Back in the ‘old days,’ many Aucklanders had one dirty old rubbish bin. They put that pout on the roadside and if remember correctly, as it was sometimes my job, the bin was actually quite small. My dad used to make some compost and he also burnt some rubbish in the back yard.
Now of course things are very different and they are about to get even more complicated. We may have up to three bins with all sorts of restrictions about what goes in which bin and will need to limit some ‘recyclables’ to less than 5%. I doubt whether many of us could even spell recyclables in the past never lone actually know what such ‘things’ even were.
Over the next few years we are going to all need to know exactly what ‘goes in which bin,’ or we will face the ire of council workers, who will at least ‘educate’ us as to the correct procedure. Can’t you just see how some households are going to handle this most difficult of tasks. Can you not also see the huge number of bins crowding our verges on collection days? Picture the plethora of colourful bins, some with stickers on them ‘telling us that we have done wrong.’
I think it is going to take time. It is all very well for the council to tell us that we need to compost and recycle. Just imagine the scene at some of the tower block apartment buildings. It’s going to be one big mess and people are going to get really frustrated; both with their own ignorance and unwillingness to co ply and with the increasingly highhandedness of the authorities.
I am not confident as to what is going to happen. Cities are not like the countryside, where the solutions are more apparent and a lot of us are going to find the ‘new way’ very hard to comply with. Gone are the days when we just chucked it all in the same bin, and then wheeled it all out onto the footpath, glad to be rid of the smelly concoction.
So ‘city fathers/mothers’ and other minions doing their jobs for the good of us all; just be a little understanding with us as we continue to learn and possibly transgress your new rules. Yes, I know it is all for the best and for a cleaner and greener community. No one wants to keep seeing filthy and smelly dumps that our children will have to deal with in the future. It’s just that we will need time and understanding as we learn the rules for the ‘brave new world.’
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