Mary Reid

You've got until the end of September to use up any green plastic bags for garden refuse if you want the Council to collect them. They have been replaced by reusable jute bags which are much more environmentally friendly.

When you buy a jute bag you are really buying the service. It costs £35 per annum or £20 for concessions. You can order one online. The bags can then be put out with your bins every week.

When the jute bags were originally advertised the Council did say that they would need to be renewed (and paid for again) this September. This was very unfair on the early purchasers as they would not have had a full year's service for their money. But we've sorted that out and anybody who has a jute bag can continue to use them until September 2008, regardless of when they bought them. 

I won't be getting a jute bag. Why not? Well, I have a composter in my garden and that eats all my garden waste. If you really want to be green, a composter is a much better solution - no further transport of waste, and you get lovely crumbly compost if you wait patiently. At least, that is what I am promised, but it does take quite a while and my relatively new compost heap hasn't been very productive so far.