I don’t want to wash up chicken packets and jars of mayonnaise!!

[ChristmasBaby2026]

My council like many have recently changed our recycling. We now have:

• a bin for paper and card
• a bin for “mixed recycling”
• the food bin
• the black bin
• the garden bin (which I have to pay extra for 😡)

The only substantial change other than the number of bins to put things in is they will now collect glass whereas we previously had to go to the bottle bank.

But it now means they are now only collecting our black bin once every THREE weeks (and currently not for 4 because the new system has stupidly started on a recycling week).

How are families supposed to only have rubbish collected once every three weeks? There is simply no way.

I do recycle but I have always drawn the line at washing up gross things like packets of mince and jars of mayonnaise. But apparently the council have decided people have nothing better to do. I wouldn’t resent it so much if I thought it was actually making a difference but my landfill mayonnaise jar is not the main problem here!

I'm honestly not sure how it all disappears, but it does. Competitive milk drinking, I think....

Do you never eat cereal/porridge/have milk in coffee or tea/have hot chocolate/macaroni or cauliflower cheese?
I generally avoid dairy but have about 2 pints a week of plant milk just on cereal/in my coffee. The DCs have much more milk on their cereal but don't drink tea or coffee (and they are not small), DS has a big bowl for his late night snack as he's 14 and growing. DH has more or less the same as me but cows milk.

4 of us in our house, 2 adults and 2 older teens. We get through about 12-16 pints a week - cereal every morning (mostly muesli / shredded wheat type), tea for us two, coffee (latte type so uses more than just a splash), sometimes hot chocolates for the boys. White sauce, adding some to mash, porridge, etc - easy to get through lots. We almost never throw any out though, more likely to have to top up every now and again. We get it delivered 3 times a week by the milkman in glass bottles.

I think glass bottles are so much better for the environment, it's great to have a milk delivery.

I'm in Finland, I see people buying eight or more 1litre cartons of milk at once! They really love drinking milk here even as adults.

We average 2-3 pints of milk a day, cereal and a serious tea addiction. Also making white sauce, in soups etc.
It doesn’t go down the sink as we drink it.

I’m back to whinge because I have been diligently cleaning out half full jars and washing packaging to recycle more and keep my black bin from overflowing until the 16th of June only to find that the mixed recycling is only collected once every FOUR WEEKS. We used to have recycling bags and you could put out as much as you like, we are now limited to the one bin to be collected half as frequently at a time when they are trying to get us to recycle more because they are collecting the black bin less.

At this rate I will end up hiding stuff in my garden bin under grass cuttings because for some reason they collect that one every fortnight despite it being the least necessary as it literally reduces itself while in the bin!

What's your bin cycle/week pattern @ChristmasBaby2026 ? What gets collected? Is it just one wheelie bin for all recycling.
There's an obvious incentive to reduce your waste if you have very infrequent collections - for example, we get our milk (including oat milk) delivered, we get a veg box (we actually get veg one week and fruit the next), so very few veg/fruit trays. We could get more from the market but that's only on a Sat and you have to carry it home.
I try to make marmalade and I could probably make more jam (and onion chutney which DH lives on). The new mince packets are better for the bin of course (though I agree with others they are less pleasing to look at/open!).

I do a fair bit of home baking and lunch prep (keeping a firm eye on my lunch expenditure).

We have one wheelie bin for non paper/card which we don't really fill, but our paper and card one is quite full often. Culprits are usually the kids' artworks and Amazon boxes (I'm also trying to cut down on those orders!).

I'm sure others will have tips too.

• Mixed recycling every 4 weeks (plastic, metal and glass)
• Paper and card every 4 weeks
• General rubbish every 3 weeks
• Food once a week
• Garden every 2 weeks

I don’t have the time or money to be buying everything from the market and butchers which is only open 9am - 3pm Tue-Sat. This is a small town, there was a refillery in a nearby village but it has shut as these things just can’t be sustained in rural communities. We both work full time, we’re trying to move house, I’m pregnant. I feel like we are being set up to fail.

Ok, so you can buy bulk washing up liquid etc and refill bottles; Ecoballs will mean you hardly ever have to buy washing powder. We used to get refills from Splosh but I think they are out of business, so we get a massive container of multi purpose spray and just reuse the bottles.

Everywhere in the country now has milk and veg box deliveries I'm pretty sure.

We have the same cycle as you except our mixed and paper/card are every 3 weeks. We don't even nearly fill the mixed recycling and we have two enormous children who eat loads - adult portions mean adult waste.

I think you just have to get in the mindset of "I will do this and it will become a habit".

I started living in my own house in the UK in 2000 after living overseas for a bit. I've had milk deliveries continually since then, same as veg delivery. I'm pretty sure one of our washing up liquid bulk packs dates back 10 years. It's just life now.

I already get refillable cleaning products - I get smol. It still gets delivered in cardboard but I’m not so worried about that bin, it’s the plastic metal and glass.

I have thought about veg boxes but I want to be able to choose what goes with dinner every night, not get a random selection of carrots and potatoes. I do get a wonky bread box once a month though.

I don’t see how getting milk delivered will solve the problem - it still comes in glass bottles which go in the same mixed recycling that I’m stressed about.

We get a veg box but we get to ask for particular things. Worth looking for a provider who will do that.

Who do you use please? I’ve looked at wonky veg before but you can’t choose.

Where do you live? Is it somewhere really remote? As round here our glass and plastic and cardboard and food etc is collected weekly. But our black bin is collected every 3 weeks.

In a homage to this thread today I have washed up:
an oil bottle
a plastic tray of tiramisu
a glass jar
OP you sound like you are doing your best!!

Thank you! I know I had a big moan but I really have been trying since the new system came in! Yesterday I washed up the wrapping from a block of feta, a pot of creme friache, 3 festering jars of sauce from the fridge and the wrapping from the meat I bought for dinner. All things I would have usually put in the black bin!

I now just feel defeated by how infrequently they will be collecting recycling as well (was previously every 2 weeks and you could put out as much as you like).

@vickylou78 i live on the Essex/Suffolk border. It’s semi rural but definitely not completely the middle of nowhere. We theee supermarkets and a gym all in walking distance plus a few pubs, restaurants etc.

You don't put milk bottles in recycling! They go straight back to the milkman! Bless you.

We order the extra veg we specifically want, but then I meal plan over the week once I know what's in the box. We ALWAYS get onions and carrots and we get extra potatoes every week. I can look on a Monday to see what's in the box that comes on a Weds. If I'm organised and look at the weekend I can add in what's missing.

But I do find that it helps me cook different foods more often.

I’ve just looked and one pint of milk is £1.29. I usually buy 4 pints a week for £1.65. It’s just not affordable on top of everything else that is getting more expensive.

Because we all live on one planet.

Youre part of society and you are entirely unreasonable to not want to do your bit through sheer laziness.

Washing out packets and jars takes moments.

Well, it's a trade off. If you want to struggle to fit in your recycling (and have to go to the shop several times a week) then you buy in plastic. If you want it on your doorstep and not to worry about the recycling, you get it delivered. Bonus is that your council tax won't go up so fast.

This thread has become a MN parody.

Most people shop at Aldi, Tesco, Sainsbury’s etc. They don’t get organic vegetable deliveries. Or wash their rubbish.

There was a thread earlier asking if general posts about alcohol use are indicative of people in real life.

Theres a whole realm of general views on this site which are not representative of views in real life and this is one of them. I dont know anyone that washes out their recycling.

A local greengrocer.

Doesn't bother me. I just swill them out in waste water from washing up.

Well we don’t have one of those!

I am reminded of a dear friend of my MIL who is evangelical about recycling. She never fills her black bin and hardly produces any waste.

She is single, retired, wealthy, lives in London and has a second home by the coast where she spends around a third of her time. Of course it is easy for her not to fill up her black bin and fill reusable containers. Meanwhile many people live in underresourced small towns, work full time and simply do not have the luxury of popping down to their nearest refillery to browse the pulses and beans.