AHHH! Summer must be over. We’re starting to throw our fans out into the “NATURE” strip!!

This is what we need to see more of. Electronic REPAIR shops!! There is a whole future here for so many. How about we set up an apprenticeship scheme for electronic repairs. Could be a very cool job. Get to use your brain and tinker with tools all day.

So why don’t we see more electronic repair shops? Well thats easy. Two reasons:

1. Manufacturers don’t make products to last

2. see 1 above

So what do we do…we throw it out at the first sign of malfunction. Very little we can do about it. SAD !!!
Electronics and techno goods could be like cars. Sell the product, then make the money on the repairs and servicing. So tell me…am I missing something here?

Buy the way, some councils have dedicated e-waste* collection days. So please, call your council before sticking your old TV out on the ‘NATURE’ strip. That is of course assuming it can’t be repaired.

*e-waste means – ELECTRONIC WASTE

over & over
wasteman

This time however I noticed from a distance that they had labeled one of their bins. I was so happy.  At last I thought,  Mcdonalds were going to attempt waste separation, something they have remarkedly never attempted in the past. BUT my happiness was short lived…

The signage on the bin had nothing whatsoever to do with waste separation. The message related to the parking machine installed in the car park and was informing patrons not to ‘BIN’ their parking tickets.

Oh, Mcdonalds… When are you going to realise that you have an opportunity, or could I say a responsibility, to educate the public about waste separation in your restaurants as they throw away their waste.

It is possible, even likely, that today’s kindergarten and primary school children will be the first generation ever to start questioning the non sustainable way we live – Let’s hope so.

It’s not a good idea to put your old fluorescent tubes in the bin (any bin). Fluoro tubes need to be carefully recycled as they contain poisons, that if buried in landfill, will leach into the ground. Also the poisons are worth good money, mercury for example.
So why do i come across an image like the one above a little too often:

Is it either:
A: Some people may not  realise that fluorescent tubes can’t go in the bin

B: Some may not know how to find out about fluorescent tubes

C: Some people may not care

One things for sure: What ever you stick in your bin will just miraculously disappear. Yep, I’ve said it a million times: It’s still way too easy to just ‘get rid’ of stuff. Too easy to pass the responsibility to someone else.

Here’s a starting point if you need to know anything about fluorescent tube recycling      

http://www.resourcesmart.vic.gov.au/for_households_2019.html?gclid=CPeDrc6Yg7QCFUlKpgodIV4AnA

Here we have public place waste bins on a busy beach strip in Melbourne.
The bins are three meters apart, they are both identical, both very expensively manufactured, look quite new and what’s even more disturbing, they both call themselves ‘RUBBISH’ bins.

There is no way we can have any separation of waste using this system.
Either the council feels that everything that goes into these bins can be recycled or nothing that goes into these bins can be recycled.
I thought we had spent years establishing public place bin systems to encourage waste separation??
Have we given up?? What on earth is going on here??
I’d bet a gold plated wheelie bin that everything that goes into these two identical bins will end up in landfill.
Should anyone beg to differ I would certainly like to hear from them.

over & over
wasteman

Just imagine for a moment if the ‘garbos’ didn’t pick up the bins for a day, a week, a fortnight or even a month. Our city would crumble under the weight of rotting trash. Oh it’s a fragile world we live in!!

wasteman

And another thing…If you are wanting the public to separate their plastic packaging waste based on a ‘number’ then for heavens sake why is it so often so damn difficult to read? The number is often tiny, hidden on the ‘bum side’ of the packet and moulded into the material making colour differenciation difficult. Anyone??

wasteman

Sprouts packaging (not made from PET plastic). Why?