QUICK TIME, I HAVE MY COMPOSTER WHERE IT GETS THE SUN ALL DAY IN THE SUMMER, AND THEY ALSO SAY TO WRAP IT IN BUBBLE WRAP TO MAKE IT SWEAT...WORKS A TREAT.
AS FOR THE FENCING ETC, WE'RE NOT ALLOWED BY LAW IN OUR AREA TO PUT ANYTHING ON THEM THAT CAN HURT KIDS..BUT ANYWAY THANKFULLY IT'S ALL STOPPED NOW...FORGOT TO MENTION, THE KIDS USED TO THROW BIKES OVER THE WALL, OR ANYTHING THEY COULD LAY THEIR HANDS ON WHETHER IT WAS THEIRS OR ANOTHER KIDS...THEY USED TO GO OUT FOR COLLECTION WHEN THE BIN MEN CAME AROUND...THOUGHT IF THAT'S HOW THEY WANT TO PLAY IT THEN SO BE IT, I MUST HAVE COST THOSE PARENTS A SMALL FORTUNE.

LIN

[fluffymoat4]

Compost Accelerator Lin? Yes, have used it in the past but it can work out quite expensive. I find that keeping the bins turned over regularly can speed up the process just as well. I too keep my bins in the direct sunshine but no need for bubble wrap as they are plastic bins. Hoping to buy another one this Spring that'll give me four bins to feed!

Babs - you are sooooo right - poor reds would be billy no-mates without you ha! ha! (What am I saying? They'll all stop talking to ME now! LOL). PS did get the photos from hubby's trip processed AND I have scanned them to a file on my pc. Each time I get some free time I add captions to a couple of them so people will know where they were taken BUT not finished yet. Alan has given us a site where we can share photos with other MM members and I have signed up so watch this space!

[lin]

HI MO...THE STUFF I'M TALKING ABOUT IS ONLY 99 PENCE FOR A REALLY LARGE BOX...I DON'T KNOW WHY THE BUBBLE WRAP WORKS SO WELL BECAUSE AS YOU SAY THE BINS ARE PLASTIC ANYWAY...THEY KEEP IT WARM IN THE WINTER AS WELL.

LIN

[fluffymoat4]

Lin, I meant that it can work out expensive if, like me, you have more than one bin AND are adding to the bins every day - the accelerator should be sprinkled on after each new layer of waste has been added. I still won't be using bubble wrap even in the winter as I really don't need the compost to accelerate that fast over winter months anyway. Thanks for the advice though, perhaps it'll help someone else. Just realised I should be putting all these posts in the gardening section??