to ask why the hell you put out bins knowing it's windy?

[Greydog]

Hound and I have just come back from our morning walk. It’s windy out there! Not the balmy breezes of springtime, but a howling bloody gale. So why do people put out their bloody recycling wheelie bins in the evening before the collection is due? And why do they leave them in really exposed places knowing that it’s going to be windy? One road that we walked up is full of paper, cans, plastic bottles and broken glass. Two bins were blown over as we walked up one road – and that was scary, as the contents came bouncing down the road, with a following wind, and it’s not funny being hit in the legs by a salvo of bloody coke cans! When these good people get up, I expect they’ll be moaning about the mess. But it’s their own fault. And the poor hound is traumatised by being wacked over the head by a pizza box.

[googoodolly]

I don't get it either, but I guess for some people it's just easier to do it the night before. It's probably easily forgotten in the madness of the morning rush. I leave for work at 5.30am so do mine then.

[Childrenofthestones]

Round here people put them out the night before because they are collected at 6.30.
The problem is reycling bins, even full ones, are only light and easy blown over in gusts.
When it's howling I use an elastic bungy to child ours against the gate until it is collected.
Works well.

[CrohnicallyCold]

Before I moved house, the recycling bins were collected even before 6:30. My alarm was set for 6:30 but on recycling day they woke me, not my alarm. I also had nothing at the front to attach the bins to.

I've often thought it would make more sense for councils to collect the bins later. Less traffic for a start- there's a road on my way to work that is a nightmare on bin day. It's a busy A road that frequently has cars parked along it. Most of the time it's fine, as there is space for 2 cars to pass even with a parked car. But throw in a slow moving bin lorry at rush hour and the tailback goes for miles. You can't overtake as there's rarely a big enough gap in the oncoming traffic. And if a lorry comes the other way while the bin lorry is negotiating a parked car, both lanes come to a standstill.

[BeyondDoesBootcamp]

Well, not now, but when dh worked nights, he had to put them out the night before as i couldnt do it. Council will only assist disabled people with bins if there is not someone else living in the property who is able to do it.

[pumpkinsweetie]

In some areas, especially mine, the bins can be taken anywhere from 6am until 2pm, so you have to put them out the night before or risk them not being taken due to forgetfullness before 6 on a mad rush morning!

I blame the councils for using such cheap plastic bins, instead of decent lockable type bins, as England is known for it's erratic torrential downpours and wind lol

[Minisoksmakehardwork]

Our bins have to be out before 7. We know that collection rarely takes place that early but it does, so we put ours out the night before. But it's not too hard to work out roughly how the wind is blowing and position bin so the lid doesn't flap open. Generally they won't fall over here until empty as they're all lined up tight next to each other for support or positioned next to a car as a wind break.

I think a lot of the problem this week has been that people have forgotten bins are being picked up a day or even 3 later due to bank holidays. So people have put their bins out on usual collection day, then just not bothered checking them to make sure they're not littering, plus they're slightly more full than usual too.

Tbh we do bag all our rubbish in our bin as I can't bear the thought of chasing it around. Bin men still take it so I'm not entirely convinced they're recycling it anyway.

[42bunnytails]

Main problem here is after collection.

Bin men don't tuck empty bins and boxes back into people's gate ways.

Since I live in the countryside with no pavements, this equates to finding empty bins and boxes in the middle of the lane round blind bends.

[lambsie]

We have bags not bins and they don't close securely so the road is always littered with bits of paper and card.

[ScathingContempt]

Agree with the early collections being an inconvenience. I live opposite 3 schools, with another around the corner. Just after 8am, when people are starting to park outside the schools and residents are trying to get off their drives to get to work, the bin lorry comes trundling in and brings everything to a standstill.

Such poor route planning on behalf of the council.

[WooWooOwl]

Our council tells us to leave bins out the night before because of early collections.

Rubbish has to be left on the pavement, and if it's not sheltered then it's not sheltered. They won't collect from anywhere else, so it's either risk rubbish blowing everywhere, or don't have it collected.

[Lj8893]

Our collection can come anytime from 6am till 9am, so if we were to put it out in the morning we may have already missed it.

i work as a care and support worker and for quite a few of my clients i put their bin out on my evening visit ready for the morning. There is no other option really.

[SnowWhiteAteTheApple]

The council collect from 6am here so state to put it out the night before as they wont come back if you miss the collection which is fair enough. I do put something heavy on the lid if it's windy to stop it blowing open.

Why they just didn't put catches on the bins to secure the lids I'll never know.

[Pisghetti]

I get up at 6.15 and occasionally the bin men are there before that. If so, that's great as I can then pull the bins back in again. A lot of the time they don't arrive before I leave at 7.30 and I have to go wandering around looking for my various bins, boxes and bags when I get home from work. DS will merrily walk past our wheelie bin in the middle of the road without thinking to pull it back onto the pavement

In my last house we didn't have wheelie bins - the road would constantly be full of crap from people putting their black bags out whenever they were full (not just on bin day) and then having them torn apart by seagulls. Now that was annoying.....

[Skatingfastonthinice]

But you knew the answer already OP.
It's much worse in areas where they don't have wheelie bins, and the recycling gets scattered to the winds from open-topped boxes.

[Skatingfastonthinice]

Do you live in Brighton, Pisghetti?

[42bunnytails]

Also we have the new delight of food bins.

These have big handles tempting the bin men to just throw them vaguely back on the verge or into your gateway.

They bounce back into the road when it's not windy. When it is their lids act as sails and they go everywhere.

[OwlinaTree]

Unless you put the bin right on the pavement with the handles facing outwards they won't take it here.

What do you propose people do? Hang onto their rubbish an extra fortnight when it's windy?

[Skatingfastonthinice]

Perhaps the bins could be redesigned with lids that have a catch and brakes.

[NoLongerJustAShopGirl]

we just put a brick on top.

[RumbelowSale]

Oh! For the 'olden days' when bins were collected from your back gate, emptied into the truck, then brought back to your gate. Somehow, the system worked and there was no litter left.Ok we now have a variety of bins/containers, but at least surely the bin men could put them back approximately in the property somewhere, rather than throw them in the general direction of your section of pavement, left to blow around? Would that really take up so much extra time?

[Endler32]

I was just going to start a similar thread, my neighbours bins are blowing around outside hitting my car. Yet again I will have to go and move the bins and put them outside their house. Sadly there's not much else I can do or them, they put the bins out and went to work, you can't expect them not to put them out because it's windy or their rubbish won't get taken.

[RumbelowSale]

My post above written from the viewpoint of only having open containers, no wheelie bins here. Kitchen rubbish is in buy your own placccy sacks. Magpies and crows particularly love these.

[AnyFucker]

Because if I don't, it is 3 weeks until another collection

what a stupid question

[42bunnytails]

That Anyfucker is also a big part of the problem.

If the bin men took landfill, we could risk missing a week if it was blowing force 7, but they don't!

No way can I get 4 weeks rubbish in my bin and they won't take bags except first collection in jan.