What do you think of recycling so far?…..RUBBISH!

October 31st, 2007 Written by Biz

I was overwhelmingly unsurprised to read today, that local councils are going ahead with their previously mooted plans to charge us for waste disposal on a pay as you go basis…they had planned this ages ago, and were always going to bring this in anyway!
 

The ostensible rationale behind their decision is that under EU directives, the UK must increase the proportion of the waste that it recycles, or face multi million pound fines. Well, I say that if our Government had any backbone, they would tell the EU to stick their directives up their unelected, interfering a*ses, as the Italian Government has done on occasion…unfortunately, it seems that our Government has less backbone that the Italians…no further comment required!
 

Anyway, as previously stated, councils had planned ‘pay as you throw’ disposal services for a long time and are now cynically using the EU as a justification to further their ends…that of squeezing us all dry with an increasing local tax burden designed to swell their coffers. Fanciful conjecture? Not a chance…if this was not pre-planned, then why have our bins been micro chipped…I’ll tell you why…so that they can eventually weigh our refuse as it’s collected and record the weight against our details recorded on the chip, so that we can all be presented with a personalised bill.
 

Now, you may be surprised to hear that I actually endorse recycling wholeheartedly…in fact years before recycling was even considered in England, I was living on the continent and saw the residents of Scandinavia, Holland and Germany, happily doing their bit for their country and the environment. I always thought that we should recycle in England, but even then, I knew that should we adopt this great idea back home, we would completely fu*k it up…and so it has proved.
 

So why is this? Well for two main reasons; the first I have already touched upon, Governments and Councils are always looking for more ways to squeeze money out of us, so a good idea like recycling, with a little refinement, can be turned into a sordid money grabbing exercise. The second reason is a peculiarly British trait…that of sad little people with no life of their own, gaining a little authority and becoming petty jobs worth tyrants (mostly council employees and similar types), trying to control their fellow citizens, thus:
 

• Recyclers have been prosecuted, fined and given criminal records for accidentally putting the wrong type of recycling waste into an incorrect receptacle.       
• Bins have not been collected because the handles were facing the wrong way round or because the lids were not quite flush with the top of the bin.
• A pensioner in his 80’s was taken to court for putting a small amount of household waste into public bins.
• Some households perceived not to be recycling enough have been sent ‘warning letters’ by their councils.
• Parking attendants are to be given sweeping powers to be able to inspect any black bags in your car, in case you are about to ‘fly tip’ in order to avoid ‘pay as you throw’ charges.
   

In a way, the blame for all of this actually rests squarely upon our own shoulders…the Government, Councils and sad jobs worth’s can only exert power over us if we let them get away with it…they all work for US and we should be telling THEM what to do!
 

For many, including myself, pay as you throw and forced recycling is one step too far and I’m not having any of it! If I was left to my own devices, I would happily have recycled…but they’re TELLING ME THAT I HAVE TO, so just out of sheer bloody mindedness…I’m NOT going to.
 

Furthermore (and I have to be careful, as I don’t want to be seen as inciting people to break the law), let us say that ‘a friend of mine’ has devised an action plan that he will follow as soon as these new refuse schemes come in…this is what he advises:
 

• Firstly remove the microchip from your bin and ‘sling it’…and if they put another one in…’sling that too’. No one can prove that it’s you unless they see you do it!
• Anything over the allowed ‘free’ refuse allowance should be put into black bin bags and dumped…on the steps of the council offices, or the Town hall or any other local authority building.
• Any parking attendant having the temerity to want to examine black bin bags in your car should be politely told where to go. If he really doesn’t have the sense to leave off after that, then any further action is at your discretion.

 

It’s finally time to stand up and show that we can’t be pushed any further! If we just stand by and let ourselves be walked over once again, this will prove to be just the thin end of the wedge…don’t say I didn’t warn you!
 

 

 

 

Entry Filed under: Rants & Views