Do you clean your recycling before putting in the bin?

[Frosty66612]

Bit of a boring one but do you rinse out tins and yogurt pots etc before putting them in the recycling bin, or do you just put them straight in?

I have loads of things that can't go in the dishwasher or else they get ruined.

What are they?

I think these are things I mostly avoid buying. e.g. a few years ago I chose a blender with heads that can go in the dishwasher. I don't have any heirloom/fancy cutlery and crockery.

It's the same way I check when buying clothes if they are machine washable, and consider the colour according to what they can be washed with. Inconvenient to wash is a reason in itself not to buy something just the same as if it didn't suit me. (Unless it's a category that always needs handwashing for longevity's sake like bras, hosiery and knitwear)

I sometimes soak kitchen things if necessary but generally they are suitable for the dishwasher.

Someone mentioned certain kinds of clear plastic tubs - the only things I get made of that are yoghurt lids, and they don't get grubby anyway apart from every couple of weeks when I'm lazy and use one as a spoon rest.

Nutella water would contribute to fatbergs? Isn’t that a bit of a stretch? Obviously it’s scraped out first by hungry children. Perhaps we have different expectations of how much Nutella actually needs to be washed off? Lol. I thought fatbergs were caused by cooking fat and tampons, not the odd bit of greasy water.

I have lived (only for a few weeks) under ‘take only pictures, leave only footprints’ conditions. It’s just not compatible with living in a city in the U.K. I file stuff like Nutella water concerns under ‘I’m going to hell anyway’ I’m afraid.

How do people never wash up? I have loads of things that can't go in the dishwasher or else they get ruined. Do you people not at least run a little hot soapy water to wipe down surfaces with? Do you never wash your hands?

Nope - I don't have anything that can't go in DW.
Nope, I use Mr Muscle spray stuff and kitchen roll to clean surfaces.
Yes. I wash my hands with soap under running water. What's that got to do with anything? It goes straight down the plughole. Not enough to actually clean anything with!!

Short answer: Yes.

That’s the requirement and it’s lazy not to wash out receptacles.

It was just a musing, greasy food leftovers soaked in water would give greasy water which would of course contribute to fatbergs even in just a small way. Like I say maybe I have too much Nutella left, it doesnt all get eaten before it gets mouldy, bizarrely.

Yes, no stinks round here.

pennycarbonara - I'm having my eyes opened as to how relatively lax other councils are.

Does that mean you are banned from putting bin liners into the wheelie bin and have to throw all rubbish from indoor bins loose into the wheelie bin?
This sounds like a very hardcore council.

No wheelie bin liners - and, after a quick Google, it seems my council isn't alone in this.

But what is supposed to be the point? Isn't that a tip to reduce washing up that was created at a time when people didn't expect to wash the foil and would just bin it?

Back in the day, we were encouraged to line grill pans etc. so that we could:
i) get some reflected heat and use less fuel (I know some manufacturers of grills/cookers now recommend against this but I think some of my age group probably still does this);
ii) wrap up gobs of fat that came out of sausages etc. and put it in the bin, not down the drains (similar to modern concern about FOG and fathergs, but also recommended for those with septic tanks);
iii) not need to use aggressive cleaners to get burned-on gunk off grill pans etc.
iv) use it to line parts of ovens to improve heat management and cleaning (as above).

I am genuinely surprised at the number of different practices and standards there seem to be.

What are they?

Set of glasses.
My favourite mugs.
Anything that will smell if left.

We only need to run the dishwasher once a week. I probably do a wash up once every 2/3 days

greasy food leftovers soaked in water would give greasy water which would of course contribute to fatbergs even in just a small way.

I wonder about this. I use vinegar to wipe round greasy bowls etc. and mop up as much of the grease as I can with paper (which then has to go in the bin) but there will always be traces left.

At some point, if fatbergs continue to be such as substantial issue, do you think we'll end up with domestic grease traps? Or we'll all end up having to filter our waste water through a vertical tower of sand and carbon and then throw the dirty sand in the bin?

Just checked - nothing at all on Wigan council website to suggest our plastic and glass needs to be washed for the brown bin...

i use a bin bag in my kitchen bin then when full i pull the ties and knot it then put in the wheelie bin are you serious that your council opens these small plastic bags to check your rubbish some rubbish is just put in but most is in a small bag

@arranfan - I remember my mum lining the grill pan with foil and throwing it away after a few uses. The pan was a silver colour anyway so it didn't really make a difference to the reflectiveness. She grilled a lot of breaded chicken and fish, but I don't buy those.

I rarely use the grill. (And when I do I put water in as soon as I've finished and clean it out within an hour or two, same with baking trays.) A cheese topping, the main thing I'd consider the grill for, would get melted in the microwave, which also uses less power. I think that like the clothes it's something I streamline for convenience, whereas other people who have more energy would see it as a limiting of their repertoire.

When I’ve used the grill, I tip/scrape the residue into a coffee jar and then bin the jar when it’s full. Same with oil/fat

Slightly off topic but do you flush tampons or wrap them and dispose in the bin?

Slightly off topic but do you flush tampons or wrap them and dispose in the bin?

Never flush, never have ever since a teen. Wrap and bin.

@jacques me too. Again, my sister is saying she’s always flushed them . I’m considering swapping to a mooncup to avoid using tampons as they are a huge problem for the environment

Our local authority website states that you should rinse everything out that requires it before putting it in the bin.

JacquesHammer

What are they?

Set of glasses
My favourite mugs.
Anything that will smell if left.

We only need to run the dishwasher once a week. I probably do a wash up once every 2/3 days

Washing up every two or three days? Really? Good grief, I couldn’t leave dirty stuff “collecting” for that length of time.

The dishwasher is used daily. Why on earth have a dishwasher if you don’t use it daily or not put everything in it.

Oh and I keep a large coffee jar with lid for any greasy/fatty stuff to be poured into. Thames water did a home visit with lots of advice and that was one of their suggestions to reduce fatburg contributions.

Slightly off topic but do you flush tampons or wrap them and dispose in the bin?

Wrap and bin.

Even trickier question, those who use flushable wet wipes and toilet tissue - the stuff that adds to the fatbergs - do you flush, or do you wrap and bin?

Wrap and bin but I hate it.

I rinse stuff but our latest recycling guide from the council actually had this as one of their faq and they said the stuff doesn't have to be spotless and a quick rinse is fine!

@arran I used to always flush the wet toilet tissue stuff but my DP told me off and said it can clog the pipes over time so I now try and not use it at all, and if I do I put it in a sanitary bag and put in the bin

Which? magazine has a big article this week on reducing plastic use. In its tips section it says containers 'don't have to be sparkling, but a half-full yoghurt pot or baked bean tin risk contaminating porous materials such as paper and card and rendering it all unrecyclable.' Which seems to indicate that a small amount is not significant.

Ironically, my copy of the magazine, with the headline 'How to reduce your plastic footprint' arrived encased in a thin plastic bag...

@rustybear I hate unnecessary plastic like that. I got a delivery from Asda recently and they had put individual fruit and veg like a single lemon or a single pepper into plastic bags.

The dishwasher is used daily. Why on earth have a dishwasher if you don’t use it daily or not put everything in it

Golly didn’t think it was that tricky a concept

There’s only me and DD, sometimes just me. We don’t make enough used crockery to run it daily and even running on economy is wasteful.

Why do I have things that can’t go in it? Because I have special items from before dishwashers were a thing.