Kitchens and bathrooms, I might be able to help

[livias]

I have ...

Two ikea rectangular black buckets in the cupboard under the sink. Used for waste and general recycling
Two similar buckets in the utility room. Used for glass and 'useful pots for paint etc'
One 400mm drawer unit under the chopping area. The top drawer is short. Into it fits snugly an ikea white bucket (35*10*20 or somesuch) This is perfectly placed to sweep potato peelings etc into. I am very proud of this design feature and have used it in three kitchens so far

My other top design tip is that 600mm wall units should be given two 300mm doors rather than one 600mm one. That way you will not hit your head on an overhang and you will not find yourself on the 'wrong' side of the door

 

[Zebra]

Our council has just helpfully combined all tins/glass/plastic into the same bin, so it's only paper I need to keep separate now, plus the food caddy on the work surface.
A kitchen bin is something I've never got around to buying, still using the same battered old bucket with no liner for five years......

 

[Flyfisher]

I guess that recycling plants must have improved their sorting technology over the years as we also no longer have to separate glass and paper from our recycling wheelie bin and all recyclables can now go into the one bin. All we have to do is remember that the green wheelie bin is NOT the recycling bin because that was the colour chosen when wheelie technology was first introduced here. So black for recyclables and green for everything else. Normal for Norfolk. :lol:

 

[atticman]

The cynical amongst us would reason that you don't have to separate recycling now because it all just gets dumped into landfill anyway!
I've heard that there are mountains and warehouses full of glass, paper, plastic etc lying unused as its cheaper to buy fresh materials just now than it is to use reclaimed/recycled.
But like I say, maybe that's just my cynical nature and I'm completely mistaken! :?

 

[mims&pip]

I guess that recycling plants must have improved their sorting technology over the years as we also no longer have to separate glass and paper from our recycling wheelie bin and all recyclables can now go into the one bin. All we have to do is remember that the green wheelie bin is NOT the recycling bin because that was the colour chosen when wheelie technology was first introduced here. So black for recyclables and green for everything else. Normal for Norfolk. :lol:

Our black wheelie bin is also for recyclables (unsorted), but our green bin is for garden waste whilst we have a brown bin for everything else :wink:

In the house we have three dedicated recycling boxes - labelled for glass, plastic and cardboard and purchased when we lived in a location that expected us to separate recyclables - that are kept in the utility room, plus a nice Wesco bin. The kitchen (currently under construction - yesterday Pip made good progress on the island that we designed ourselves ) - cabinets from an excellent and extremely good value for money Christchurch handmade kitchen co - will have a cabinet with pull out bins for recycling and general waste adjacent to the sink.

We are most fortunate in that - along with my own design background - Pip has 25 years experience of working in the design industry (and has access to professional design software), one of our friends has an award-winning bathroom showroom in the south of England and Pip's best friend is MD of Arte Form, so we're pretty much covered in that respect

Mims x

 

[livias]

Abi
Do you have any advice on how many led ceiling lights to put above a kitchen worksurface? Said worksurface is slightly over 4m long and the ceiling is 2.2m high. There are no wall units

 

[MikeG]

The cynical amongst us would reason that you don't have to separate recycling now because it all just gets dumped into landfill anyway!
I've heard that there are mountains and warehouses full of glass, paper, plastic etc lying unused as its cheaper to buy fresh materials just now than it is to use reclaimed/recycled.
But like I say, maybe that's just my cynical nature and I'm completely mistaken! :?

Yeah, you are mistaken. It is separated at incredible high-tech sorting plants (did you see the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall programme ?), or, sometimes, sent to China. There were a few incidents a few years back of stuff that went to landfill which should have been recycled, and the councils and their contractors were fined a fortune. Everyone and anyone can ask their local authority what happens with the waste they collect.

 

[d49xc]

If the separation for recyclable and not recyclable and which recyclable bits go where is oh-so wonderful here is a really radial idea.
Why not just have one bin into which ALL the household rubbish is put and which is emptied once per week and is then centrally sorted.
Just think of the savings................

After all this is what I do - I just stuff my whole sodding lot into the non-recycling bin which is currently emptied every two weeks.
I don't use the recycling one at all and frankly I don't give a toss.

I concept that those around me think that by faithfully put out their recycling bins with the odd cardboard metal etc inside that they are contributing to "saving the planet" while at the same time jetting off to various overseas holidays, buying endless replacement cars, having extensions built and worst of all increasing the worlds population by having children is just a bleeding joke.

 

[Zebra]

I totally agree with your final paragraph, d49xc.

But I still recycle. :wink:

 

[Flyfisher]

Now there's a subject for Fred Drift to get his teeth into!

'Saving the planet' is, of course, a euphemism for saving human civilisation as we know it - I reckon the planet will survive perfectly well without our help. :wink:

I can see d49xc's basic point and have a lot of sympathy with it, but there's a big difference between 'saving the planet' and extending its lifetime. After all, we're all going to die one day, but I'd guess that most of us try to look after ourselves to a reasonable extent in order to put off that day for as long as possible. And who knows, the more time we can 'buy' the more time to possibly find some currently unknown solutions.

 

[kreyszig]

I'm under no illusions that I'm saving the planet by recycling, but I do waft around feeling vastly good about myself for putting as little as I can into landfill. Certainly less than when I didn't recycle, anyway.
We put out 1 black (general refuse) bag every fortnight, one or two plastic, three or four paper & metal/glass. So that's at least 400% more stuff by volume not getting buried, hardly "the odd plastic metal"

(thank you everyone for your helpful replies to my bin question by the way! lots of good ideas there)

 

[plasticpigeon]

If the separation for recyclable and not recyclable and which recyclable bits go where is oh-so wonderful here is a really radial idea.
Why not just have one bin into which ALL the household rubbish is put and which is emptied once per week and is then centrally sorted.
Just think of the savings................

After all this is what I do - I just stuff my whole sodding lot into the non-recycling bin which is currently emptied every two weeks.
I don't use the recycling one at all and frankly I don't give a toss.

I concept that those around me think that by faithfully put out their recycling bins with the odd cardboard metal etc inside that they are contributing to "saving the planet" while at the same time jetting off to various overseas holidays, buying endless replacement cars, having extensions built and worst of all increasing the worlds population by having children is just a bleeding joke.

Nonsense, we can obviously save the planet by constantly buying more efficient stuff and throwing away the old. It uses less energy doesn't it :wink:

 

[Abi Cott]

Abi
Do you have any advice on how many led ceiling lights to put above a kitchen worksurface? Said worksurface is slightly over 4m long and the ceiling is 2.2m high. There are no wall units

That is going to depend on the lumen output of the lights, and also the spread of the light. If the light in question casts a narrow beam it won't be great for improving work conditions, but can be very pretty if its the aesthetics you're after. I don't think the question can be answered without knowing more about the specific lights being used. If you find one of those specialist lighting shops and have a chat to the staff you suddenly discover that when it comes to down lights, bulbs and fittings are a lot more complicated than you ever thought they could be.

 

[livias]

Thanks abi
Soinds like I should just ask them which downlighters to use cos lighting the surface is far more important than aesthetics