How do you deal with rubbish left after recycling?

[Thisizit]

I recycle. I have bins in my kitchen. My paper and plastic bins get full every week.

My black rubbish bin gets collected fortnightly but I always have left over bags. I honestly recycle everything I can.

I have excess bags in my garden most weeks that the binmen wont take.
I don't drive so can't go to the tip.

I cabt afford to pay £10 every week for 2 or 3 bags to be taken by a licensed private binman.

A housing association worker was visiting next door and reported me for having bin bags in my garden on bin day.

I had to pay someone to come take them before she came for an inspection but I can't do that everyweek.

It's really stressing me out.

They won't let me have a 2nd black bin either :(

What do you all do?

[dementedpixie]

How big is your bin and how many in your family? What is going in your black bin?

[ems137]

I have 4 children, 1 fully in nappies and 1 at night. I used to be like you and would always have to take excess bags to the tip most fortnight.

I made an extra effort to recycle more, I never used to be bothered rinsing out yoghurt pots or other tubs for recycling I'd just throw them in the bin. It's made a huge difference. Also when the 2 youngest were even smaller we ate less freshly cooked food and more ready meals and convenience stuff. Now, I have more time to cook and buy lots of fresh fruit and veg without packaging which also seems to have made a difference.

All that goes in my general waste bin is nappies, food wrappers like crisp packets etc, food waste (not happy but can't be helped with small children) and sometimes toys or household things that have broken. Each fortnight I can usually fit in an extra bag of rubbish if I had one.

What goes in your general waste when you think about it properly? How many kids have you got?

[EverythingNow]

Our council gives 2 bins if you have 2 in nappies. We will shortly be a family of 6 (1 adult child, 2 under 10 and a baby, plus 3 dogs). Here you can only have a second recycling bin if you have 6 family members.

I am going to use cloth nappies (most of which I've bought second hand) with the new baby to reduce our waste. Could that be an option?

[Thisizit]

I have 4 kids and 7 animals.

Maybe I'm not making enough effort but my recycling bins are ALWAYS full. I never put paper, bottles, tins etc in the normal bin. I just always seem to still have bags

[EverythingNow]

Oh sorry getting confused @Thisizit didn't mention nappies 🤦🏻‍♀️ can I blame on being pregnant please!

[Muchtoomuchtodo]

How big is the bin? We’re a family of 4 and only put 1 black bin bag out a fortnight.
Looking at what you’re buying will help.
Less packaged goods, more fresh stuff that is unpackaged (use local grocers and butchers rather than supermarkets).
Can the animal waste be composted (I have no idea, just a suggestion)?

[Thisizit]

I don't drive so get tesco delivered. I can't use grocers and butchers unfortunately as there's none local.

[dementedpixie]

Could you get a taxi to the tip? Or a friend to drive you

[dementedpixie]

What recycling does your council do? Can you get bigger recycle bins?

[BernardsarenotalwaysSaints]

I have 5 dc (1 in full time nappies, 1 at night time) 2 dogs, 1 cat. We have 1.5 black bins (we had to apply for the second & they determined a half size would do us. 2 full size recycling bins (& 2 full size garden waste but most on my road have 2 of those as we have large gardens). We’re picky about recycling every single thing we can, it’s rare I actually fill our .5 bin (but it is useful in an emergency). I get groceries delivered & request without bags. The fruit & veg comes in the paper bags which I put in the bathroom for bringing the recycling from there down I also buy in loose quantities to avoid the packaging that comes with a punnet of apples etc. If we have food waste it goes in the green garden waste bin (or the dogs).

[BernardsarenotalwaysSaints]

Much it depends on the animals, my council told me rabbit, guinea pig etc bedding can be composted/put in the garden waste bin. Dog & cat can’t be because it can contain harmful bacteria (I didn’t expect it to be). Unsure about birds etc.

[Iris1654]

Are your neighbours bins full? 😀

Can you crush the waste more? I squash it down in the bin, then pull it out, so that’s it in a tight tube. I found using slim line bin bags, not black but also helps.

[stucknoue]

How many kids? We have 4 adults and just one black bag a week, even if there's 8 people you should fit into a wheelie bin (4 bags)

[AWhistlingWoman]

Do you have a kind neighbour with a smaller family?

We have three children, four pets. Our recycling bin is always full but we have a standing arrangement with our neighbour that, if their bin is out for collection and is not full, we can pop one of our extra bags inside.

[NoSquirrels]

How big is your recycling bin and your black bin? Here, you can get a bigger size recycling bin if you are a bigger family but are expected to cut down your black bin waste.

Most stuff can be recycled - what does your council say can be recycled or excluded? Look it up, you’ll probably be surprised how much can be recycled with a change in habits.

[ChesterDrawsDoesntExist]

We have a family of 5 and our area is one of the few left in the UK that don't offer recycling at all so it's all general waste into a standard size wheelie bin.

We rarely manage to fill it unless we're hitting the kids rooms and dumping toys and rubbish or we're throwing our grass cuttings into the bin.

I think you might want to look at your shopping here. I try to buy loose veg and cook less processed, overly packaged foods.

When the recyclables are out, what is there in your general waste? What's there that doesn't need to be?

[Caspianberg]

Do you have a garden? If so compost bins are the way to go. Then all fruit and vegetable peelings, egg shells, tea/coffee, and animal waste from herbivores can be composted (ie if you have a rabbit all bedding and little tray can be emptied into compost).

What exactly is filling the bin?

[babysharkah]

Two kids two adults and a dog. We have two 'skinny' general waste bins that get collected every other week. They are always fully. We recycle as ugh as we can are cutting back in single use plastics as much as possible. When dts were in nappies we were given an extra bin by the council. We can have as many recycling boxes as you need / want. Paper gets taken one week and anything else the alternate week.

I

[muumimamma]

I had this same problem, family of 5, recycle everything and still couldn't fit the leftover waste into the black bin (gets collected every 3 weeks). I asked the council for an extra bin and got one (for a limited time, not forever) because had 2 kids in nappies at the time - had to also fill in a waste diary for 2 weeks to get three extra bin. Much better now that I'm back at work and kids are in nursery - and most nappies get changed & binned at the nursery!

[lljkk]

What kind of pets, huge dogs?
How many do you have in disposable nappies?
Do you have a compost heap?
I can put the wet-only cat litter in our compost heap (wood pellets).
Do you waste food?
4 ppl, 3 cats: It takes us 4-6 weeks to fill our large rubbish bin, typically.

Our recycling bin takes glass, cans, aluminium things. We cycle other stuff (electrical goods, metal, light bulbs) to the tip. Supermarket takes batteries. Charity shop & freecycle & ebay take some of the rest. Textile banks...

[lljkk]

We have a 240 litre black bin, like one in middle of pic. Supposed to be the most common size. We could manage with the little one for rubbish but could use the huge one for recycling. My council takes a lot of recycling.

[imip]

Perhaps look at what is causing your rubbish and see if you can cut back on that or find alternatives. For example, are the dc having lots of individual bags of crisps? Decant a big bag into small containers. If pet food in small sachets? Try tins to recycle. Does your council have a rebate on reusable nappies? Could you use reusable nappies for a couple of nappies a day. We are a family of 6, dc 7-12 and we recycle everything and half fill one small black bin every week. On average, a shopping bag of waste every couple of days. Perhaps excess packaging is your culprit?

[El0die]

When I've had a big clear out, I ask my neighbours if I can put my excess rubbish in their bins.
I ask politely and have never been refused.