Rubbish is a subject close to my heart. I’ve covered it previously in this blog, with more than a passing nod towards the rather unsavoury concept of fortnightly refuse collections, which are currently up for discussion at the ‘now greener’ Brighton & Hove Council. I’ve personally experienced the fortnightly refuse collection process ‘Oop North’ in Northumberland, where I discovered that some of the wheelie bins were full to the brim and the bags were bursting at the seams, so to speak.

In my opinion as a householder and resident whose eyes are wide open while wandering the (rather scruffy) streets of Brighton and Hove, I think the city’s refuse collections should be carried out more frequently, not less frequently.

With less frequent collections, bags full of soiled nappies, food scrapings, maggots et al will invariably sit around for longer in yards, back gardens, etc., which is hardly beneficial to public health and is likely to encourage pests and vermin. In hotter weather (not that England gets much that is truly ‘scorchio’), the laying around of insanitary refuse for up to a fortnight will be even nastier than usual.

If food waste is posing a big issue for B&H Council, to the point where it feels compelled to focus more resources on collecting the entire city’s leftovers, perhaps residents could be educated not to waste so much food? I personally hate wasting any food at all. It is my opinion that the public could benefit from greater insight into what exactly it eats, where the food has been sourced, how it was processed, how far it has travelled, what has been done to it to keep it fresh… and how any scraps could be used up in tasty dishes, instead of being chucked in the nearest bin when we are trying to cut our carbon footprint and “save the planet” (man).

No matter what the Council thinks, I believe the family that constantly throws its uneaten Pot Noodle, potato waffle and chicken nugget mess into the bin, with all the wrappings, is unlikely to be convinced that it should recycle more and waste less. An attitude change would surely require an education programme or incentive or some sort. Less frequent bin collections will simply mean that messy, wasteful people are able to leave their mess and waste sitting outside for longer, where it will prove a nuisance to other people who don’t like that sort of thing.

It is my opinion that Brighton and Hove – a city of 250,000 inhabitants - looks dirty most of the time. This is more noticeable when returning B&H from cleaner climes. Why make the layer of dirt worse when people are being encouraged to visit Brighton and Hove in their droves? Sorry to bring up my usual overseas comparison yet again but in Torre del Mar, a Spanish seaside city of 20,000 inhabitants, the public areas are generally spotless and refuse collectors and street cleaners and are visible daily. And its residents (including one of my friends) are paying a helluva lot less than us in terms of ‘council tax’ to live a clean-and-savoury-by-the-sea lifestyle.

I know Brighton has traditionally been popular for a “dirty weekend” but it could all too easily turn into a dirty weekend venue of the wrong nature, what with germs, grimness and grot that fly in the face of progress, as well as encouraging more flies to visit Brighton and make it their happy home.

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Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here