Back At It Out and about today litter picking through Storm Kathleen. Little bits and pieces of rain and a howling gale. My large garden wagon is on injured reserve having broken its left forelock and we were out and about with minor trolley. The pups have become used to the weight of the wagon and like to pull on it which helps me considerably getting round the village. We are not husky fit but they” hike” well. Because minor trolley is so light the pups took time to adjust. The first hour or so they were not stopping on command and that extra step was enough to topple minor to the ground and with cursing I picked up the spilled litter. A halftime talk reset their energy and we got a lot more productive. Litter picked Scarborough Road, The Crescent, and Church Street. It was heartening to see that the land behind the Miners Welfare was clean. Littering is not going to end, just accept it and carry on. I spent forty-five minutes or so clearing out the fenced garden at the junct...

Oh My Giddy Aunt Another Clothes Bag When I got home from a most enjoyable walk with our pups to Out of the Woods, I found another charity clothes collection bag stuffed into our letterbox. Another clothes collection It beggars’ belief that I have so many clothes, that I am such a clothes horse that I change with the wind, that I can find anything to go into this bag. We have a bag filled waiting for R.O.B. to sort their arse from their elbow and come and collect which covers an uncollected bag from a previous charity that failed to collect their bag when we put it out. When I buy clothes, I make a commitment to the garment. I have T-Shirts from 2005 that are still going strong. Unlike my wife who changes her wardrobe on a whim. Helpfully the bag suggests that if we do not use it then we can return to a recycling point in Cheshire at a cost of £0.89 second class postage. I wonder how many will be returned. I suspect most will end up as general waste. Ours will be going into o...

Breaking News Nottinghamshire County Council are proposing to re-organise the recycling centres in the County with plans to close up to nine of the twelve currently serving the community. Notwithstanding my dismay at the Bilsthorpe Tip being called a recycling centre when no actual recycling happens there, acting as a collection point for pre-sorted and washed recyclables its proposed closure amounts to wilful neglect by the County Council. The Current Estate Our Tips are located here: Beeston Recycling Centre           Bilsthorpe Recycling Centre        Calverton Recycling Centre       Giltbrook Recycling Centre         Hucknall Recycling Centre          Kirkby Recycling Centre   Mansfield Recycling Centre        Newark Recycling Centre       ...

Plastics in the Environment Be a Superstar You have enjoyed that carbonated beverage, it washed down those salty potato snacks a treat. Oh no, you are the horns of a dilemma!! What should you do with the empties? There is bin twenty feet away. Nah, fuck that, you cannot be arsed to walk twenty feet and use the bin, just chuck it in the bushes. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Well done and thank you. That act of littering is unlikely to kill you but kill someone or something it will. Wildlife will suffer immediately and over time that plastic will find its way to the sea. On that journey the plastics will poison the ground, poison water courses, and leave behind particles that will end up in the food that you will eat. And like smoking and vaping the damage will come knocking in old age. It may not be you. but it will be someone you know dying from a plastic induced disorder. Well done and thank you. Plastic Breakdown in the Environment Once littered plastic starts its...

Administration My litter  picking has broken into two distinct phases. Washing Station There is the Picking, the actual out in the world, humping through bushes, fighting the thorns and dead animals to get this stuff out of nature and away to downstream processing. As I pick, I sort the recyclables. Not every recyclable is kept. I have learnt that some are just not worth the effort to clean. Indeed, some have a disgusting mollusc type slime that stinks. Those I will leave behind. Half Full I take the recyclables home and clean them before taking them to their recycling points. This activity I have come to call Administration. Administration covers the washing, storing and transport of the recyclables. Washing is well tedious, but I decided to do it, so no real complaints. When I get home the recyclables are sorted again into plastic, metal and glass and given a prewash with the hose to knock the worst of the muck off. Our picking currently is removing historic rubbish, so some ...

A quick look at what we did in March The costings are in part based on NSDC published budgetary figures for street cleaning and on average figures for fly tip clearance. If I get any further clarity I will amend and re-issue. As with all things the human cost is the one to limit. The nominal figure of £3700.00 is charged out at £70.00 for picking and £35.00 for the various admin tasks like cleaning the recyclables and transport to and from various recycling points. So, the numbers published are “what ifs” rather than hard and fast budgetary items. We are far too small and lack the accommodation to sort and store tonnes of recyclables so we will never be able to sell any of what we collect. The satisfaction remains taking out eight-year-old cans and glass and getting them downstream. What I can say is that we have saved Newark and Sherwood District Council (NSDC) and the Bilsthorpe Parish Council (BPC) money. I understand that our general waste is sold to an incinerator in She...

Tuesday’s Gone with the Wind Stars & Bars on the wings of Freebird. Freedom is where you find it. Many find it but do not recognise it; do not sit and wait, be the change you want. Miners Welfare - Before I dithered over breakfast and decided on a return to Eastwell Court rather than the Golden Path. Both locations have a lot to give up so no harm, no foul, the Path can wait for another day. Another day may well be in May. Have you seen the forecast? Widespread snow in Scotland and rain for the rest of us. The pick began behind the Miners Welfare. The amount of broken glass is phenomenal, how no-one has been cut beggars belief. I think someone had dumped a sofa or such like as there was much stuffing knocking about, some of it taking root amongst the weeds. Scaffolding, a vacuum cleaner, nitrous oxide cannisters, an office chair. Miners Welfare  - After  Someone on the Crescent really likes the White Monster energy drink, I recovered eleven empty cans. Mind you ...

  Easter Monday The weather forecast having improved  overnight I knew that we would have an  afternoon window to get out and about.  The morning was spent prepping the  recyclables for recycling, a chore I find  decidedly tedious but as I said to the          raised eyebrows of my dear lady wife,  “it  is a commitment.” The first quarter of the year is over and the celebrations for 40-60-80 seem like yesterday. Here at Hive Five, we entertained some of the family on Sunday and we pushed the boat out and choc-a-holicked when the company left. Beer and chocolate are my new favourite thing. I have agreed to the camouflaging of the recyclables outside. I appreciate they are an eyesore and nothing to be done unless someone can sponsor an industrial unit for me. I had planned to pick The Crescent and then up and down Church Street. I need to be less ambitious!! I got a third of the way round The Crescent and stuc...