Diverting goods from landfill

Many of us feel bemused when witnessing the wanton throwing away of good items of furniture, cycles, toys, clothes etc at the household recycling centres on a daily basis.  And H&S directives prohibit us from taking rescued items back out.

I see that the Council provides info in an A-Z reduce reuse recycle guide, along with other organisations/websites on where we can take our unwanted stuff.  What I would like to see is efforts to increase awareness of these options and increased incentives for people to use them.

One suggestion is that at the Household Recycling Centres and perhaps elsewhere people are reminded of alternatives to tipping, including  Bristol Freecycle, Gum Tree, Trade-iT, eBay , the charity shops, Bristol Wood Recycling Project, reclamation yards, leaving stuff outside with a ‘take me’ note,  etc. 

Even better, why not coordinate with the Sofa Project and Emmaus to take diverted items of value to their depots.  The sofa project has a wharehouse next to the St Phillips site. 

Take this a step further

Wharehouses administered by a private enterprise or charity and as close as possible to the recycling centres, accept direct from the public all unwanted items deemed of resale value.  These items can be donated or exchanged for tokens which can be spent on other goods in the same wharehouse.

So I might drop off a child's cycle, an unwanted painting and a  bunch of tools and with my tokens I collect a dining chair and a bedside lamp.

There’s no money changing hands (although a normal cash shop would work) and so issues of tax, security, etc are greatly reduced.  It also encourages those dropping off unwanted goods to take things away in exchange for the tokens.

The household waste centre staff must also be given the wherewithal and authority to divert from the skips any items that they think hold value for others.  These items would also end up in the token wharehouses. 

Reduce landfill, encourage environmental and social responsibility.