Recycling for Beginners

Helping to save the planet has become as easy putting the rubbish out thanks to a new door to door collection by Mole Valley District Council.

The amount of rubbish we produce is becoming harder and harder to get rid of. Holes in the ground are being filled, and the use of those that are available is unpopular. Everyone accepts that you can't leave it lying around, but we are all very quick to throw anything and everything into the bin and forget about it.

One of the ways of reducing the amount of rubbish we each generate is to recycle it. The bottle, can, textile and paper banks in the car park by the Peace Memorial Hall are a familiar sight, yet its easy to have a list of excuses for not using them - "I haven't the time to take stuff up there", or "it hardly seems worth it for a couple of newspapers - it won't make much difference if I throw them in the bin."

Thanks to the new door to door collection by Mole Valley District Council most of the effort has been taken away. So don't put your newspapers, empty boxes, junk mail and cans in the bin - they are not rubbish but a potentially valuable commodity.

The response to the collection so far has been very good. Dave Par of Mole Valley District Council said, "Ashtead is the best area in the District, the response has been very enthusiastic. We expected to be able to recycle 13½ per cent of Mole Valley's household waste once the scheme started, but in fact we have managed 15 per cent, this includes 3 tonnes of paper a week." This is in addition to that being left in the paper bank, as the amount collected there has remained the same.

However there is still more that can be done. The target for household recycling is 25% and the council is investigating ways of improving the scheme, such as introducing special containers for the cans and paper to make it even easier for the householder.

Easy instructions - Paper and cans are collected on the same day as the ordinary refuse. Simply put your paper and cans in carrier bags beside the black sacks.

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