Bin Envy ???

[BABSann]

Sorry to write yet another chit chat thread but gotta vent.I have just been reading The Mail, sunday newspaper and it says that Labour wants to make all households have a smaller sized wheelie bin.Not only that but they want to make it, that if our bin is overloaded and the lid dosn't close properly,that it will be leftWTF

Now,I am seriously unimpressed by this,for example there are 5 people in our household and 1 lady next door(who happens to be lovely)anyway...it is obvious that we as a larger family will have more rubbish,yet it looks like we will have the same sized bin.Mmmmm,oh and it also says that they wont allow larger families to have a bigger bin because it could cause 'bin envy'

We recylce everything possible and still, at the end of the 2 weeks we have fully loaded bins.I am flabberghasted,and I KNOW we will not be able to manage with a smaller bin,maybe I should start a petition and hand it to our local MP I am getting sick of these people with STUPID ideas.

Anyone have a small bin already and a large family??How do you manage??

 

[Sassy Hassy]

Here in Spain they have a large communal bin at the end of every street, in fact there may be three or four, PLUS recycling bins AND an area to leave larger stuff to be collected. The bins I believe are emptied DAILY! It takes a while to get used to not having a bin at your back door, but it is far more efficient and sanitary. And when I lived in Germany it was pretty much the same.

Can't say I miss the UK at all and all its bungling inefficiency!

 

[Zo Zo]

OK.

I totally understand where you are coming from but I personally think that the only way we (as a nation) are going to reduce damage to the environment is if the government actually forces people to make changes. And this is what is happening here. (So, without wishing to make enemies, I welcome that.)

So, if I were in your position, I would be asking myself how I can reduce my non recycleable waste. Even if you are really virtuous with regard to recycling, there is always the non-recycleable stuff, right?

So, if I look in my bin, I would probably find non-recycleable food containers, some of which might be ready meal containers (shameful!) but more so, those plastic trays that fruit and veg come in. So if I wanted to reduce my rubbish, the first thing I would stop buying is ready meals and pre-packed fruit and veg. In fact this would be easy enough for me, there is a market in my area where you can buy everything in brown paper bags (that's if you want a bag) or you can take your own containers and fill them up (this is good for dry goods, rice, sugar etc). Maybe there is something like this near you ?

So, not wishing to be unsympathetic, if I had a bigger family I would be worrying too, but if it happens, it happens, and there are ways around it.

Obviously I have only looked at food packaging but maybe some other geeks will come on with other suggestions?

People tend to think about recycling but not so much about reducing and re-using.

Think about our recent weather conditions

 

[ladybgemini]

we have a normal sized bin and struggle every week. we always have at least one black bag full next to the bin and as a result we now have mice.

i did actually try and call the council this week to see if there was a bigger one available as I read something somewhere that they did do bigger ones for families with young children. I got an answer phone and then realised that it was only 8.20am and they dont start arriving at the offices until at least 4pm lmao, they finish at 4.30 too!!!!!!!!


Almost every week we are off to the tip to take black bags of rubbish and there is only 3 of us. We get maggots on a regular basis not to mention the rank smell.

You are not allowed to wash your own bin either so then you have to pay someone to do it or but bags to go in it, yet more expense. I really begrudge paying £90 a month council tax but even more so since the refuse collection was demoted to once a fortnight plus we have to do their job for em by sorting out all the rubbish.

This is often a hot topic in our house,we are so fed up with all the hassle surrounding rubbish, having to pay to have it taken away and still have to go to the tip weekly.

in some areas they are introducing a pay as you go system (so I have heard), each bin is fitted with scales and the bins are weighed, and you pay per weight removed, not so bad BUT the council actually sells our rubbish, the compost and recyclable stuff they sell on so not only do we pay em to take it away but they get paid for it too.

Grrrrrrr I hate the whole bin collection system and council tax thing, drives me MAD MAD MAD.

Good thread btw

rachel xx

 

[sweetcorn1]

In my area we are only just getting recycling bins/boxes!!!

There is uproar here because we only have small back yards and live on a steep hill. This means the two big bins and two boxes are going to take up all the space in the yard and I have 4 very large stone steps up to our back alley where the bins are collected. As for the boxes I have to drag them through the house and put them on the front street for collection.

Now there are lots of old people near me and they can apply for help getting the bins from the yard into the alley but I am only 4'10" and won't get any help cos i'm young and fit. If they get help this means the older people will have to leave the gates unlocked for the bin men to get in the yard. Now I had a pleasant man in my back yard the other morning trying my back door at half seven in the morning because I forgot to lock my gate. So this is not a good plan.

We are not allowed to leave the bins in the alley way due to emergency access needed at all times. So what the hell are we supposed to do.

Also they only collect the bins every 2 weeks so that is gonna be a nice smell wafting through my kitchen window.

I AM FURIOUS

 

[1999judy]

OK.

I totally understand where you are coming from but I personally think that the only way we (as a nation) are going to reduce damage to the environment is if the government actually forces people to make changes. And this is what is happening here. (So, without wishing to make enemies, I welcome that.)

So, if I were in your position, I would be asking myself how I can reduce my non recycleable waste. Even if you are really virtuous with regard to recycling, there is always the non-recycleable stuff, right?

So, if I look in my bin, I would probably find non-recycleable food containers, some of which might be ready meal containers (shameful!) but more so, those plastic trays that fruit and veg come in. So if I wanted to reduce my rubbish, the first thing I would stop buying is ready meals and pre-packed fruit and veg. In fact this would be easy enough for me, there is a market in my area where you can buy everything in brown paper bags (that's if you want a bag) or you can take your own containers and fill them up (this is good for dry goods, rice, sugar etc). Maybe there is something like this near you ?

So, not wishing to be unsympathetic, if I had a bigger family I would be worrying too, but if it happens, it happens, and there are ways around it.

Obviously I have only looked at food packaging but maybe some other geeks will come on with other suggestions?

People tend to think about recycling but not so much about reducing and re-using.

Think about our recent weather conditions

There are 5 of us here and I recycle what I can but I refuse to be told what I can and can't buy now because of the amount of rubbish!!!
What the hell is our council tax paying for????

 

[pure]

Ah the subject of bins..........:grr::grr::grr:

Now I do what I can at home to recycle, I also buy without packaging where possible, but why, why, why are they constantly targeting individuals instead of the huge manufacturers and producers and retail outlets which provide and create all the wasteful packaging in the first place?!

 

[Zo Zo]

There are 5 of us here and I recycle what I can but I refuse to be told what I can and can't buy now because of the amount of rubbish!!!
What the hell is our council tax paying for????

I am not telling anyone what they can or cannot buy.

And I am lucky that I personally do not have a problem with the refuse collection service in my area.

But frankly, if bins are getting smaller and collections are becoming fewer, then people need to change their habits to accomodate this, or face the alternative (rats, mice, and maggots.)

Council tax is a fact of life, just like all our other bills... but what about the environment???

 

[Zo Zo]

Does 'anyone' have any helpful suggestions as to how we can reduce our rubbish so we can live happily with one small bin emptied only once per fortnight?

 

[BABSann]

I am not telling anyone what they can or cannot buy.

And I am lucky that I personally do not have a problem with the refuse collection service in my area.

But frankly, if bins are getting smaller and collections are becoming fewer, then people need to change their habits to accomodate this, or face the alternative (rats, mice, and maggots.)

Council tax is a fact of life, just like all our other bills... but what about the environment???

With all due respect I care very much about the environment and I recycle everything that can be recycled,Its not the people that need to change so much as the manufacturers as Pure mentioned,huge containers for 1 item.

Oh and I rarely eat ready meals or pre packed veg.If my blue bin(which is the recycle bin is jam packed each fortnight surely that says that I am taking this matter seriously,what our we supposed to do with our rubbish,not eat???not drink???not live???Its getting beyond a joke it really is.This blame has been put on us the people,we dont choose the packaging that our food comes in.

 

[1999judy]

Local government provide services such as police, fire, recycling, refuse collection and removal, schools, leisure centres, park and ride schemes, parks and open spaces, street cleaning, subsidising of public transport, tourism, museums, social housing grants, housing and council tax benefits, environmental health and food safety in pubs, restaurants and shops, planning services, support for voluntary groups, meals on wheels, facilities for young people, adapting homes for disabled people, play centres for children, cctv installation, sports facilities, issuing taxi licences, flood defences, and many others.

A significant proportion of local government services are stipulated by central government in the form of statutory provision. Local councils are obliged by law to provide these services. The remainder of services are discretionary and are determined by the local council.

Council tax may well be a fact of life but it is supposed to cover these issues.
After working all week and looking after 3 kids and OH I do my shopping in a supermarket. I don't have TIME to go round looking at markets and finding out who uses paper bags tbh.
jmho

Oh and I asked the council if we could have another bag as both our ones for paper and card get full after 1 week....they said no put it in the normal bin!!

 

[lotus blossom]

i would ask the nice old lady next door , if i could put some stuff in her bin, then everyone is happy!!

dont even get me started on all the great ideas from our government!!!

 

[BABSann]

i would ask the nice old lady next door , if i could put some stuff in her bin, then everyone is happy!!

dont even get me started on all the great ideas from our government!!!

Good idea but I wouldn't want to impose and why should we after all??

 

[Zo Zo]

With all due respect I care very much about the environment and I recycle everything that can be recycled,Its not the people that need to change so much as the manufacturers as Pure mentioned,huge containers for 1 item.

Oh and I rarely eat ready meals or pre packed veg.If my blue bin(which is the recycle bin is jam packed each fortnight surely that says that I am taking this matter seriously,what our we supposed to do with our rubbish,not eat???not drink???not live???Its getting beyond a joke it really is.This blame has been put on us the people,we dont choose the packaging that our food comes in.

Babs, I talked about food packaging as an example. Tell me what is in your bin, and I will try to help you reduce it

Also, imho, I think it is people that need to change, and we can choose the packaging our food comes in.

You geeks might not like what I'm saying but in a few years time you will probably find that your habits have changed, because the situation has been forced.

 

[ladybgemini]

Yet we pay more council tax each year and the services become less and less.

My blue boxes (I have 2) are full to overflowing every week, they are emptied every 2 weeks so one for each week. In there i have the odd wine/beer bottle, milk cartons, washing up liquid bottle, all the plastic packaging from fruit etc, any jars like coffee, jam etc, fizzy pop bottles, and tin cans.

In our green bins goes all the normal household waste, we have 2 bags for paper, the brown bin takes food waste, garden waste and cardboard.

All of my bins are full to the brim each week. We already have the maggot and mouse problem. My council leave rubbish all over the path and road, the wont take extra bags with a normal collection so every week its a trip to the local tip, 5 mile round trip and an hour of our weekend to get it all sorted and taken there. I relly begrudge the money spent on doing this to make the council life easier, I pay em nearly £100 a month and get nothing in return, police dont come out, pot holes in road, playground covered in broken glass, dirty pavements, i could go on and on about this.

I do care about the enviroment as do alot of other people, i recycle and also try and watch what i buy but I dont have the kind of income that allows me to buy from a greengrocer and butchers every week, it does cost more in the long run to do this as you have to drive to butcher, then greengrocer, then supermarket, more bags, more fuel spent, more time taken to do weekly shopping.

it's just not as easy as it sounds.

 

[BABSann]

Babs, I talked about food packaging as an example. Tell me what is in your bin, and I will try to help you reduce it

Also, imho, I think it is people that need to change, and we can choose the packaging our food comes in.

You geeks might not like what I'm saying but in a few years time you will probably find that your habits have changed, because the situation has been forced.

Oh I know why you're saying it and I know things have to change but....it's bad enough with the bin I have at the mo,without further reducing it.

I guess the contents of my bin is the same as anyones lol all bottles are taken to the bottle bank,card,paper,milk cartons etc go in my blue bin,I honestly cannot recycle any more,even clothes and things go to charity and we do a tip run whenever needed.Im not one of these that throws everything in the bin I work hard for my planet:green:

Unfortunately we cannot always choose are packaging,for example T bags,milk cartons,the list goes on,I have three teenagers a hubby and 2 dogs so we get through a lot in 2 weeks.

 

[lotus blossom]

we only have a black bin for household waste and a silver bin for recyling stuff, both are emptied fortnightly
they wont take them if the lid isnt shut
since ive had them i have recycled more
and my black bag waste is less, but i would like to see them emptied weekly

 

[1999judy]

And NO WAY am I having a compost bin.
It's starting to feel like "the good life".
Maybe next they will suggest that all women give up their jobs and grow their own fruit and veg.
Maybe we all should live in a commune.

 

[pure]

And NO WAY am I having a compost bin.

LOL! We have those. One little one to sit on th kitchen counter and a large wheely one outside to empty th little one into and all other compostable waste. Provided by our lovely council.

I have to say that we pretty much fill it but it only gets emptied every 2 weeks and so yuo get the inevitable smells, flies and maggots in the summer months. And this is with being VERY careful too.

I agree with the princple of it all, I don't mind doing it - but I hate those bl**dy bins!!!:smack:

 

[lotus blossom]

ohh now youve got me started!!
we have to move our bins to the front of outr house each time we want to move the car, but cant leave them there as ppl put stuff in them!!!
and they look ugly lol