Sir.-I fully support your Green Watch campaign. I wish I could do more but the restrictions on what we can and cannot recycle do not allow this.

It seems to me that the problem is the lack of facilities in the UK for dealing with items such as yoghurt pots, margarine tubs and shredded paper. The latter item must be a growing problem, as we are all advised to shred our important documents to reduce identity fraud.

Perhaps your campaign could persuade the Government to provide these much-needed recycling facilities. The Government is the one telling local councils to tell us to recycle more, but we cannot if we do not have the facilities to do so.

Changing the collection routine was not, and never will be, a solution to the problem.

A widening of available centres to deal with the "don'ts" should come first at government level, followed by an educational campaign to get us to do what we can.

-A P Della-Savina,
Normanton Road,
Basingstoke.

  • Sir.-I am all for recycling and energy efficiency. I have a large recycling bin, a compost bin and I walk to my nearby bottle bank.

I also give unwanted clothes to charity, and all my light bulbs are low energy.

My house is fully double glazed, has cavity wall insulation and the loft is fully insulated.

I pay the council £10 to take away any bulk items, because I have no car.

There is a lot I am for, but a few things I am against.

One of my gripes is why, in only the last 10 years or so, have people been encouraged to recycle?

Why was this not done 30-plus years ago, when packaging was increased and landfill sites seemed to be coping?

Yes, we need to be responsible for our own actions, but it is like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted.

My advice is for the council to stop the £10 charge for bulky items, because this has failed to stop fly-tipping. It should go around on a certain day and pick up such large items, free of charge.

-Sylvia Coombs,
Keats Close,
Popley,
Basingstoke.