Letters to the Editor: Cutting down packaging can help waste problem

The bin collection men are blamed; the citizens are made responsible and have to pay for the council to organise and make the collections.

Our bin watch campaign has led to numerous letters and images from readers.

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There are 3 issues here, the use by businesses and manufacturers of unnecessary packaging the waste generated by take-away businesses and the lack of sufficient rubbish bins during peak holiday times around the city

First, I have recently returned from an extended trip to Australia where vegetables and fruit are available in supermarkets for customers to choose - much like market shopping.

My Australian family laughed out loud at our half cucumbers sealed in cellophane and our four apples and in fact all vegetables presented on polystyrene or papier mache trays and sealed in cellophane.

Everything we buy here is over-wrapped by the businesses who provide it to the shops and we have to pay for this, take it home and deal with it. Then we have to rinse it, sort it and put it in the correct bins and then we have to pay through our rates for the council to take it away. Let’s get back to the source and stop the packaging. Who wants it?

Second, takeaway food businesses should be legally obliged to provide additional bins outside and at the nearest bus stops to receive the huge amount of waste they are generating.

The bus stop opposite McDonalds at the Meadowbank Stadium is a disgrace with take-away cups, lids, trays and packaging thrown on the ground.

Third, during the festival most people try to fit their rubbish into the bins, but there seem to be the same number of bins and they are always overflowing. Would it be so hard to bring in extra bins during peak holiday times?

The seagulls are a definite pest. Cull them and prevent them from dragging rubbish out of the bins and opening boxes to retrieve food.

D Hilleson, Meadowbank, Edinburgh