Helpful suggestions to prevent dumping

Image by Alan Stanton
4 July 2008 "Is there anything you can do, councillor Stanton?"

A plea on the phone about yet another pile of dumped bags. It smells and will get worse as the weather gets warmer. The caller has reported it. "But as soon as one pile is cleared another appears."

The short stretch of Parkhurst Road between Dowsett Road and Thackeray Avenue – about 45 metres (50 yards) – has been a regular dumping spot. Rubbish was routinely left here or round the corner near the litter bin in Dowsett Road.

I walk over and take a look. One of the bags has a yellow "Council Aware" sticker, so an Enforcement office has been there before me. Stinking liquid seeps out of one bag. Domestic waste is spilling on the pavement.

Of course, we’ll get Enterprise, Haringey Council’s contractors, to come and clear these bags. Though this simply confirms the parallel systems we run.

Yuri Martov challenged me to come up with some solutions for this problem.

‘Table Talk’

There is no shortage of suggestions. Here’s one of mine which I’ve made before. I call it Table Talk. It may work for this 45 metre stretch of Parkhurst Road and the roads nearby.

Taking advantage of the long daylight hours (in July 5am to 9pm), on a sunny day I proposed that Council officers sit at a table in the street – possibly outside Mulberry Primary School further down the road. They could meet people early in the morning or late afternoon after work. And give out information about:

? Waste collection, and how to get another (or bigger) wheeled bin – for example if a lot more people are being hutched in the converted homes locally.
? All about recycling; what to put (and not to put) in which colour recycling box and what to do with your old fridge, TV or mattress.
? Information on all the other issues people raise in this neighbourhood: from noise nuisance to pests; and from parks and play equipment to parking.

The purpose wouldn’t be simple information giving. *

That’s just more ‘top-down’ thinking: treating people as empty containers to be filled with our information. Who, in this case, then meekly fill ‘our’ containers: whelie bins and recycling boxes. Meeting local people could and should be a great opportunity for listening and learning. And – who knows – putting some of the residents’ ideas into practice!

As a ward councillor I’m happy to join the fun !

??????????
* See: Paulo Freire.

Veggie Oil Waste, Which Made Him Feel Great About Himself!

Vinny was a great businessman. He had several businesses that made him a handsome profit – a movie theatre, two bakeries and an electronics store. Vinny’s strength was that he knew how to take advantage of needs in his neighborhood, and he could sense a great idea when he spotted it.

Recently, Vinny spotted a definite need in his neighborhood – for cheaper diesel fuel. He constantly overheard customers in his bakeries complain about high gas prices, and that there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Instantly, Vinny was thinking of ideas about how he could solve this need and make money in the process. He remembered hearing something about a company named DSE, so he Googled it and found their website: http://www.GreenMachine.com.

As he was reading all about how easy it is to make your own diesel fuel, a light bulb appeared over Vinny’s head! The Web site stated that he could make his own diesel fuel for 46 cents per gallon. In his neighborhood, diesel gas was selling for .40 per gallon … so that meant if he could create his own diesel fuel, and sell it for .46 per gallon, he would be make a huge profit of per gallon, and still be over $.50 cents cheaper than other gas stations in town! Not only would he make a ton of money, but he would also prevent oil recycle waste and drainers oil waste, which made him feel great about himself!

So he ordered the starter kit online and created his own diesel fuel lab in his basement. After making some samples and testing it out on his own vehicle with absolutely no problems, he started advertising in newspapers and on radio that he was selling all natural vegetable waste oil fuel and would beat any advertised price in his county by 50 cents per gallon.

The orders literally started to pour in overnight, and his diesel fuel business was underway! Vinny started selling so many gallons of veggie waste oil fuel that he had to hire laborers to work in his basement full-time! Of course, he trained all his employees properly so that they wouldn’t encourage drain oil system waste and oil station transfer waste.

Vinny’s discount diesel fuel business quickly turned him into a hometown hero, and made him rich at the same time!

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