8 steps to keep your dustbin empty
Posted by DavidM in Reduce, re-use, recycle | 13 December 2007
I live in one of the many areas of the UK that has changed from a weekly dustbin collection to fortnightly and I've been amazed how many people complain their bin is over-flowing.
Our normal dustbin is emptied every other week and our recycling bin is collected the other week. We have yet to completely fill our normal bin in a fortnight but our recycling bin gets very full. So here are my tips to keep the waste down and avoid smelly bags of rubbish piling up.
1. Buy fresh food
We buy lots of fresh fruit and vegetables which come with almost no packaging. I know a lot of people who buy ready meals and processed foods, all of which come with large amounts of cardboard and plastic wrapping.
2. Compost your waste
Non-meat food waste can be put into a composter ready for use on the garden. It reduces the volume of rubbish in your bin and can save you money on peat and fertiliser for your plants. You can also compost your grass cuttings and some paper.
3. Grow your own
Even a relatively small plot can yield a decent crop of vegetables and you don't have to be Alan Titchmarsh to grow them. Tomatoes, carrots, onions and potatoes are all quite simple to grow. Aside from the satisfaction of growing your own food and the knowledge it's fresh and organic, home-grown veg comes with no packaging at all.
4. Reduce and re-use plastic
First you should avoid collecting plastic bags - get a bag for life instead. But when you do end up with some, re-use them before you throw them. We use shopping bags as bin liners and fresh fruit and veg bags as sandwhich bags. We also use plastic take-away containers to store food and for lunch-time salads at work.
5. Check out your milkman
Since we started having our milk delivered by the milkman we've cut our waste. We put the glass milk bottles on the doorstep every other morning rather than shoving three big plastic milk cartons into the dustbin a week.
6. Get a guinea pig
Or a rabbit or other furry pet. Our guinea pig eats some of our left-overs (and the carrot tops from the garden) and we use shredded newspapers for his bedding. All the waste from his cage goes into the compost.
7. Give it away
We all have things we don't want any more that may be quite useful to someone else. Instead of throwing it away, sell it or give it to someone. Put a free-ad in the paper or save up a pile of things and go to a car boot sale. Put it in a charity bag or go on a website such as Freecycle and offer it for free to anyone who'll pick it up.
8. Buy less
This last one is the most obvious but for many the least palatable. Ultimately, buying and using less stuff will mean you have less to throw away. Ask yourself, do you really need or want it?
