I Wish I Had Gone to the Tip

[Meckity1]

Over the last few years I've been at a really low point. I suppose you could say I've had pretty much a breakdown. The sort of thing that means that making a cup of tea is sometimes too complicated. Couldn't get to the doctors as couldn't get out the house. That sort of thing. And the house filled up and became dirty.

DH is now working from home and needs a clearer, cleaner surroundings for his mental health. I need to get rid of cardboard boxes, outgrown clothes, unused blankets, old papers (shredded) etc etc. And we always generate a lot of rubbish for some reason. DH always used to take a couple of bags to the tip every Sunday. Then there is the backlog of jars and bottles for the bottle bank and old paint tins. And don't get me started on the state of the garden and how I finally can get into it now that the neighbours who kept threatening me have moved out.

The tip is closed.

The garden is filling up with black bags and now I look like a food hoarder with stuff going out of date. I've got to get rid of stuff from the back of cupboards that is a year out of date, but haven't been hoarding. My stash of hand soap comes from last summer when there was a really good deal and I bought a load. My food waste over the last few weeks has been some celery and two carrots.

When the tip finally opens I'm going to be making shuttle runs for days.

Please let it be open after this three week period.

Have a look at your council's web page, under 'bulky waste collection'.

Mine takes 12 bin bags for £10.

Obviously they won't be doing it now but for when this is over.

@WorraLiberty That's a great idea, I'll have a look. I'm triaging rubbish. Food waste goes in the black bin, cardboard goes in the green bin (there are a lot of rats around here, so not putting anything out they can get into), plastic drink bottles (around two or three per day atm) and tins in a clear bag to be added to the correct bin where possible but not so bad to leave out with the rats, etc etc.

I may finally kick my diet cola habit, just because I can't manage the rubbish!

Don’t get rid of the stuff from the back of the cupboard that’s a year out of date. Assuming that it’s BBE not Use By, and it’s not visibly torn or mouldy you should just eat it.

Come on here - we’ll give you recipes for even the most unpromising stuff. I ate an Ainsley Harriott mushroom couscous packet from 2017 for lunch the other day with the left over end of the previous night’s stew with no meat left in it. I’m not saying it was the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten, but it was a perfectly acceptable lunch.

@AintNobodyHereButUsKittens I'm not sure I'd be that brave. I'm good keeping stuff like pasta, rice, raisins, spices etc after Best Before date, but there is stuff that really needs to go. I don't have enough loo roll to get food poisoning lol.

I have got a lot of stuff stashed, but only because I buy in bulk when I see a good deal. I'm good for soap powder for a while as well (serious discount on Ariel) and dried mushrooms (another great deal from before Christmas). Some of the stuff that has fallen behind the stash really, really, really needs to go.

I wish I had hoarded kitchen roll, but I only go through a roll a month as I use mainly rags, so I've run out.

are you somewhere with no bin or recycling collection? Those haven't stopped and hopefully won't as they are a public health issue.

bottles, cardboard papers etc can all go to recycling, paint tins if empty and dry can go in the bin.Check your council website - our lets you put out up to six recycling boxes at each fortnightly collection. It won't go all at once but the pile will go down.

@mencken sadly we fill up the black bin quicker than collections in normal times. As I said, DH's normal routine includes a run to the tip every Sunday. I am wondering about

I am currently flattening and squishing rubbish like never before. I think I will get rid of a large slice by being crafty loading the bin.

But DH really needs a lot more out of the house. There are clothes bank places in Tesco's car park, and a bottle bank, so I'll see if they are being emptied or are overflowing and hopefully get rid of some stuff there. Though some of the stuff I'm getting rid of is really only fit for rags.

I can see me getting a skip!

Are you not recycling? A weekly trip to the tip isn't normal to top up bin collections.

Are you not recycling? A weekly trip to the tip isn't normal to top up bin collections.

Did you not read the OP?

Why are you generating so much rubbish in a normal week?

You need to recycle more.

I'm in a similar situation OP where is now have time to sort a serious backlog of shite but I have nowhere to put it. The shed is full of stuff already and I have a few black bags of stuff waiting to go, along with bags for the charity shops and I'm not able to do anything else because I can't get rid of things!

I think the best we can do is have a designated space to keep things until times improve, while clearing the important spaces. So work space and living room priority.

Why are you generating so much rubbish in a normal week?

I also have more rubbish than collections. I recycle everything I can. There are 6 of us and 2 small bins that get collected every 3 weeks. It's not enough. I often have to drop a bag at the skip. We have no food waste collections either.

Why is your garden filling up now? Are you having a sort out?
Does your recycling not get collected? The cardboard boxes would go out with recycling for example.

How about starting a vegetable patch? I'm no gardener (but there's great advice in the Gardening section). You could use all of your plastic bottles as mini cloches, you could probably use the cardboard on some way too. Tin cans - wash out and use as little pots? Also, being outside and doing something productive might help to lift your spirits?

Sorry if that's not helpful though.

Can you afford a skip or a Hippo bag and get rid of as much as possible in one go?

Also - you could use the old clothes to make scarecrows? Cut them up and see them into a patchwork quilt? Use old t-shirts to make cleaning cloths?

Are you not recycling? A weekly trip to the tip isn't normal to top up bin collections.

It depends on your 'normal' doesnt it... Yes I recycle everything that can be, and yet I go to the tip every week or two. Our non-recycling bins are only emptied every three weeks; my human-generated rubbish is the equivalent of 2 or 3 carrier bags in three weeks. The used pet litter waste fills my non-recycling bin in a week

Loving the suggestions.

I was wondering about getting a skip, but I wasn't sure whether they would be able to operate when the tips are shut. I'll check.

Gardening is a good idea, I can use some of those ideas.

DH absolutely needs the house emptier for his mental health now that he's working from home. It's a seriously big deal.

The cardboard is really mounting up after online shopping. I haven't been able to get out for years, so do the majority of my shopping online even in normal times, and my subscribe and save order from Amazon has just arrived in several boxes. :(

Though now I've passed my driving test, I can get out more for eg tip runs, so things are getting better

plastic drink bottles (around two or three per day atm)... I may finally kick my diet cola habit

Sodastream? You keep the fizz and reduce the plastic waste enormously. I use mine for fizzy water for squash.

We are allowed to put flattened cardboard boxes next to our recycling bin, if the bin is full. Are you allowed to do that?
And could you cancel the subscribe and save or do you actually use it all between each buy?
I’ve found that now we’re all at home the mess gets to me so much more than before, but like you, we can’t get rid of bulky stuff at the moment.

The food waste is the priority.

Clean and squish the recycling as much as you can, but get anything that could attract vermin out as safely as possible.

@Times10 I use all the stuff in the subscribe and save. You have to watch it like a hawk because prices can go up and down and you have to keep on top of stuff. I always use it for vitamins, because then I don't have to remember to buy stuff, it's always in.

@Gingernaut I'm keeping food waste separate and that goes into the black bin. There is a real problem with rats around here. We live near a beck, in an urban area, with what seems like a gazillion take aways around here. I'm worried about them.

There are people a lot worse off. It's just that this is the thing that's getting to me. And that I finally manage to get out of the house on a regular basis after years of it not being possible - and I can't. It's sort of funny.

Our council has just stopped all collections except 1 general bin, every 2 weeks, for the duration of the pandemic.

There are some excellent and creative suggestions upthread, OP. Hope some of them work for you.

I think skip companies are still open, as they supply the building trade, which is also still open. So just order a skip, fill it up and they’ll take it away again. Hassle free and fast.