June 2015- June 2019 ♪♪♪
It was my first visit, during the Xmas season, to London, and then, we were deeply frightened that there were few public transportation services because we were very accustomed to Japanese fast-paced social transportation style with regular service year-round including Xmas and other statutory holidays. However, we managed, and were enthralled by the beautiful illuminations of Xmas decorations around the Piccadilly Circus at night (please see below pictures). Fortunately, I spotted a litter bin near the station of the underground (subway) gate, which has an ashtray on its side and two openings for general waste and mixed recyclable materials: newspapers and magazines, plastic bottles, food tins and drink cans, glass bottles and jars. The bin looked like it was celebrating a Merry Xmas with some young passers-by.
At daytime, I found the same type of litter bins when I was walking walked around the central city of London: along Piccadilly Street with the cleaning staff at work (below left picture), near the TKTS of Leicester Square and in London Memorial Park (below right pictures). I spotted other same type of bins; thus, it must be a major type of litter bin in London.
However, this city has some variation of bins (below pictures). For example, there was one that has the same functions as the above-mentioned but of a completely different design. Subsequently, there was one that was designed only for plastic bottles and another only for papers (please see above pictures). Also, you can find the other types: a simple litter bin at a station of one underground (the picture is the bin of Westminster station).
Anyway, if you are regular smoker, you can find well designed ash tray (left picture) nearby Scotland Yard (Metropolitan Police). By the way, if you are a smoker traveling through Terminal 2 of Heathrow, you will be treated to a designated smoking area on the ground floor– a rare find these days (above picture).
At midnight, I stepped outside my apartment hotel for a smoke. I wandered into nearby St. James’s Park, where I encountered some household litter collection corners. It appears to be intended to separate general waste and recyclable materials, but the design did not appear to accomplish that. I noticed that the problem of sloppy separation for recycling purpose is common even among some advanced countries, including Japan.
In the last week in the year, we went to the British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Kew Garden). Of course, I found some litter bins there. Maybe, you had gone past the bin without noticing them because the bin in front of British Museum is cleverly blended into the scenery. I guess the guy who sat down on the bin did not notice its existence (please look at the right picture). Inside of the museum, you can find a simply designed bins like those which are situated in the underground stations.
It was very cold day, but fortunately no rain, when the four of us were strolling around in Kew Garden (Kew Road, London). I was so glad because there were so many litter bins, which is very simple one, there was no separation of litter and no ashtray, but with a remarkable notice on a bin (above pictures). I understood that the notice, “Waste that cannot directly recycled is incinerated to create energy”, expressed the rubbish operator’s trustworthiness. The notice insisted to handle the rubbish with responsibility. It’s quite credible.
By the way, I had some short travels to Canterbury, Wimbledon and Croydon during my stay in London. Canterbury (Kent, England) is an old cathedral city, a World Heritage Site, and locates in the south-east of London, around 100 km away. I went there by train to see the very famous Canterbury Cathedral (Precincts Street, Canterbury) which was founded in the late sixth century (above right picture). On my way back, I spotted a bin at nearby Christchurch Gate in the central city of Canterbury (above left pictures). This design is so popular in England, for example in Chester and in York. There were so many tourists including high school students on a field trip.
The other day, I went to visit my friend’s house in Croydon (Greater London, England), which is in the southwest of London about 15 km away. In the morning, I selected a route via Wimbledon by public transformation to catch a glimpse of the center court of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. Unfortunately, as anticipated, I could not go into the stadium because of the gate was closed. It was off-season; but I encountered a green litter bin inside of the stadium gate (above left picture). Subsequently, when I was looking around the Wimbledon Public Park, I saw by chance a rubbish bin of “BigBelly Solar” (above right picture). The functions were shown in the previous issue of Chester, please refer to it.
In the residential area surrounding the park (above left picture), each house’s rubbishes seemed to be largely divided into two garbage boxes. Also, in household litter collection corners (above right picture), I found a box of recycling shoes and clothes which was operated by the European Recycling Company (ERC). According to its homepages, ERC collects around 1t of unwanted shoes and textiles from Dover and Folkestone-Hythe District Councils every month. ERC is part of SOEX Group of Companies which is the largest clothing re-wear and recycle company in the world. The collected shoes and textiles are shipped to the recycling facility in Wolfen, Germany. After looking around, I got on public bus and rode from nearby Wimbledon College to Croydon central, about an hour’s ride. I met my friends who welcomed me with their cat and a rubbish box.
When I was not busy spotting bins, I was looking for the good cuisines. During my visit to London, some friends invited me for a meal, and we dined at some good places; one of best cuisine is Sofra Restaurant in Mayfair (W1J 7JG) which served the warm bread and the homemade lovely hummus with olives. We appreciated the good hospitality of the restaurants’ staff. We researched the recipe with the help of the staff for we planned to replicate the dish, somewhat, at home.
See you soon in the next issue!
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