There is no need to produce the amount of waste that we do

Today, as I write, is bin day in Stewarton. We have two separate bin collections: a weekly collection for recyclables, and today's four-weekly collection for general waste. We put our recycling bin out every fortnight. We don't generate enough material to justify a weekly collection. We have a large green wheelie bin for general waste but we won't be putting it out today. Maybe in four weeks' time it'll be full enough, but not today. We didn't put it out last month either. Or the month before that. We have reduced the amount of general waste we throw away by only purchasing products that are, at worst, in recyclable materials or, at best, in no packaging whatsoever. East Ayrshire Council also provides a garden and food waste collection for which people pay around £35 per annum; but we don't use that either because all our compostable waste is composted. This has allowed us to require a quarterly bin collection rather than a monthly one. The point is not to crow. Personal responsibility is to the left an anathema, but waste does not produce itself: it is a consequence of the poor choices we make when shopping. One might prefer to blame the packaging companies or the supermarkets, in particular, or capitalism more generally but there is a pattern of individual poor choices, expertly articulated in Theodore Dalrymple's essay Litter, from the packaging around what we choose to eat, and how we eat, to the overwhelming waste that clutters our public streets and overfills our private bins.

Wise local and national governments would incentivise refill shops which allow customers to collect food in their own tubs and bags therefore eliminating the need for waste. As it is we have a dearth of carrots and a surfeit of sticks. At the other end, if the Greens weren't so incompetent and if the SNP weren't so committed to causing division we might already have a working deposit return scheme. No wonder that people indulge in petty acts of social nihilism: throwing litter in the street; or a full Irn Bru bottle in the wrong bin (“The men who keep our streets clean deserve a pay increase”, The Herald, August 12). The head is rotten, so you can hardly expect better from the tail.

We obviously need to stop the annual gun-to-the-head approach employed by the trade unions ("Cuts warning after £77m offer to ward off bin strike". The Herald, August 13). But if we, as a country or society, generated less waste, we would have more money, to better pay fewer binmen, to do fewer collections.

Graeme Arnott, Stewarton.

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Where is our ambition?

MY son in Australia was telling me at the weekend about a massive hydro-electric project in which he is involved. This concerns the conjunction of two dams in the Snowy Mountains of Victoria, where they are creating a 29-kilometre-long underground tunnel, circa 800 metres deep, with a 12-storey power station in its midst. It’s an international effort, but much of the infrastructure is manufactured in Australia, and is taking approximately seven years to complete.

We’ve been talking around the same number of years about a piddling little tunnel (by comparison) to bypass the Rest & Be Thankful, and seem no closer to a decision. Where is our drive and ambition?

Lesley Mackiggan, Glasgow.

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Academic question

NUMBERS rarely tell the full truth, so before we get too excited about the rise in Glasgow’s city centre population since 2011 (“Population in Glasgow city centre has risen by one-third", The Herald, August 10) we should drill down. Specifically, the major expansion of the city’s three universities over this period begs the question: how much of this population increase comprises students?

Colin Mason, Kilmarnock.

Television turn-off

LUKE McCullough's defence of BBC Scotland (Letters, August 14) reminded me of Groucho Marx's view of the subject: " I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book."

With the exception of the sports channels, I say "Amen" to that.

David Miller, Milngavie.

How did they stand for it?

I READ of the likelihood of strike action by the Edinburgh tram drivers as they need the availability of toilet facilities on the long leg of their route to and from the airport ("Capital’s tram staff back strike in dispute", The Herald, August 14).

I am reminded of the longest Glasgow tram journey, in my youth, from Elderslie Depot to Airdrie, a distance of 38 miles. There was a multitude of tram stops at regular intervals along the route as the people were totally dependent on public transport The driver had to stand all the way and the cabin was open to the elements.

As I remember, there was a change of driver at Paisley Road Toll.

How times have changed.

John Ewing, Ayr.

The Rest and Be Thankful (Image: Newsquest)

The child menaces

IN response to David Edgar's letter (August 13) re dogs in public houses and restaurants, I agree that unruly, yappy dogs in such environments are very annoying. This is, to my mind, the fault of the dog owners. We have dined, in the past, in establishments where our golden retriever has lain under the table throughout the whole meal, with adjacent diners being oblivious to her presence until we got up to leave.

What I find more annoying are the parents of young children who allow them to run about as if they were in a playground, instead of making their little darlings sit on their backsides at the table. If their cherubs collided with waiting staff, causing a spill of scalding hot food or drink on their faces, I'm sure they would be up in arms.

At least my dog is kept on a lead.

Brian Johnston, Torrance.