This Green (Bin) And Pleasant Land!

OK, our front garden is not looking at its best at the moment, as I need to get rid of the summer debris and re-plant with some nice autumn into winter plants but I am wondering if it is worth the bother. Why I hear you ask?


Well first, let me say that I am very much in favour of recycling and reusing and was very much brought up on that ethos. I came from northern mining background, what other type of life did we have the option of. I have always (often to Mike's annoyance) been seen trying to use the last bit, and trying to get the most out of everything. And I am happy to recycle as much as I can and have a compost bin on the go at the moment.


But, and here is where I have my problem, Milton Keynes Council in it's wisdom has decided to implement a radical recycling scheme and all houses in MK have been issued with a big green wheelie bin (of my title). Now I am not against wheelie bins, I had one when I lived in the North and it worked perfectly well there. But this green bin is not for our rubbish - we have a bin and bin bags for that, it is not for our glass, we have a blue box for that, it is not for our paper and plastics we have pink sacks for that. No the new bin is for our green waste, garden rubbish and household food slops!

Again I don't have a problem recycling these where possible but lets keep it under control. Milton Keynes now looks dreadful. There are green bins everywhere, outside front doors, at the side of houses, here, there and everywhere you look are green bins. Some people like our next door neighbour have realised that the bin itself is way to big for her needs and she has swapped it for one of the smaller variety which is about 18 inches tall, instead of the 4 foot things you can see everywhere else.


Now I am not having a go at anyone in particular, just at the person and the council who thought this a good idea - green they may be, pleasant they are not. Milton Keynes was not designed for this type of bin. There are so many houses in MK which have been built in modern style terraces and sadly people today do not seem to care so these bins are not kept in gardens but just left creating an eye-sore for everyone. The problem is people just do not have the space to store the bins, and in so many cases the bins themselves are too big for the needs of the people who now have them - even for us it is bigger than we need.


MK was designed rather than let evolve and one of the 'rules' was no aerials as they were an eyesore, so MK was on cable from a very early stage. Clearly design is an issue that no longer matters. Milton Keynes has always looked green, lots of trees, lots of grass and it is a pleasant enough place to live, but now, when you step outside your front door and drive around doing your daily stuff all you are faced with is green bins. It is a shame that a system which could accommodate this old ethos was not considered when setting up this new system.

Yes lets have recycling, as much of it as is possible, but let's have a system which doesn't create rubbish hanging around outside people's front doors and a system which doesn't spoil the look of the whole area. It's clearly too late for MK at the moment, or at least until the contract for waste recycling is renewed and and another company come in with yet another 'brilliant idea'.

I do hope to have some pictures to follow and let me just reiterate this is against the system and not anyone in particular.

Roll on the change of contract!!

Ciao

Sue

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