File:Warm thanks on a cold day.jpg

English: 28 November 2012. I thanked the driver of the truck from Veolia - Haringey Council's waste/recycling contractors.

A mattress and bed bases were dumped in Ladysmith Road, Tottenham N17. Maybe someone left them there during the night or perhaps early that morning.

I took a photo. But less than ten minutes later, before I had time to report the dumping, I was delighted to see a Veolia truck arriving. (Please scroll down the page.) The driver told me they were notified at 8am that morning.

At the time, my impression was that dumping of mattresses locally had increased. If that's accurate, it suggests that too many people still don't know that mattresses were collected for free in Haringey. It takes a phonecall.

Also, until a Council Scrutiny meeting, I didn't know that mattresses are now recycled! We were told that machines strip the soft bits - for reuse - and retrieve any steel springs. Apparently the steel in mattresses with springs is usually high quality. A key aim of all recycling: turning waste into value.

Temporary Street Notice Boards?

To pass on the good news about recycling mattresses, it may be time to revive a proposal I put forward five years ago when we had a plague of dumped fridges. I suggested using the fridges as temporary street notice boards.

Unfortunately, Haringey Council ignored my suggestion.

The Council could also use dumped mattresses as temporary sign-boards in the same way. Perhaps there could be a pilot scheme where street cleaners who spot and report a dumped mattress would pin a piece of laminated card giving the information that:   ► The mattress has been reported and will soon be   collected by Veolia.   ► There is a free collection of mattresses from   residents' homes. Adding Veolia's contact details..   ► Mattresses are recycled and people can help Veolia   and Haringey to achieve a more sustainable Haringey

  and do a bit more for everyone to "go green".