Veronika Wild

  Do you know what this is?  Saw this at my local tip shop recently and wondered what it was. It's a Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) – you put stuff in – in this case your empty soft drink bottles, and it will put money in your bank account or send it to a charity on your behalf.     There are others around the state and they are popping up in many other parts of the world , usually in supermarkets. Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Singapore, Russia, other parts of Australia, some Japanese and Chinese cities, some states in the USA and Canada already have them.  The downside is that  they are rather expensive - our state government funded this one, but perhaps if the beverage makers wanted to avoid bans or postpone developing alternatives they should be funding these.  *See Caveat at end. Bottles, cans and cartons in - money out In Other Recycling News Good to see Amazon sending small electronic parts in small recyclable bags. What a difference compared ...

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA I’ve been watching the latest and third series of Craig Reucastle’s War on Waste. I don’t know if overseas readers will be able to watch ABC iview outside Australia, but Australians should definitely check it out here . Here are just a few of the highlights and lowlights in case you can't. Although this is mainly about Australia, there are many ideas which could easily be applied elsewhere. Recycling Episode I is about recycling. There are now apparently some of those automatic deposit dispensers for bottles and cans in large cities such as Sydney, but there is also ongoing disappointment over the fact that we can no longer recycle the ubiquitous soft plastics which supermarkets were taking back last time. On that front – not mentioned in the story, more products are coming in stronger Ziplock bags which keep food fresher and can be reused or even recycled, but we also seem to be getting more plastic, not less. Just t...