Letter in the KM

Dear Editor,

With news that the incinerator has died and that 5000 tonnes of waste is now to be landfilled, now has never been a better time for action to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Supermarkets and chainstores continue to sell goods with ridiculous amounts of packaging, some goods being wrapped two or three times in plastic destined to sit in landfill. We all have to put pressure on these companies to stop this crazy and pointless practice.

Collectively we must also start to challenge the 'throw away' culture that is great for business, but bad for the environment and bad for our wallets. Goods have shorter and shorter lifespans as quality declines and disposability increases. We should all challenge the companies that produce these throw away goods and the best way to do this is not to give them our trade. We must get the maximum amount of use possible from goods and reuse them wherever possible.

Increasing recycling is not the best option for reducing waste, it takes time, effort, money and energy to recycle. We should only recycle where we haven't been able to reduce or reuse waste.

Landfilling and incineration are both wrong - we have a duty to future generations to leave them a planet, not a rubbish tip.

Stuart Jeffery