[savbo]

Moddies - sorry if this is wrong section but I didn't think it was quite right for others...please move as necessary!

Our site is council-owned but society-managed. The Allotments Officer has told us that the Council are going to stop providing (ie funding) skips - and I can understand why as we do fill them up very fast! - and so the society will be liable for paying for them in future. So in true allotment fashion we've formed a sub-committee (hurrah!) to look at how we could reduce the amount of waste we generate. We already have 3 no.6'x6' compost bins and we'll be looking at making better use of these, but we're considering setting up a few more bays to allow waste to be sorted until we get a skip delivered (eg wood, bricks/rubble, plastic/general rubbish).
I'm also going to see if we can get some little recycling unit for bottles/tins etc.
We're going to do a leaflet for the plotholders giving advice on composting/re-using.
But has anyone else got any examples of good practice we could learn from?

Michael

[lucywil]

why would you have bricks/rubble to throw away? and plastic and tins? might be an idea to get people to take their rubbish home with them - bottles and tins, which can easily be recycled in the household bins.

[savbo]

I know we'll need to shift people's mindsets into taking more of their rubbish home with them but I'm anticipating inertia...

both the plots we've had had lots of bricks/rubble that previous owners had 'saved' but which we'd have no conceivable need of..the idea would be to stop these going into the skip and use them on site somewhere. With wood we would separate painted/treated from untreated and burn or rot down the latter... we're finding out if old greenhouse/window glass can go into any recycling streams... and we're thinking of a place for 'potentially re-usable' things...

[fatcat1955]

Get all the bricks/rubble together and offer it on freecycle as hardcore.

[ex-cavator]

I'm having trouble understanding where all this rubbish is coming from. If folk are bringing it to the allotments with them, then it's their responsibility to take it away again afterwards. If it's coming out of the ground, then don't the council have some responsibility as they own it? Or is it a case of skips generate rubbish - no-lottie holders seeing it as an opportunity to dispose of their rubbish, in which case, maybe some security measures are called for?  :blink:

[Zippy]

Give them 30 days notice to shift their rubbish. If they don't evict them and pass the plot onto someone on your waiting list who will be only too eager to take on the plot I'm sure.

[diggerjoe]

We are responsible for rubbish on our plots although wood can be burnt in the designated area. I wouldnt mind paying for a skip as I have to wheel all my rubbish home in a shopping trolley.

[savbo]

Although there is an amount of people bringing bulky stuff to the site (which we come down hard on if we catch them), lots of the rubbish comes from
- people taking on plots where previous owners have accumulated stuff (certainly applies to me, had to rip down a very unsafe glazed 'extension' to a shed, had loads of disintegrating carpet to get rid of)
- people having a clear-out of the stuff they've hoarded but now decide they don't need
- things that have broken - frames, pots, trays
I think it's right that having been provide with skips free of charge has created a mentality of using them...
all interesting posts so far, thanks

[madcat]

I think you are right about the mentality thing.  You must have a big site with a lot of back history.    
We are a smallish village site, when plots are passed on they are generally no worse than overgrown. Sheds are only small and tend to be sold on to the next holder too.  We responsible for all our own rubbish - we each have compost heaps and small fires and braziers are fine providing they are used considerately.  Some people take some green rubbish home (cabbage stalks, couch etc) home to the council recycling bins.  Stones (by the nature of the ground, there are a lot of them) get recycled as hard core in the parking area or for paths.  Wood ....  that goes on the fires but mostly finds a new use...  even branches that get lopped off the surrounding hedges in the annual tidy up can find a new life as pea sticks.    

[mikem]

How about one "BIG" clear-up day/weekend at the end of which everyone is responsible for getting rid of their own rubbish.  Get everything sorted, including under the hedges on the outside of the site or other communal areas.  At the end have one big bonfire for combustible material you could explain this to the council and ask for one last skip(s) to remove hardcore/cans etc.  If the council won't provide one free then is there anybody on the site with a trailer who could take the rubbish to the local recycling centre.  Good luck, I hope that you manage to get your site working on the same basis as most other ones!

[peterjf]

in depest darkest east yorks (hull) we have clear up days every 2 months the committee members who have trailers collect the rubbish if the rubbish is at the road end of the members plots ,

each member who wants their rubbish removing pays £2-00 to the person who is taking it away, but we still get members dumping onto vacant plots,

more recent we have had a few people bringing caravans onto the plot sight , the ghull city council are not too happy, inconsiderate plot keepers are partying until the early hours and disturbing the local residents,

its in the councils legal dept now about the caravans and partying

[Irene]

People bringing in caravans to an allotment??!! That's cheeky!!

[Dilly Dom]

Don't forget some waste is valuable, ie scrap metal etc worth collecting that separately and making a trip to the scrap yard

[mumofstig]

we have bins to collect stones, wood and metal.....but there's never any metal left laying around

[Ian_P]

Eh parties! Now there's a money making idea.

Can I organise a rave on an empty plot?

Or does the word 'rave' date me so badly that no-one would come?

I