AIBU to think not using bin liners is borderline insane?

[baconger]

DH grew up in a house where they simply didn’t use bin liners. Anywhere. Ever. Not even the kitchen bin. Not even the one they use for food waste.

If I don’t specifically remind DH, he’ll quite happily take the bins out and then call it a day without putting a new liner in.

To this day, my ILs still don’t use bin liners. They genuinely just put rubbish straight into the bin. After they dump the rubbish into their wheelie bin/compost heap they don’t wash the bins out.

I find this… unconventional, completely bizarre, bordering on insane. Maybe I’m being ridiculous but surely bin liners are a pretty standard thing? Especially for food waste? Whenever I mention that it’s really unhygienic I’m told it’s fine they’ve been doing this forever and nothing bad has come of it. Please tell me I’m not being completely unreasonable here?

My bins get cleaned on the week that 2 bins get collected (every 2 weeks - the food waste plus 1 of the other 3 on a 3 week rotation). Costs £4 for 2 bins

Not borderline insane but absolutely DISGUSTING. nothing worse than a dirty bin. We use liners AND clean all bins regularly.

£5 each near us.

In our area you’re not allowed line the outside bins- it’s a pity as I’d see it as a back up. I wash out our outside bins once a month because even though we use good bin liners in our indoor bin, our bin is always filthy or smelly. I don’t know how people don’t have to wash their bins!!!

The dirty, smelly gits. I can’t u der stand why they don’t use biodegradable liners in the food waste bin. I do and I clean and disinfect it once a week. 🤮

Many of you have mentioned your outside bins and whether or not you’re allowed to line them… I don’t know if you’re doing that because I was unclear (I’m not talking about the outside bins!!) or if it’s to underline how disgusting it is to not line bins in general ??

I use a compost able liner for the food waste indoor bin, that gets tied off and goes into the outside bin without additional liners/bags. I don't care if it leaks in there, it lives outside, and if I feel like it I'll tip some water in and give it a rinse if it needs it.

No liners in recycling bins - they're not allowed.

I line the general/landfill waste indoor bin, that bag goes in the outside wheely bin. General waste here has to be in bags or it won't be collected.

I have more to do in life than clean outside bins I can't really understand the need.
General waste is in a black bag, paper, glass and plastic is usually clean and garden waste is just leaves and grass. Food waste is in compostable bag (might give quick rinse if there are leaks).
These companies are exploiting our obsessions of one upmanship with the neighbours

So you use a bin liner (compostable bag) for food waste?

My parents didn’t use bin liners growing up, but would wrap anything messy such as food waste in newspaper. I think they composted peelings. So perhaps the same principle but achieved in a different way?

But I was terrified of the big bin, the bin men and the bin lorry as a little girl!

I also grew up in the Netherlands and bin liners were definitely a thing where I grew up, including food bins.

I do use bin liners, but for me the bigger issue is that they don't wash their bins out (I'm assuming indoors?)

I wouldn't want to do it personally, but if you fastidiously washed the bin or caddy each time I can't see that a lack of a liner would be a problem. I also know people who do use liners but clearly only wash their bin very rarely and their kitchen bins also stink.

I did but have been told by someone from the council I don't need to so I don't any more.

Inside your home? In the kitchen?

Since my ILs food waste bin doesn’t have a lid it always smells and there are so many flies in the kitchen too

I used compostable bag in the indoor food bin.(it has a lid with a filter, and I rotate filters every couple of weeks and I chuck the used one in to the washing machine with tea towels and other cleaning cloths).

The food in the outside bin is contained in these bags so I don't use a liner in the outside food bin.

Both the inside and outside food bin get a swish round with some bleachy water frequently but not every week.

I used a black bin liner in the main kitchen bin. The outside wheelie bin isn't lined.

The inside main kitchen bin gets a squirt with antibac squirty once a week.
The outside wheelie bin gets a swish round with bleachy water frequently but not every week.

I do know people who don't put the food waste into bags, just straight into the outside bin, and I have to say the smell sometimes makes me heave in the hot weather - and we get a weekly food waste collection.

The one provided by the council has a good fitting lid, it is quite small and mainly contains fruit stones and peelings. Don't really have leftovers and rarely have fish and meat.
Have not had problems with flies or smells.

Not washing them out is unhygienic. Not just liners is arguably better for the environment and doesn’t even come close to being insane. I use liners because I’m too lazy to wash my bin out, though.

Deal breaker for me tbh. Divorce.

You want me to divorce him for having parents who don’t use bin liners?? 🤣🤣🤣 Unhinged!

Haha not as unhinged as a family that don't use bin liners! I would divorce him just for the sake of not having to witness his parents monstrosity of a bin lmao

I line the food bin and compost bin with newspaper it gives it an easy liner which biodegrades.

I don’t put in in food waste caddy?

we don’t have a bin, just a bag on a hook.

im a bit precise about the outside bins. Everything has to be in a bag and tied. I have it cleaned event month and line the base with cardboard. We have only in the 6 weeks been changed to food waste collection and mixed dry recycling. So now the recycling bin is getting a bit manky and the food and garden waste bin is very ripe

In the last few weeks I started not using a bin liner in the bathroom bin as all the small size bin liners I could find in the shops were biodegradable which basically meant that they tore about five minutes in. The worst thing that goes in that bin is my sanitary towels that are getting tightly rolled onto themselves and into their plastic wrapper thing so they are completely self contained. Bin gets washed every couple weeks anyway. So far so good, let’s see!

ETA of course it gets emptied inside a larger bin liner before it goes in the wheelie bin!!!! I’m not just freely emptying it all in the wheelie bin. You never know what people will assume so I’ll just say it 🤣

I use biodegradable bin liners in the food caddy but have never ever used a liner before we had the caddy. There's enough plastic in the world as it is.

As long as you hose out your bins they don't smell (ok during hosepipe ban, I just use a bucket with some Dettol to slosh around it).