Holy Moly! I just returned home to find my shiny new green waste bin! Sure, I had to pay fifty bucks for the privilege but I think its a pretty fair exchange. I’m a bit sad that something so simple has made my day because Canberra is generally quite progressive (90% renewable energy by 2020 and roads made from rubbish are all the rage here).
Its perplexed me for the past few years that the only options for green waste are to drive it to the tip and pay to get rid of it or toss it in the landfill. When I lived in Cooma, a much more conservative kind of a town, we had not only green waste collection but a food waste collection which was turned into Coompost (see what they did there?)
So at long last, Canberra is limping into the green waste disposal arena. So far, we’ve been warned by a very clippy brochure, we’re only allowed to put garden waste into our bins. As someone who feels vaguely hypocritical about buying loads of cut flowers, its good to know that at least my shrivelled stems will be reused. Luckily I also have a worm farm and my slimy little mates go mad for vege scraps but worms and compost bins aren’t viable for a lot of Canberrans so here’s hoping the green bins are able to take fruit and vege scraps sooner rather than later.
For now, at least, my autumn leaves will be going to a better place. We’ll hope the veg scraps wont be too far behind.
Tales From Canberra 