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AIBU?

To resent having to go to the tip because our black bins are too small?

173 replies

GreenbackBoogy · 21/02/2018 15:53

We are a family of two - no babies, no nappies. We recycle all paper, plastics, tins, bottles etc. Our black bin is not a full size one and is only collected fortnightly. It holds 1.5 black bags. AIBU to resent having to to go to the tip to drop off black rubbish, given the extortionate amount of council tax we pay?

OP posts:
lljkk · 21/02/2018 15:59

Who knows what you pay but you, how can anyone comment on that?

It takes us (5 people) 4-6 weeks to typically fill up our black bin (3-4 full black bags capacity, I suppose). I can't help but suspect you have more scope to reduce which would be your best path to less stress. Do you compost all garden or non-meat waste?

GreenbackBoogy · 21/02/2018 16:01

Ok, well reword to just "AIBU to resent having to to go to the tip to drop off black rubbish!"

We have a green bin for food and garden, so it doesn't go into the black bin. That said, our food waste is very, very little. It's mainly teabags!

OP posts:
Believeitornot · 21/02/2018 16:03

What is your rubbish then if you recycle and have minimal food waste? No nappies?

We are a family of four but they don’t do food waste recycling. As a result we have a lot of black landfill rubbish. That’s the majority of our rubbish.

notmyredditusername365 · 21/02/2018 16:04

We are a family of 4 and manage with 1 smaller sized wheelie collected fortnightly.

neddle · 21/02/2018 16:04

We're a family of seven, one in nappies. We have two small bins with a capacity of about two bin bags. They're collected every other week.
It's not enough - we fill both of them within a week, then struggle with rubbish the next week.
We can't go to the tip as they won't let us in with our nine-seater van, even though it's our only vehicle.

Notevilstepmother · 21/02/2018 16:05

I’m struggling to imagine what is in your bin if you separate food waste and you recycle everything.

HotCrossBunFight · 21/02/2018 16:05

No you're not, this drives me bonkers.

Some councils (like mine)only issue teeny weeny wheely bins.

I've 3 children in nappies. The thing was full of only nappies in a week.

I had to jump through about 1 million hoops to get a larger bin from them.

SoupDragon · 21/02/2018 16:05

How can you have that much landfill waste if you recycle so much?

AnathemaPulsifer · 21/02/2018 16:05

My family of 3 only uses one bin bag per week. How are you filling more than 1.5 bags if you're as diligent at recycling as you claim? Could you choose things with less packaging?

Notevilstepmother · 21/02/2018 16:07

Do you recycle cardboard?

Can you squash your rubbish down more?

Can you have a fire in the back garden?

WineIsMyMainVice · 21/02/2018 16:07

We recently started composting and I really noticed the reduction in the number of black bags going into the wheeley bin. Is this something you might be able to do? Obviously not if you don’t have access to a garden etc. Just a thought....

ViceAdmiralAmilynHoldo · 21/02/2018 16:08

How are you making so much rubbish with just two of you? We are four and make less than two black bags of general waste a fortnight. My kitchen bin is 20 litres and we usually fill a bag each week. Sometimes there is a little more, so about 50 litres general waste a fortnight. Our council's regular bins are 140 litres.

Are you really sure you are recycling everything? Do you flatten your cardboard? Do you have lots of takeaways, or buy lots of things in black plastic? Do you separate packaging into paper/plastic/card for recycling or do you deem it mixed/too difficult and just put in the waste?

Are you aware that you can probably recycle you plastic wraps (made of the stuff like carrier bags) in the carrier bag recycling at your local supermarket?

happy2bhomely · 21/02/2018 16:09

We are a family of 7 and we fill a full size black wheelie bin every week. It is collected weekly.

We also fill a full size plus a half size recycling bin every week. It is collected weekly.

We also half fill a large brown bin with food and garden waste every week. It is collected weekly in the spring and summer and fortnightly in the autumn and winter.

I would hate having to go to the dump regularly but I would happily pay maybe £10 for an extra black bin collection when I needed it.

mommybear1 · 21/02/2018 16:09

No definitely YNBU we are a family of three, one in nappies. We have one small black bin with a capacity of about two bin bags. They're collected every other week.
It's not enough - we fill it within a week, then struggle with rubbish the next week. We have two recycling bins (both much bigger than the black one) and we also fill those up before the two week collection. I am on maternity leave currently and I always have a fun Monday trip to the tip- like you OP given what we pay in council tax (over £200 a month) I massively resent having to do this but I refuse to leave in squalor. Our charming council also charge us for a replacement bin if ours gets stolen so far I've had to buy two bins - I suspect our neighbours who seem to multiply their bins each fortnight Wink

Loonoon · 21/02/2018 16:10

You might get more in if you either skipped bin liners entirely and just put the rubbish in loose. Or use smaller bags like Pedal bin liners.

I am at a loss to think what you are putting in the land fill bin given you are recycling paper, tins, plastics, glass and food waste. We do all that too and we very rarely have more than a bin bags worth in our land fill. It's mostly plastic wrapping that squishes up small, bags of ash from our open fire and the occasional pizza box. Are you recycling absolutely everything you can - like washed yoghurt pots and plastic food trays, loo roll middles, toiletry bottles etc?

Bert2e · 21/02/2018 16:10

You are creating far too much rubbish! Family of 4 here and we have less than 1 black bag a fortnight. Are you eating lots of pre prepared food? What exactly are you putting in your bin?

nomorespaghetti · 21/02/2018 16:10

Are you in Manchester by any chance? We have small size black wheelies collected fortnightly and lots of recycling. We're two adults and a 2 year old in nappies, we manage fine with it. It's still a lot of landfill waste. So YABU.

nottakenpersonally · 21/02/2018 16:12

Tea bags can be composted, surely?

HotCrossBunFight · 21/02/2018 16:12

We aren't allowed tea bags in the food waste here.

grasspigeons · 21/02/2018 16:14

I presume you have called your local authority and checked that is the only bin you are allowed?

You may be allowed 2 tiny bins, or a bigger bin if you ask.

I can't envisage what size bin you mean, as a couple we had the smallest wheelie bin on offer and it was collected fortnightly and it was fine. Then when we had children I rang and asked for a bigger one.

Mycarsmellsoflavender · 21/02/2018 16:14

Maybe use smaller bags rather than black bin bags - you can pack more in that way.

The smaller black bins are standard around here for a 2 person household. What are the main contents of yours? Is there anything else you could be recycling that you aren't already? For reference, we generate at least twice as much recyclable waste ( plastics, glass, paper, cardboard, tins and cans) as non-recyclable.

Quadrangle · 21/02/2018 16:14

All councils seem to do it differently, but we aren't given a bin for landfill, only a container for food waste and wheelie bins for recycling. I bought my own dustbin for landfill. Could you do that or isn't it allowed?

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Upsidedownandinsideout · 21/02/2018 16:14

Agree YABU. Family of 5 here and unless it's a big week like Christmas, we have 2 large bin bags fortnightly.

The fact that you only have tea bags in the food bin is revealing - either it suggests you maybe aren't as recycling savvy as you think, or that you buy most of your food processed, which creates a lot more packaging (though again, that should mostly be recyclable).

Originalfoogirl · 21/02/2018 16:15

We have a small wheelie bin which takes about 3 bin bags. It is collected monthly. We never fill it up as a family of 3. We recycle everything, have a waste disposal for food, we do have grey food caddies for food waste but I don't like using them, I prefer the waste disposal.

Two adults, recycling "everything" should manage with a small bin fortnightly.

Xenadog · 21/02/2018 16:16

We are a family of three and our tiny black bin is full before the end of week one and we have to spend the second week cramming rubbish in. We recycle everything but we don’t have a bin for composting (not that there is much food waste). I feel tempted to put bags of rubbish in the public waste bins which get emptied daily near us. I suspect some people do this already.

Oh and we can’t recycle cartons either as the council don’t have the facilities for recycling tetra packs.

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