Map of the Week: Waste not, want not

Are you missing the thrill of driving a new car? The excitement of box-fresh shoes? The joy of unwrapping expensive paper and bows?

The collapse in car sales and job losses and closures in the High Street are signs that the recession is affecting habits as well as economics. In a society where high status is often measured by new stuff, we are weaning ourselves off our addiction to the latest model.

The British national sport of shopping is in decline. Conspicuous consumption, in the words apparently of the fashion industry, is "so last August". Bling is no longer the thing. Old is the new new.

I was struck this weekend by a quote in the Daily Telegraph from Waitrose's commercial director Richard Hodgson. "We have found some customers putting their Waitrose goods in Tesco bags, because they are nervous that their neighbours will think they are decadent for shopping at Waitrose."

He was speaking after the upmarket grocer had announced it was introducing an "essential Waitrose" range - lower-cost basics sold in simple white packaging. Austerity is all the rage.

An email I received from New York recently reveals plans for a nationwide "Curb Day" in the US.

I know that there is a culture of "garage sales" in the States, but I wonder if, in the current climate, this could catch on here. In my street, it already happens in an informal way. People leave bulky items for the council under a tree and other residents unashamedly check them out and drag off anything they fancy.

It is a form of recycling that relies on people not being obsessed with the new. Some argue that the only way out of the current recession is for people to "shop 'til they drop". But others believe it offers an opportunity for our society to rethink its throwaway culture.

Last month, the Chairman of the Local Government Association, Margaret Eaton, described Britain as "the dustbin of Europe", with more rubbish being thrown into landfill than almost any other country in the EU.

In fact, there is some good news to tell on this. According to recent figures, the amount of trash destined for landfill appears to be falling - at its lowest level since the early nineties.

Household waste per person 1991-2 to 2006-7, from Defra

Nevertheless, the LGA estimates that local authorities in England and Wales will spend £1.8bn on landfill tax between 2008 and 2011. "Taxpayers don't want to see their money going towards paying landfill taxes and EU fines when council tax could be reduced instead", Cllr Eaton said.

All of which brings me to my Map of the Week. It can be found on the Environment Agency website as an answer to the question "What's in Your Backyard?".

These maps offer people in England and Wales a chance to see what secrets there might be near their homes - a landfill site filled with toxic waste, for example.

By way of illustration, here is a view of Manchester and its surroundings. It is interesting to see how the rubbish dumps radiate out from the city centre, overflowing down railway lines, rivers and canals.

Here you can see the landfill sites clustered along the Manchester Ship Canal. The pink areas are historical sites no longer in use; the brown areas are still active. (Interesting colour choice.)

And finally, you can zoom into a specific location to check out the dump. Click on it and you get the details.

So I can now tell you that the charmingly named Randle Island site is filled with hazardous waste. "This is waste that may be harmful to human health or the environment e.g. asbestos, chemicals, healthcare waste, electrical equipment, lead-acid batteries, oily sludges and pesticides."

The odour, I suspect, is the very opposite of "new car smell".

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