DISQUS

GregNaylor · 5 months ago

When I moved to Whitfield back in 1999, there was NO rubbish collection in the rural areas. As a result, we learned to avoid creating rubbish and after separating out the organic matter that went on the vegie garden, the newspapers that were kept for lighting the Coonara heater, the other burnables that went to the incinerator, we were left with bottles and cans. On our weekly shopping trip to Wangaratta, we dropped those off at the Moyhu recycling centre ... and nobody had a complaint.

Then, the RCoW outsourced their garbage collection and the rural areas had to be included to make it economically viable for the RCoW contract.

Today, our garbage bin is overflowing on a weekly basis and the rectcling bin is overflowing on its fortnightly collection cycle, This has destroyed the rural household's attitude towards minimising waste.
A by product of the overflowing garbage and recycling bins is that rubbish is dislodged by heavy winds and spilled by the garbage collection trucks. There are no council services in rural areas to attend to these spillages with the result that our pristine rural areas is becoming littered with plastic bags and paper products so who can blame the idiots who toss an empty drink bottle/can out of their cars as they travel through.

My solution to the garbage problem is to cease the weekly collections and make the residents responsible for disposing of their own waste through designated collection sites.

KieranBennett · 5 months ago

We had asimilar experience.

All the rubbish was seperated, organics went to the chooks or the compose, paper went to light the stove, newspapers mulched the gardens, reclaimable metal and aluminum went to the metal recyclers (where I earnt my pocket money!) and every few months we took a trailer load to the tip (where we paid a fewdollars to dump). Though we always left the tip with more than we came with, amazing the useful stuff people throw away!

But in recent times locals in Kancoona campaigned for the right to roadside garbage! Thankfully Alpine council allowed people to opt out, which our farm did.