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Original poster

Boring thread-kitchen bin routine!

23 replies

CurlewKate · 28/05/2023 10:16

I absolutely hate doing the kitchen bin- so I tend to leave it til it's too full-then the job is even worse. What do you do? Do you empty it every day even if it's nowhere near full and cope with the waste of bin bags? Are you like me and end up with a too heavy impossible to manage dangerous potential split disaster? Or do you somehow manage a compromise. I promise I'm a proper grown up about most other things!

OP posts:

GeraltsBathtub · 28/05/2023 10:18

What kind of bin do you have? I found when we had a swing bin we were more prone to overfilling it than the one we have now with a flat lid. Our current one actually has a food waste bin which sits inside it, so when it’s full around that we empty it and it’s not overfilled once the food waste bin is taken out iyswim. That plus decent bin liners mean no splits!

Xrays · 28/05/2023 10:21

We have a 40l bin and just empty it when it’s full, unless we’ve had something particularly smelly for dinner like curry or fish and have left overs. So then we change it early.

mintbiscuit · 28/05/2023 10:23

I am looking at my bin right now wondering how I will get the bag out without splitting it because of all the stuff crushed down.

Not the answer you were looking for but I conveniently ignore until DH does it.

PucketyPuckPuck · 28/05/2023 10:24

I definitely don't empty it daily! I hate putting out a bag that's not full-full, it feels such a waste.

Probably once a day I 'push down' the contents of the bin to compact it - using one piece of kitchen roll under my hand. Otherwise it can appear full when it's anything but.

I wait until it's full to the top but not overflowing which is probably 5 or 6 days. Then I pull the bin bag out and there's alwaus extra space...so I go and collect the bathroom bins and the bins from eldest 2 Dc's bedrooms to empty into the black bag. Then a final scout around for anything else i can throw in before it's tied and put out.

I've never spoken about my bin habits in such detail before 😂

CrispyTofu · 28/05/2023 10:28

We just empty it when it's full but we don't squish down, we use a bin liner and then a biodegradable bin bag inside that. We don't have much waste as we have a compost heap and don't buy many items in packaging and when we do it's compostable or recyclable. Perhaps you could have a look at the type of waste you are creating and try and reduce it? The upside is you don't have to empty your bin as often . We did this in lockdown and made some changes that benefited us and reduced our waste considerably

greenacrylicpaint · 28/05/2023 10:33

we have so little actual waste that we almost never fill a 10l bin a week.

we don't have a wheely bin amd no regular waste collection. (not uk) we take our waste to the communal container when full or too smelly. which is once a week or so.

Original poster

CurlewKate · 28/05/2023 10:41

We have a compost heap and we're rabid recyclers, so can't really reduce waste any further. It's a self opening bin that takes standard bin bags-40l? The problem really is me not doing it. I have no excuses!

OP posts:

Fantina · 28/05/2023 10:45

Like a PP I have very little black bin waste these days, so I only empty it once a week before the bin men come unless there’s something smelly in there.

I take all my soft recycling to Tesco to drop off in their soft recycling points so that has reduced it further and our green bin collection is good here and takes all good waste including bones.

TeenDivided · 28/05/2023 10:48

@Fantina 'soft recycling' ? Please enlighten me!

Fantina · 28/05/2023 10:52

Oops sorry, I mean soft plastics such as the film of meat packets, sweet wrappers etc and includes crisps packets too. I’m glad tnese things can now be recycled but I can’t say I love having another bag of rubbish around the house until I chuck it in the car for the next shopping trip. I noticed our local
Aldi has a drop off point now too, they are usually at the front of the stores.

Allrightmylover · 28/05/2023 10:54

Our bins are under the sink in a draw that pulls out so you can’t see them at all. DH and DS pull the bins out as I have an issue with my back. If I ever live alone I will have to take out the equivalent of a carrier bag full of rubbish very often.

Original poster

CurlewKate · 28/05/2023 10:55

I'm starting to wonder why we have so much waste. At least two big (overflowing -see previous posts!) a week! Lots of catfood packets....

OP posts:

TeenDivided · 28/05/2023 10:56

Fantina · 28/05/2023 10:52

Thank you. I will check these out.

CruCru · 28/05/2023 10:58

I get really cross with the people who squash down the kitchen bin. It just means that when I empty it (it’s always me), the bag splits and the contents go everywhere. I have better things to do with my day than clear up smelly rubbish from our steps because everyone else is horrified by the idea of emptying the bin.

Fantina · 28/05/2023 11:09

@CurlewKate the cat food foil pouches can be recycled at Co-Op branches, Aldi and Tesco now. And possibly other places at the soft plastic recycling points I mention.

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 28/05/2023 11:11

Ours just gets emptied when it's full - anything really smelly gets put straight into the outside bin.

Original poster

CurlewKate · 28/05/2023 11:17

@Fantina Trouble is-I don't think my commitment to saving the planet stretches to washing cat food packets......

OP posts:

Original poster

CurlewKate · 28/05/2023 11:19

@CruCru trouble is, it's mostly just me and do at home now and he can't do it. And it's me that does the pushing down....so I reap what I sow.

OP posts:

Fantina · 28/05/2023 11:21

I admit I wish I hadn’t started this as now I feel too guilty to stop. Now I always have a little pile of recycling waiting to be washed, a little pile drying and a stack waiting to be taken to the supermarket. I’m at the stage where if the kids put a crisp packet in the black bin, I tell them off and fish it out 😂

I do miss the days it could all be chucked in one bin and forgotten about.

Original poster

CurlewKate · 28/05/2023 16:40

@Fantina -I'm the same. But I won't wash cat food packets. I'm going to pretend I don't know they can be recycled!

OP posts:

Floralnomad · 28/05/2023 16:50

I do mine when it’s nearly full so usually every 2/3 days but I never push it down to get more in so it’s usually pretty easy to empty as when I pull it out the rubbish spreads around the inside easily .

Caspianberg · 28/05/2023 16:55

We take out every few days ideally so it doesn’t smell, especially in summer. We use brabantia bin liners in that bin. The small 10l ones. Ours are built inside drawer also. The bin is never full

I can’t understand not washing out something that’s recyclable. It’s should be criminal to send recyclable items to landfill. We have cats, I buy all wet food in small tin cans so they can be washed, and then I take to the local metal recycling at supermarket.

Also not uk here. We get charged per kg of ‘ regular waste’. It’s stops lots of ‘ can’t be bothered’. Glass and metal isnt collected from house either so we take to local drop of points.

Fantina · 28/05/2023 16:56

@CurlewKate I’ll ask for my earlier post to be deleted 😂

I am diligent about recycling everything it’s possible to recycle, every holey pair of tights goes to the clothes bank etc but then I read about it all washing up on beaches in the global south and I wonder why we are all bothering.

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