So I am going to have a rant.
Yes a moan. Well I am allowed. It’s my blog afterall!
You may agree with what I am going to rant about as you may well suffer with the same problem and, like me, maybe it is driving you maaaad!!
Its about my rubbish. Yes rubbish – I am blogging about my rubbish!!
Basically, we have refuse collections weekly and fortnightly as follows:
*every Thursday the recycling is collected and for this we have
a green box for plastic and glass
a brown bag for cardboard
a green bag for paper
a small green box for food waste
*every other Tuesday our household waste is collected.
This really, really annoys me. Why can’t it be the other way round? For two weeks I have to find places to store our bin bags which are full of, among other things, two weeks worth of nappies!! Because my road does not have front gardens we are not given wheelie bins so it is down to each house to store it’s own bin bags anyway it can.
This is what the front of my house looked like this morning on collection day
There are 8 bin bags and 1 carrier bag – how does the council expect a household to store all these smelly sacks of rubbish? I cannot leave them in the back yard because they are ripped open by the neighbourhood cats and prone to maggot infestation! I have a bin the backyard just for the nappies which are wrapped in bags, but that is full before bin day! I end up having to stuff two bin bags under the sink in the kitchen; and the rest go inside the shed door where my washing machine and tumble dryer are.
Not to mention all the recycling bags and boxes I have to fill and keep aswell!! I do recycle as much as I can and but really infuriates me that plastic fruit containers, certain yogurt cartons and the plastic boxes that meat is packed in are not recyclable because they take up a lot of room in my refuse bags. I know that I could buy my meat from a butchers to cut down on plastic waste, but I buy my grocery shopping on line (much easier with two little ones in tow) and meat is packaged in this way. I do try to buy my fruit and veg loose to cut down on packaging, but berries are not sold like this. I don’t understand why the cartons that mushrooms and berries are sold in cannot be re – used by the suppliers. They only need to be re-cellophaned or have new lids – I think these forms of food packaging should be returned to the food producers.
Food packaging debates aside, I just don’t understand why the council feels that refuse collection can be made fortnightly, and yet recycling can be weekly. Re-cycled waste does not go off or smell so it could stock pile better. Food waste needs to be collected weekly still but paper, card, tins, glass and plastic could become fortnightly. I appreciate that the council needs to save money, but it just isn’t hygienic to store so much rubbish. I am surprised I haven’t attracted rats into my back yard if I am honest, I guess those neighbourhood cats have their uses afterall.
I would happily pay a small amount to have my rubbish taken a way once a week if I could because it’s just not nice to have it hanging around for so long.
Grrrrr is all I can say!!
Do you also have to wait two weeks for your refuse collection? It’s just not on is it, in this day and age? It’s just rubbish really!
Rant over!!
Thank you xx
Looks like a trip to the tip may be in order for Mr P!
We have a weekly collection, on a Thursday, which alternates between recycling & household waste. Thankfully we have a ‘large family’ wheelie bin as we are classed as a large family with 3+ kids, I would hate to just have it in black bags, like you say, it’s storing it. I thought it was bad enough having to store 3 wheelie bins but at least they are contained. It must be hell in the Summer……
x
That’s awful! I’d go mad too. Can you not buy a wheelie bin / bin for your back yard to keep them in? It doesn’t seem fair really. All the people I know with fornightly collections have been given a wheelie bin. Â We had metal bins at the back of the garden in Glasgow but, as is the way with tenement flat living, people would just chuck the bin bags in that general direction. During the night the foxes would get at them, and then the bin men would go on strike, or just forget our road, and we’d be left with a stinking pile of rubbish for weeks! I do sympathise.Â
Over here our recycling all goes into one lovely big blue bin which is collected fornightly and the black bin for waste is collected twice a week!! It’s heaven! Sorry. I’m meant to be sympathising, and I really do!Â
How about getting a compost bin, would that help?Â
And cloth nappies are brilliant!
xx
Hi Jenny – can I suggest you try reusable nappies and then you would have no smelly nappies in your bin. Â Pop-In reusable nappies are beautifully made and really easy to use. Â check them out http://www.closeparent.com
Ours is every other week as well. Grrrrrrr. Following on from one of the other comment, I’ve been using reusable nappies too and have been getting on ok. I don’t use them all the time, just when I can, but it has made a difference. xx
Our bin collection works quite well, you get one week blue recycling bin which is a big blue wheelie bin and the next week is the big black wheelie bin which is normal rubbish. Unless you have one bag over and the lid doesn’t close they don’t take the one extra bag away. Crazy x
Thaks for your comment Judith. I hadn’t thought about trying reusable nappies but it something ai may look into. X
Thanks for commenting. It never occurred to me to use reusable nappies but maybe I will give it some serious thought and trynthem. X
I think when wheelie bins were handed out the house was empty or someone stole it! I have rung the council and it costs about £40 forma replacement wheelie bin so i guess I could order one x