Ealing's green-fingered residents can now buy their garden waste recycling sacks for almost half the normal price when they visit any of the borough's libraries.

 

The offer is being made to mark the start of Ealing Council's summer garden waste collection service this week.

 

Residents usually have to order the pink recycling sacks from the council through its refuse and recycling contractors, ECT, and wait for them to be delivered. Now they can just pop to their local library and get them immediately.

 

Earl McKenzie, Ealing Council's head of waste management, said: �Residents are really helping the environment by recycling their garden waste so we wanted to do our bit to help them.

 

�We hope being able to get the sacks from the library will be more convenient for them.

 

�This scheme is also an incentive to people who don't visit our libraries that often to visit them and see all the excellent facilities we have there.�

 

Items such as grass, plants and weeds can be put in the sacks, which are made from starch and break down naturally as part of the composting process. If garden waste is not recycled, and instead sent to landfill sites along with normal household rubbish, it rots without air and creates methane, which is one of the main greenhouse gases.  Also, if garden waste is not recycled, the council may have to pay huge financial penalties for sending it to landfill sites.

 

The bags usually cost 50p, with a minimum order of five sacks, when ordered from the council. However, at any of the 12 libraries in the borough, residents can now get them for 30p each, and buy as many or as few as they want.

 

The pink sacks can also be bought for 30p each at Ealing Council's Customer Service Centre, at Perceval House, 14-16 Uxbridge Road , Ealing Broadway.

 

Residents will have their garden waste sacks collected every fortnight, on the same day of the week as their green box.

 

To find their day and week of collection residents can log on to www.ectrecycling.co.uk/ealing or call 020 8813 3193/3194.

 

The summer garden waste collection service will continue until November.