Re-cycling really works!

So we've moved into a new area, and one thing I checked out pretty sharpish was how to dispose of our household waste - this being a house in need of renovation, and us being a family who obviously produce a fair amount of waste, it was pretty important to figure out asap.

Well, I have been SO pleasantly surprised - West Oxfordshire District Council are fabulous. The local rubbish tip (I'm told by Robin) is clearly laid out and easy to use in order to dispose of stuff and recycle as much as possible too. But it's the kerbside recycling that I really have to praise. The list of things that can be recycled is SO long! They have obviously thought it through carefully too, as you can request how many recycling boxes you'd like, I have 3 lovely new ones (which arrived so quickly!) that I can separate the different sorts of waste into and make it easier for the recyling guys, but also, potentially I can recycle that much waste every week - instead of adding to landfill.

The result of this is that we are now producing 1 1/2 bags of waste that is not recycled per week - not bad at all for a family of 4. And, I have plans to cut that still further, at present we are not composting, and when I have that sorted, then perhaps we'll be down to 1 bag??!

It is a joy to have recycling made so very easy - if it were as easy everywhere - surely we'd all be cutting our waste dramatically?

All that said, there is one small problem with recycling so much - storing 3 large plastic boxes. At present we keep them out the front of the house, which in my opinion is a little untidy - but there is simply no space inside to accommodate them. A small price to pay for polluting the planet a little less I guess......