In a bold move for transparency in relation to the food organics garden organics (FOGO) debate, Muswellbrook Shire Mayor Steve Reynolds has lifted the lid on his own bins to help the community.
Having been openly sceptical of how his own family will manage when general waste collection drops back to fortnightly, Steve invited councils manager of water and waste Joann Polzen around to do an audit on his bins before they were collected last week.
“For me it was about learning myself and throwing it out there and saying, well, if I’m going to lead the way, I need to be able to show that I’m doing things correctly,” Cr Reynolds said as filming of the audit wrapped up last week.
“We’ve just learned today that in many areas, I’m not doing the correct thing when it comes to the waste management, but I feel more confident after having it explained.”
Cr Reynolds said there was an inherent need to walk the walk if he was going to talk the talk.
“FOGO is something that the State Government is imposing on all local governments, so we need to find ways to make it work in our community.”
With a family of up to five in their home, Cr Reynolds admitted that it was not uncommon that they needed to have one of their kids stomp down their overflowing red bin each week despite feeling like they were good at recycling.
Come the end of the exercise around a third of the waste previously in the red bin had been deemed recyclable, and three of the supplied FOGO waste bags were filled with scraps that will go into the green bin from next month.
The red bin went from propped open by one of the full garbage bags, to only being around half full and awaiting their regular pickup.
“What an exercise it has been, I can see from my own house obviously there’s education needs,” a more optimistic Cr Reynolds concluded.
“I know there’s people out there with families bigger than mine with other needs, but I guess it’s going through that process.”
Some key tips taken away from sifting through Muswellbrook Shire Council mayor Steve Reynolds bins were:
- Cardboard food packaging that is heavily wet with grease or food must go in the red bin,
- Hard Plastics that make crunching sounds when you grasp them can be recycled, (not foil chip packets)
- Check packaging labels for recycling instructions, some supermarket meat packaging is recyclable with the film still attached and rinsed,
- Soft plastics like bread bags that are marked ‘return to store’ must go in general waste as recycling facilities are not available in our area (the wider industry and stores are working on this and will advertise when things change),
- To make room in the recycling bin flatten / break down boxes and squash air out of bottles and replace the lid,
- Wax paper must go in the red bin, so too must poly/layered/cardboard take away drink containers or coffee mugs,
- If you are concerned about smells from FOGO waste, freeze it in the bags until you put your bin out,
- Regularly rinsing out your bin will also help reduce smells,
- If using teabags, the contents can be emptied into FOGO bins and the bag, tag and string needs to go in the red bin,
- Ball clean foil up into around a fist sized ball before putting it in the recycling so sensors can pick it up,
- Reducing what waste comes into your home (purchasing choices), and finding ways to repurpose things will always be the best way to have less rubbish in your bin.
