One effect of the new rubbish collection regime was that I started to think how to reduce the volume of stuff in the dustbin, now that it only gets emptied once a fortnight
Its amazing how much less space is taken up now that we can recycle plastic bottles & cardboard
Turned out that plastic food trays & pots were the main remaining culprits. You cant stack them one inside the other because of the varying shapes & sizes. They are hard to squash - naturally. Their job is to protect the contents from damage in transit, no use if they collapse at the slightest knock
You can squash even the strongest upmarket trays from Waitrose or M&S if you apply pressure at the right points. Problem is, they tend to spring back again, even after youve jammed them in the bin
The solution came as a surprise to me. I was squashing a ready-meal tray, grungy with gravy, so I used a sheet of newspaper to protect my fingers & just folded it into a parcel. It stayed folded, no sticky-back plastic or knotted string required. The technique works on the strongest trays & on round pots
So my puzzle is - how can something as weak as a single sheet of newspaper keep those forces in check?
