Bin woes

[Nigello]

How much?

[intexasatthe moment]

I know this is obvious but I think the type of storage has to be in keeping with yhe house and the frontage .

So what works for a 2 storey terrace with tiny front yard will look silly on a 3 storey property divided into flats and many bins .

[Jennys]

That one looks pretty and practical. How would it work for a rubbish (green) bin, a recycling one and a brown garden waste one.

[Loz]

JRK Wrote:

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> I do also like this one and it looks quite robust plus vents would be good to

> stop the stench:

>

> http://i65.tinypic.com/30w2rr6.jpg

Ooh, that's nice JRK. Where is that from?

[tomskip]

I hate the bins too! We returned our large brown bin and now use the small one for food waste, and we less than half-fill that each week. We compost most food waste (peelings, teabags etc) in the garden and use brown paper bags from the library a couple of times per year for larger garden prunings. As a family of 4 we completely fill the hideous blue bin every fortnight, but only half fill the green bin so am going to apply to swap to a smaller one of those. In roads where there are no front gardens or front gardens are inaccessible the bins are a total eyesore. I am convinced the vast majority of the large brown bins are empty most of the time.

Yes, some of the freeholder restrictions on the beautiful terraces of Kensington and Chelsea might seem a bit draconian (no net curtains, no laundry on balconies, no Estate Agent signs) but the streets do look so much better for it!

[JRK]

Nigello, Jennys & Loz - its another custom made one unfortunately - though I am sure a good carpenter/builder would be able to construct something pretty similar based on photo. Here is a good bin blog I stumbled across: http://blog.lisacoxdesigns.co.uk/design-tips/front-garden-design-tips-storage/ intexasatthe moment - i guess you could just make it longer but might be a bit silly.

Tomskip, I'm glad you hate the bins too! it might be a fairly minor thing in comparison to 'proper issues' but it makes home so much nicer and prettier and I for one like looking at pretty things! I'm def gonna pick up some of those paper bags - are they free or do you have to buy them?

[Nigello]

I agree re "pretty things", into which those god-awful yellow A4 pieces of plasticky paper tied to lamp posts by Southwark do not fall. (Just pull them off after the three/whatever weeks have expired because Southwark don't have anything to do with them once they've put them up, which I find contradictory from a body that has its own environmental department that fines other forms of littering.)

[intexasatthe moment]

I think planting is the way forward

" build a green roof over the top of your bins. Simple to do, just sink 4 100 x 100mm fence posts in the ground with post mix, add a sloping roof with marine ply, cover with felt and build your green roof."

[Johnjohn]

JRK

This thread is close to my heart

This must be a goo 6-8 years ago now, but within days of them being delivered I complained to the council about the colour of the Blue Bins.

Waste and recycling is is a huge and growing sector. I totally understand the need for the 3 types of bins and the logistics of waste collection.... but the colour? The blue is disgusting!

Why not black, or dark blue or any number of colours?

That bright, light blue is such an eyesore.

[uncleglen]

I think all these eyesores of bins is great- it serves to remind us all that we create loads of unnecessary waste especially packaging....and at least the bins do not stink like a landfill site. The 3 Rs- Reuse, Refuse, Recycle..

[Pollypops]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thinks the abundanc of bins is blight on our urban landscape. I was only thinking the other day that the underground bins in Florence as described by th OP would really add to the aesthetics of our area. I wonder how feasible it would be as it would not only require the construction of the underground bins but also we'd need special bin lorries in order to empty them. They would also have the advantage of not being accessible to bin raiders who often seem to come and riffle through the bins of our (and other) buildings, leaving litter strewn all down the street.

[DulwichFox]

Most of the stuff in the Green Bin is Unrecyclable Supemarket packaging...

Many of the back/side streets have tiny front gardens.. some of the houses are divided into flats..

So double the number of bins.. It can only get worse...

E.D. looks like a SLUM..

Cannot help when trying to sell a house/flat..

DulwichFox

[maxxi]

DulwichFox Wrote:

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> E.D. looks like a SLUM..

>

> Cannot help when trying to sell a house/flat..

>

> DulwichFox

Anything that adversely affects house prices in this area is a boon.

[nxjen]

There's no need for double the number of bins where a house is divided into flats. The flat owners/tenants of a particular house could arrange to share their bins and get those that are surplus to requirement taken away.

[intexasatthe moment]

So much depends on one's neighbours....

[JRK]

Who would be the best contact to write to about bins? I've had a week away but have come back with bins on my mind still. I would love underground bins! One day. . .

[DulwichFox]

nxjen Wrote:

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> There's no need for double the number of bins

> where a house is divided into flats. The flat

> owners/tenants of a particular house could arrange

> to share their bins and get those that are surplus

> to requirement taken away.

People sharing bins poses a problem.. where someone puts the wrong material into a bin... Who is responsible..

DulwichFox

[Pugwash]

At the moment we have 2 green, 2 blue and 1 brown bin in our garden and we are the only occupants of the house. One blue bin appeared overnight - hubby went up and down the road checking our neighbours to see who was missing a bin. Took blue bin down to a multi occupied house as they only had one of each colour and bins always overflowing. Next collection day we had 3 green bins and 2 blue as refuse men just put them in our garden, multi occupied house got their green bin back and we gave up trying to find owner of the blue bin

You can purchase flowery covers that stick on your bins to make them more 'attractive' if the colour offends you.

In Bromley - they only have open recycling boxes, all other refuse is in black bags, and collection is fortnightly. My daughter's front garden always looks untidy as foxes have ripped away the black bags and the recycling gets blown

all over the lawn. Food waste is collected from small brown caddys. daughter tries to keep black bags etc indoors until collection day but does not have the space (we could not use her downstairs loo as had several bags stored in there as refuse had not been collected that week which meant 4 weeks of rubbish to put out next time. She often talks about taking one of our bins home with her and painting over the southwark logo. Bromley charge for wheelie bins ( thought to be around ?40 per bin)