It is already windy for some, it is going to be stormy Friday into Christmas weekend. Please don't decorate your neighbourhood or the countryside with windblown litter.
Wheelie bins and Recycling
Councils are beginning to remind people about collection dates over the Christmas period, date changes and what do with your Christmas tree in the New Year.
If it is too windy, they will not come to collect the recycling. So, if like at my house your collection is around 7am and you usually put the bins out the night before, then just don't.
It is tricky at this time of year, as you know there will be a lot of paper to be recycled after the 25th, so emptying whilst you can, in the week before, would be ideal. However, filling your street and neighbourhood with Christmas card envelopes, milk cartons and empty tin cans is not a great festive look.
This week is becoming pretty blustery with stormy weather forecast on Friday for NW UK and more to come through the Christmas weekend. Areas under the Met Office Amber warning for strong winds on Friday and Saturday morning could check with councils now to see if it's worth putting out your wheelie bin or recycling at all and other parts should phone nearer the time, or check on social media.
Turkey fat and cooking oil recycling
Another seasonal recycling issue, is congealed fat balls in the sewers. A tabloid favourite, the "fatberg".
The toxic lump of congealed fat and household waste – known as a fatberg – was 40 metres long and so heavy that it broke the 1940s-era sewer.
Recent campaigns have tried to encourage people to pour fat into a container rather than down the sink, and then taking the left -over cooking oil or fat to a recycling place. This is still one of the lowest used recycling areas.
You may come up against some resistance if you try to introduce this whilst the grand Christmas dinner is being produced but worth considering. However, it is a wise practice as broken sewers need to be repaired by the water boards and so it all adds onto our bills. Most fatbergs are a congealed mix of cooking fat and wet wipes, which people chuck down the loo but should be binned.
Santa Shaker - how likely is a White Christmas where you are?
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