Ten people came to the first WaRTIG meeting; Discussion ranged from recycling ideas to composting to education and beyond. Notes taken by Jessica Gwynne.
(To be put on the mailing list for this group, either email the website or, if you are registered on the forum join the Waste and Recycling usergroup – click on the link in the top row of the forum main page.)
The group will in time be putting forward the Waste and Recycling part of the Energy Descent Action Plan for Transition Brighton&Hove, and in order to start the process off, we each voiced some initial thoughts:
We need to think about closing the loop - ‘moving people up a step’
people must take back their autonomy - composting schemes - could have community collection point; why not a subset of Freecycle to match up recyclables? Also get schools involved - ‘energy detectives’ etc
Have waste disposal and recycling facilities based in, say, six ‘community areas’ across Brighton and Hove
Should be more self - determination - we should learn to look after ourselves using permaculture principles as underlying basis. We should all talk to as many others as we can about Transition Town ideas - person to person is the most sustainable method
Lets have a system where everything inside your house can be re - used. Need to find ways of making it easy for people to not throw stuff away. Education.
Would like people to feel they can use less - when you do buy, the whole cycle begins again
What about punishment for not doing the right thing? Ask Council for copy of report from recycling research/consultation exercise; kitchen waste collection would be a good idea
Would like to see commmercial food waste collection - also encourage supermarkets to stop producing plastic wrappers
Why not get supermarkets and suppliers to recycle their own packaging. Also consider other ways of dealing with sewage - other countries convert it into fertiliser
Find out what the council does with green waste - Jo is going to copy and paste the council waste and recycling list into the forum to enable Sean to carry out his research
There was discussion of how to encourage people to recycle/develop awareness of the issues;
- One way of doing this would be to build towards a Public Meeting sometime in the Spring, and Peter Jones from Biffa has already offered to speak; we would also need a local ‘champion’ to speak from the particular perpective of Brighton and Hove: Ideas?
next meeting: Park Crescent Tuesday 8 January 7 pm onwards
Links:
ones to do with the recent withdrawal of the incinerator pollution permit:
The Argus: Why was incinerator information withheld
www.dove2000.org.uk
Decision notice 2007 (pdf)
www.storyofstuff.com (short film)
Gaian Democracies by Roy Madron and John Jopling (book)
(www.greenbooks.co.uk)
Notes from first meeting: Waste & Recycling group – Tue 11 December
