Slop buckets - a giant waste of time?

Today, slop buckets were in the news again, as one of our local councils (Windsor and Maidenhead) announced they're considering bringing them in, as part of a weekly refuse collection. But don't call them SLOP BUCKETS, entreated the councillor I spoke to. They're domestic, organic waste caddies.

Please don't call them slop buckets, was also the plea from two Henley ladies with whom I chatted on the radio. It sounds revolting.

But in my experience, they are. I'm all for recycling, and putting rubbish where it belongs instead of automatically into landfill. So yes, organic waste from the kitchen should be turned into compost if you can. But at what cost?

Where I used to live a couple of years ago - these waste caddies end up littering kerbsides, stinking and attracting vermin. You spend a small fortune on biodegradable bags that degrade before the next bin collection, and end up having to use expensive hot water and bleach to clean them out for hygiene's sake. The whole saga is an absolute nightmare, becomes an unhealthy obsession and takes over your whole life. And doesn't it just bring out the worst in people? Today, I encountered one woman who denies ever having organic kitchen waste. So what do you do with a chicken carcass and all the gibletty bits, I asked? She puts them out in a nearby field for the foxes, came the reply!

Another implied that a thrifty and conscientious housewife would have no waste at all!

So no need for the slop bucket, then?

"Don't call it that", she remonstrated.

Why not? It IS a slop bucket!

"My waste is never sloppy", she retorted.

So that's my problem. You've got to have the right sort of waste.

Good luck to everyone in Windsor and Maidenhead. You're going to need it.