People were recycling in the war years

RUBBISH? Let’s take a walk down Memory Lane.

The war years were where most people were doing their bit to contribute something.

Paper, wood and metals were worth money. Paper and wood were also used to light coal fires. Some bottles had a deposit and milk bottles were rinsed out and retained.

We were told that metal went towards making Spitfires to fight the war in the skies. What was left behind went to landfill sites. Now councils are intent on getting householders to do all the sorting into various bins.

How many bin men are now on the dole? Let’s get them back into real jobs as “pickers’ in huge buildings sorting waste.

There is little anyone can do about gulls picking open black bags other than making them stronger or the public placing them in covered bins. Gulls can’t open bins.

Also, stop feeding gulls in open spaces. And if people stopped eating in open spaces the gulls would learn and leave.

Tom Black.

HAVING just returned from a fortnight in different parts of Spain can I say that the use of Eurobins there seems to work perfectly well.

The large bins are in laybys or at the side of residential streets and residents take their rubbish out daily.

The Spanish authorities play their part by having the binmen come in the early hours of every day to uplift and empty the bins. I thought it was a great system.

In the three places we stayed there were collection bins close by and it was the easiest thing to pick up our rubbish as we left the house. This also saved the inside bin becoming over full or smelling.

Perhaps an increase in collections is all that is needed to see the system run as smoothly here. Take heed Dundee City Council.

System works.

WITH the vast number of Dundonian complaints highlighting overflowing refuse in existing and newly introduced Eurobins, isn’t this an apt time to evaluate the continuing overburdening of householders liable for paying council tax?

True, this may have been valid and enforceable to a logical extent when the cleansing department adhered to its proper rhythm and role of regularly emptying the bins — but since that has gone shouldn’t the council tax be reduced also?

Let’s say we should now only pay every two months. It’s unswerving tit-for-tat — if they don’t want to empty the bins we don’t want to pay the same amount.

And I can hear you ask, doesn’t the council tax pay for education as well? Well the kids are off school for almost two months and many of us do not have children and therefore are paying for other people.

Economist.