Some of you who read Thursley's Parish Magazine will know that I am the Community Recycler for the Thursley area.  The idea of Community Recyclers is to encourage recycling at a local level.  I have been doing this since June 2005 under a scheme initiated by Guildford and Waverley Borough Council's waste awareness campaign.  It has now been suggested by your editor that I write monthly articles for Elstead's as well as Thursley's Magazines and to start with he liked what I wrote in May this year:

This is a reminder of how to use our two weekly kerbside collections.

Glass: Only glass bottles and jars of any colour, without caps or lids, should be put in the small box. No other glass at all - no light bulbs, drinking glasses or Pyrex because they spoil the recycled glass.

Plastic Bottles and Cans: Plastic bottles of any kind - it doesn't matter what they have contained (shampoo or shower gel, milk or water, orange juice or oil) go in the large box with the mesh covering. To reduce their size, plastic bottles should be squashed and the lids put back on so they don't regain their shape.  Drinks cans (also squashed) and food cans also go in this box. Make sure pet food cans, in particular, are washed out first so they don't smell.

Paper: Newspapers, magazines, brochures, white paper (also coloured paper if it is white inside when torn) and thin card including greetings cards go in the other large box with the lid - but no shredded paper. In some other areas cardboard is also included with paper. The reason Waverley doesn't do this is because our paper is used to make quality recycled newsprint which would not be possible with cardboard and shredded paper included.

Cardboard: If you flatten your cardboard boxes it is possible to collect a fair amount before taking it to an amenity site (the nearest is at Witley) or to a cardboard bank. I use the banks at Beacon Hill or Sainsbury's, Godalming. Any paper product can be included such as brown envelopes or paper, wrapping paper, telephone directories, jiffy bags, etc. It is all used to make new recycled cardboard. If it ends up in landfill it produces methane gas as it rots down. This gas contributes to global warming and can cause explosions on larger landfill sites.

Plastic Bags: Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose all recycle plastic bags. These can be supermarket or other store's shopping bags as well as the bags used for sliced bread, fruit, etc. I am told that this plastic is used in the manufacture of fleeces.

Plastic Food Trays & Packaging: If you feel that far too much of these are used by supermarkets then why not let them know what you think. Waverley told me that supermarkets are much more likely to respond to pressure from the public (their customers) than a large organisation like a borough council.