So tomorrow is the day of the bin-off.

[Anonbindrama]

So the bin men broke our bin. Just gobbled the lid. Hardly that deep.

Rung the council to request a new lid. Nope, don’t do them. Ok.
New bin.. yes but we can only give you a 140L skinny bin (previously a normal size 240L).
We said sorry that won’t work for us. Don’t worry we will buy a bin.
We are not allowed to buy a bin.

Much confusion. Multiple calls. All jobsworths. Stalk the street. Many an unbranded bin so I think we will be fine. Buy a bin. But ours is shiny.

I have thought about rubbing mud on it but then that’s not nice for the bin men so shiny it is.

Will they take it? Big mystery.

And if not then I have no idea what we are supposed to do. But I will worry about tomorrow.

I hope it gets collected!!

round here there are standard (240) bins, skinny bins and extra wide bins! I believe if you have multiple kids in nappies, or disabilities that produce extra waste etc, you’re entitled to one of the extra wide ones so it’s worth asking.

and for recycling, we can ask for a whole extra recycling bin, free. You might be able to do the same? You have to put a reason but one of the ones in the list is literally “I have a lot of extra recycling”

Our council don’t even provide bins at all. Only 2 black bags are allowed to be out every 2 weeks.

Doesn't your council have a nappy collection? My neighbour has purple bags for her baby's nappies. Go on your council website to see if there is an exemption facility. My council also has exemption for pet litter/bedding so as the limit is 3 black bags which must be filled first then you have additional 2 bags a fortnight if you need extra just for pet litter/bedding.

I am a frazzled primary school teacher deciding on escape routes out of teaching. I think I may have found my perfect job…<wonders about job title>

We only have skinny bins and ours are collected only every 3 WEEKS. I have to take any extra rubbish to the dump .myself. I've tried really hard to cut back and recycle everything but it's a never ending struggle.

So the council do collect your rubbish. Just not in a bin 🙄

I can understand things being different in different council areas, you are the one who said the idea of rubbish bags in bins is “bizarre” to you. In a large city bags lying out on the street are obviously going to cause mayhem. It doesn’t take much thinking to understand that. Do you have trouble understanding that this is done for hygiene reasons and is hardly “bizarre”.

We’re the same and I genuinely don’t know how it’s allowed. It encourages so much fly tipping.

Yes, having lived in various places in Spain & France I can totally understand you being perplexed at the bin system in the UK. But at the same time having grown up with it & also lived overseas where it's the norm, it seems 'normal' too.

Austria drove me insane!! Far too many different coloured bins & having to take the stuff a long way to the collection depot.

but yes. All of those things you mention are problems. Not for everyone, but many!

Dont be silly. Everyone has different sized households

I think it’s to do with recycling @Thewholebloodylot !
if you recycle as much as possible and fill that bin - your main rubbish bin doesn’t get as full - unless you have nappies etc.
we have large recycling wheelie bin that most things go in and then a small fortnightly collected proper rubbish wheelie.
I see it as a challenge to try not to fill it! Hard tho!

Yes they do stink. One of the many reasons I switched to reusable nappies and menstrual products. The thought of them sitting for two weeks waiting to be collected was just 🤢.

My bins have never overflowed though - even during the short time we did use disposable nappies. Family of four with a skinny wheelie bin for landfill, a large wheelie bin for recycling, a small caddy for food waste and a tub for glass. Food waste gets taken weekly, landfill and recycling on alternate weeks and it's fine. I'm genuinely curious about how some people manage to generate so much waste...

i understand your pain especially with children in nappies the bin is always full to the brim & usually a bag given to the in laws!!!

bin men broke our brown bin last week - will replace with a smaller size or we could pay for 2 - no thanks!!! Duct tape it is!!!

Hope you get collected!!!

That’s outrageous

Fortnightly collections here too and when I was in the nappy years I had to make a case to the council for a larger bin (thankfully awarded). Since moved and to my horror there was only a skinny bin. Blood ran a bit cold to be honest- but it’s actually fine. Standard times we have 2 kitchen bins worth fortnight in it - and it fits 3 or 4 at a push. Food waste collected weekly and separately thank goodness so no smell/ flies problem.

But anything non standard - like a party, or Xmas or a mistimed holiday and it’s off to the tip we go.

i didn’t know you could even buy wheelie bins - which shop sells these?

Never heard of this we have cat litter & nappies would be a real space saver! Will investigate!!

Our council went to 3 weekly collection for general rubbish which is just ridiculous. However problem was solved by a local waste disposal company who offer a service to collect general waste at a very competitive price so we just have an extra visit from them in between.

Well not exactly! They'd put down two paving slabs.hardly a pedestal or a plinth

Few cats with cat litter and two kids in nappies at the same time will make that impossible

There's a separate collection just for nappies, which we don't need.
If foxes rip the bags to shreds, the street looks a mess and it's on us to clean it up. It's such a hassle!

Probably bloody Austria, it's mad!!

And we wonder why fly tipping is on the rise!

I wish councils would put pressure on manufacturers to cut down on the ridiculous amount of packaging they create instead of putting households in the position of wondering what the hell to do with their rubbish. Plus, we already have rats in our neighbourhood!

Our bina are alternate weeks with weekly food waste. DP did not put the food waste bin out correctly this week - it cannot be near any other bins, it must be very prominent ie blocking the whole road as a single little food bin, or the bin men will not see it or empty it.

They didn’t see it this week so we now have a bin full of liquid food and maggots for another week (due to the heat). I am too afraid to open it to add more food waste into it

Same here…I’m in a council that has no bins. We just get a handful of black and green bag rolls thrown on our doorstep a couple of times a year. Our bags are taken every two weeks, so in the meantime, they cause all kinds of issues of where to store (so your house doesn’t stink or, in hot weather, maggots 🤢). If we leave them in the garden, foxes/cats/rats have a field day. Then come ‘bag day’ (it’s not bin day 🤷‍♀️) we have to pile them all up in the street…it’s an absolute mess! We regularly get ‘Dear Householder’ letters telling us off for the mess, as litter is everywhere due to the local wildlife tearing the bags open, and even worse, rat issues!

I live on a really lovely street, with decent neighbours, but some have very large families (one family has 6 children under 12) so their bag pile after a fortnight can be 20 or more bags. I can’t imagine how they are storing these bags, and the smell in this heat must be rancid. We don’t have food bins either, just the two bags, green for recycling, black for everything else, including food and nappies.

I’m single and live alone, so only usually use two of each bag over the fortnight, but I feel real sympathy for the families here.

God knows why our council don’t want bins!

Hadn’t even thought about where you store them in the meantime!! Fucking hell, why aren’t people rioting about this? That’s utterly insane.

That’s utter madness. Why aren’t all councils on the same page??