To hate this on my worktop

[Somethingsosimple]

We have recently been given these by the council. I appreciate that in theory it’s a great idea but hate the look of them. Anyone use anything alternative? Have no where else in my kitchen for it to go.

I've got a lovely Brabantia push top bin

No room under our sink. I’ve got used to ours, though, and am very glad our council collects food waste - they don’t all do it.
You can buy a much less hideous one in various places. I’ve seen some nice ones in Lakeland.

Horrible things! I keep one of the brown paper compostable bags behind my taps during the day for scraps and then stick it in the food bin later.

Our council ones are shit brown. Why on earth would anyone waste money buying one when the council provides one? Surely that’s the exact opposite of environmentally friendly? Mind you I suppose it means you can slip in a Joseph Joseph humblebrag/plug.

I don’t use the food bin. No one on our estate does due to the amount of rats they attract.

I have a stainless steel Kilner one. Looks like a little retro bin. Carbon filter in the lid good at stopping smells and the whole thing can go in the dishwasher.

You could keep it in a cupboard in a different room and just bring it out when you're cooking? If you're emptying it every evening it shouldn't cause other rooms to smell

Also, it really looks fine anyway, it's just a small white bin. Where does your larger general bin go? Surely that's more unsighlty?

Doesn't really bother me. Is this for food recycling? As that's what mine is for.

@CrikeyYouDontWasteTime
Thanks for posting that. I had never heard of that website and it has some lovely kitchen storage items. Just what I have been looking for for ages. Ordering from them today. 👍

I refuse to have one. I tried, I really did but gave up as I wasn’t prepared to have stinking food refuse in my kitchen. I had a new kitchen installed last year which included a waste disposal unit so all my waste food goes down the plug hole. Someone came on to tell me I was causing fatbergs but as I have very little waste containing fat I’ll manage to live with that.

And you can tuck the liner in when it's not in use to improve appearence too

I've got the same one as MaggieFS. I refused to use the council one, it was too big and a horrid green colour.

I only use it in winter, in summer it goes straight in the recycling bin.

I don’t use one for this very reason, I don’t have the space. I do have my own compost bin in the garden so any fruit and veg goes into there and anything else goes in the main bin. Tbh we don’t have much food waste that can’t go in our own compost bin. I think I’m the only one on my road that does not use a food waste bin 😟

I have a nice black Joseph Joseph one...

@FusionChefGeoff Thats fine if you empty it every other day, I empty mine once a week so it would reek the house out.

I don't understand how your system works. Do the bin lorries empty that little bin? Or do you decant it into an outside bin? Can't you just keep the bin outside and take all the food waste out on one plate and scrape it? (Granted, not practical if you are in a flat.) And what do you do with the plastic bag?

user1495884620 You can get compostable bags, which I assume that is. So we tie up that bag when the small, inside bin is full and take it to the outside one. The larger, outside one then goes out with the weekly bin collection.

Those of you saying you don't use the food recycling bin because of rats/foxes - does it not 'lock'? Ours doesn't open when the handle is straight up. Lots of foxes here (and probably rats around too) but nothing has ever got into it.

We keep our caddy under the sink but I'll bring it out onto the bench if I'm making a meal/ peeling veg etc

Thanks for the explanation DappledThings. Our council don't collect kitchen waste. When I used to live in a council that did, we just collected peelings etc on a plate or bowl and then scraped any leftovers onto that and straight into the big bin.

the Addis compost caddy is the way to go - cheaper from not-Amazon of course. No need for bags. The inner either rinses out or goes in the dishwasher.

note the instructions were written by someone who had never seen it - you just stretch the outer a little to remove the inner.

obviously minimise food waste - if there is anything in there other than peelings, egg shells, tea bags and coffee grounds you are wasting edible food.

Could you put it inside a nicer box?

@DorkingMum we had a massive rat problem and they were chewing through them, opening them, getting inside them....🤢. This was a quite few years ago, our council was one of the first to trial the food bins I think, and they didn’t lock they just had a flip lid. Literally no one in our area uses them now.

Ours is under the sink and we use it constantly, the kids are trained to scoop their scraps in reasonably well. It doesn't have to be a cupboard under the sink, it can be anywhere that's useful. We do pop some newspaper underneath to help keep it tidy. If you have a utility room or back porch it could go in there. We recycle most things in our county, we're lucky.

@user1495884620

Thanks for the explanation DappledThings. Our council don't collect kitchen waste.

My parents' council don't either and I was really surprised. I had assumed it was one of those things that was done everywhere, didn't realise councils had the option not to!

Ours then gets put in the outdoor food waste bin. Both bins given to us by the council and easy to pick up from the library/hub if blown off or pinched or broken.
The outdoor one locks.