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View Full Version : Reducing waste and doing away with the bin collection


Mickey
30-01-2009, 05:19 PM
Hi everyone, I live in Wicklow town and we just got the bill for the renewal for our bins. They want €384.00 for the year and despite our having a monthly direct debit for about a hundred years they have also added a Balance Forward of €120.00. I smell a rat and I am seriously considering cutting them out altogether if I can get some advice on how exactly I should set up and dispose of my waste without breaking the bank.

I am visiting all the sites I can find on the usual Reduce, Re-use, Recycle but would love to hear if anyone has some fabulous idea that will help me make around 3/4 trips to the dump a year and also not attract rats and other charming but unwanted visitors in the meantime.

€504.00 is just legalised theft because I have seen the trucks they use for the ordinary collection and the re-cycling collection are the very same and it makes me wonder if there is more spin than win in their RRR campaigns.

jeana
30-01-2009, 06:40 PM
If I fill my saloon car with my blackbags and drive to the dump- how much will that cost? My problem is that with 6 kids and 2 adults, one green bin is not enough yet they won't give me another one, I end up putting green waste in the black bin...aaarrrgghhh they pretend that they care about the environment but all they want is money!

jeana
30-01-2009, 06:49 PM
I just checked- 20euro for ballyogan recycling park--- I think I'll go up myself every few weeks, it'll probably work out cheaper.

julfren
31-01-2009, 09:24 PM
Hi Mickey
If you go into the website ecoshop.ie you will find a digester/composter/ green cone for approx €95 + delivery. You can actually put food waste in it - meat, bread etc. You don't need much space for it either. I intend getting one soon. You will drastically cut down on your waste charges. Going to the dump with food waste only every 3 months or so would cause smell/ etc etc problems, especially going into the summer months. Good luck.
Jul

TheBear
01-02-2009, 02:09 PM
I almost certainly have a smaller household than you, but last year we put out our black bin only 5 times, and that was even having one very wasteful housemate who seemed philosophically opposed to recycling. (Actually, he was just really lazy.)

We recycled everything we could, and made trips to the local bring centre with stuff the green bin didn't take. Bi-monthly trips to recycling centres that took stuff our local one couldn't (styrofoam, etc.) also helped save stuff from the black bins.

The biggest reduction came from food waste, though. Our household compster, and now wormery too, take all the stuff that would be likely to attract rats, and condenses it down to a fraction of its initial volume, yielding a useful output at the same time.

I realise that living in Dublin means that everything other than fresh air is close at hand, and not everyone has a bring centre on their door step, but it was really remarkable how much a little effort cut down on our waste production.

unapam
01-02-2009, 02:34 PM
www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

...is a great website with ideas and tips for using all the food we buy. It is estimated that we throw out one third of the food we buy!...and think of the wasted money too.
I have stopped buying bagged veg and fruit. I just think of how many carrrots will we actually eat and buy two loose ones instead of 20 and end up throwing out many of them or using then when they are less than fresh. It costs less in the long run and your food is fresh and wholesome.

We here in this household have virtually no food waste as we have three well fed dogs and chicken bones and bits are thrown into the open fire in winter.

CleoCy
01-02-2009, 03:10 PM
You may not be aware but much of Ireland's recycleable waste is shipped off to china or India, to be recycled there. Like you, we decided this year to do away with the bin collection - we only used the service on average once a month anyway. So we have bought our own, cheap, black plastic bin & a number of small boxes with lids, as well as a number of both bought and made composting bins. A sealed, insulated Little Pig composts cooked kitchen waste - including meat and bones - and it doesn't attract vermin. I have been using this for the past 3 months and can attest to this. Other kitchen and garden waste is composted in the council-provided compost bin. We use paper and cardboard on our land, to act as a mulch and keep down weeds, and as a substrate for paths. Paper will also compost in a worm bin. Plastic is washed out and sorted into separate boxes for our drive to the local Civic Amenity Centre - strange name for a rubbish centre and tip! Glass, of course, is recycled locally. So far, we have not yet needed to make a trip and, I suspect, if we continue to buy little and recycle much, then this is likely to continue. One thing that I try to do is to take off packeging which I don't want, in the shop, and give it back to the retailer. Let them have the chance to do the rubbish bit instead.!

summersun
01-02-2009, 03:22 PM
Oh my god what high way robbery... and i was complaining at paying Cavan Waste Disposal .... €168.81 for the year.... i will have to shut up... as they give me a large family black bin and two big recycling green bins Green Bins are collected every third week and black bins once a week except for the third week.... and they are one of the only companies in our area who dont do pay and weigh THANK GOD...

Summersun

Glas09
14-03-2009, 09:39 PM
Hi Mickey,

Julfrens suggestion is spot on! Invested in Green Cone three weeks ago and between all food waste going there and recycling in local centre, kitchen bin is just half full.

Great investment worth the digging in order to install!

Cheers

nanonano
14-03-2009, 10:07 PM
I've got a composter too and my black bin is a 1/3 full now. It's amazing what a composter does. So I'm thinking as well to cancel it. Was just googling for handy tips to store the paper, cans, plastic in a neat way in the house and then make maybe a monthly trip to the recycling centre.

Mickey
19-03-2009, 12:41 PM
I've got a composter too and my black bin is a 1/3 full now. It's amazing what a composter does. So I'm thinking as well to cancel it. Was just googling for handy tips to store the paper, cans, plastic in a neat way in the house and then make maybe a monthly trip to the recycling centre.

Please share the info that you find on that as creating a setup that will be easy and clean to manage on a MONTHLY basis is my aim right now!

nanonano
19-03-2009, 01:03 PM
Please share the info that you find on that as creating a setup that will be easy and clean to manage on a MONTHLY basis is my aim right now!

The only thing that would suit me is a system from Ikea. It's called antonius and has plastic baskets that slide out. It's cheap too. Just waiting for the Dublin Ikea.

frantasia
22-03-2009, 08:49 AM
Hi Mickey
If you go into the website ecoshop.ie you will find a digester/composter/ green cone for approx €95 + delivery. You can actually put food waste in it - meat, bread etc. You don't need much space for it either. I intend getting one soon. You will drastically cut down on your waste charges. Going to the dump with food waste only every 3 months or so would cause smell/ etc etc problems, especially going into the summer months. Good luck.
Jul

I got two of these Bokashi bins about six months ago and they are great for keeping down the food rubbish. I don't waste much but, as you know, cooked food can't go out on the compost heap. These bins will take cooked food scraps, including meat and fish, and will take raw trimmings as well.

The full bin, after stading outdoors for at least two weeks, can be added to the compost bin or heap, or dug into the soil and will rot down (they say) in aobut 8 weeks.

This site might be useful for more info - do a search for 'bokashi' :

www.growfruitandveg.co.uk

So far I've found they work well.

sabbath
27-03-2009, 10:44 PM
Eurowaste do a black bin/ green bin weekly collection in Wicklow town for 380 euro. They are very reliable....

nono
27-03-2009, 11:22 PM
Galway Bin Company (private company) in Galway give a large Grey, Green and Brown Bin for set price of 230 euro yearly, no weight charges and they also are very reliable. Nono

sponge
29-03-2009, 09:31 AM
You may not be aware but much of Ireland's recycleable waste is shipped off to china or India, to be recycled there. Like you, we decided this year to do away with the bin collection - we only used the service on average once a month anyway. So we have bought our own, cheap, black plastic bin & a number of small boxes with lids, as well as a number of both bought and made composting bins. A sealed, insulated Little Pig composts cooked kitchen waste - including meat and bones - and it doesn't attract vermin. I have been using this for the past 3 months and can attest to this. Other kitchen and garden waste is composted in the council-provided compost bin. We use paper and cardboard on our land, to act as a mulch and keep down weeds, and as a substrate for paths. Paper will also compost in a worm bin. Plastic is washed out and sorted into separate boxes for our drive to the local Civic Amenity Centre - strange name for a rubbish centre and tip! Glass, of course, is recycled locally. So far, we have not yet needed to make a trip and, I suspect, if we continue to buy little and recycle much, then this is likely to continue. One thing that I try to do is to take off packeging which I don't want, in the shop, and give it back to the retailer. Let them have the chance to do the rubbish bit instead.!

What is the Little Pig, and where would you get one??? Is it the same as the Green Cone?? Thanks

bluecurlygirl
30-03-2009, 02:30 PM
Oh my god what high way robbery... and i was complaining at paying Cavan Waste Disposal .... €168.81 for the year.... i will have to shut up... as they give me a large family black bin and two big recycling green bins Green Bins are collected every third week and black bins once a week except for the third week.... and they are one of the only companies in our area who dont do pay and weigh THANK GOD...

Summersun

You got a great deal - they're asking me (same crowd) for €276 and can't remember what in cents for one black bin and one green bin. And I'm not a bit happy that someone is getting their bins for a lot less and more bins....

TanTan
31-03-2009, 11:14 AM
Just last week we were considering getting the bins from private company.

Have two things that I really must get rid of: Disposable nappies and ashes.

Any ideas on what other people do would be appreciated.....

sidhe.eire
31-03-2009, 11:53 AM
Just last week we were considering getting the bins from private company.

Have two things that I really must get rid of: Disposable nappies and ashes.

Any ideas on what other people do would be appreciated.....
These are the two things i need to get rid of too, so im changing to cloth nappies because nappies take up most of my bin...i recycle everything i can and try to buy a little packaging as possible and like one fellow JT'er said earlier i sometimes leave the packaging in the shop...when it comes to ashes you can compost them in your heap as long as its wood ash only other than that theres nothing else that i know of...hope this helps

TanTan
31-03-2009, 12:16 PM
Thanks sidhe.eire for ur reply. Have spent the last hour checking out composting and wormery. Definely will get one built this weekend and there goes the ashes. figure a few old pallets and a bit of carpet will do the same job. bit dear to buy......

Nappies, we have a small fire out the back (I know illegal etc) but they build up so quickly, I pack them into those little small perfumed bags and store them in the garden. Was onto Barna waste website and i see they have "civic amenity site" where u weigh ur waste. Anyone any idea how much does it cost and where exactly carrowobrowne headfort road is?

Cheers.

Mickey
12-08-2009, 01:45 PM
Update:

We've been sorting our own waste now for a few months and reckon this is the best way to go for now.

Glass: to the recycling depot at the Murrough
Cardboard/Paper: same again
Everything else: in black bags to Ballyogan about every 2-2 and a half months @ €20.00 for a car/van
Kitchen waste: today I picked up 3 compost bins and will be figuring out how to work that all out and keep the flies at bay

Our waste cost has been reduced from €500.00+- to around €120.00/yr excl petrol

I'll be asking for help to start these bins off any day now :o)

TickTock
12-08-2009, 07:24 PM
I was just talking to a friend yesterday who has a composter to take cooked food and she invited me to come and see it so that's something I should be doing.

When my children were tots I only used terry cloth nappies so disposing of them was not an issue for me. I only used disposable if someone was babysitting for me. But I just didn't have the cash to buy disposables.

My parents had an open fire and most of their rubbish was burned - I have a gas fire, and to this day I still miss the open fire.

Bins are collected here every week but you pay €8 per collection which compared to some of you here is very cheap but I still try to save on that and sometimes get away with putting the bin out once a month. Have to say if the weather is very warm, I have had problems on two occasions recently - euuuggghhh!! Nuff said. As I said, the composter which takes cooked food might be just the thing for me! I also wash the bin out regularly with hot water and disinfectant to keep it smelling as sweet as possible.

Paper and plastics go in the green bin, and I take the glass to the bring centre. I'll be checking out all your suggestions here as it looks like there are a lot of alternatives out there.

osberstown
12-08-2009, 08:15 PM
The real trick to composting is to keep your bugs happy;)). In the composting there are three main types-each preferring a different temperature.It all works, if you do your bit,in a kind of symbiosis. A very informative and interesting website is www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Organics/HomeCompost/.../Default.htm
It is Canadian and full of great stuff.
The three main issues with compost heaps/containers are 1.-Wrong mix of material-commonly too much nitrogen rich stuff(think green stuff). And not enough carbon-think brown stuff.
2.-Not enough mixing of contents.As well as introducing oxygen(crucial) this also serves to give a quicker process.
3.-Your heap/bin is either too wet or too dry.Ideally think of a wrung out sponge.

Doing this for years.At first it was a lot of trial and error,but now all is ok.
Even in winter,although the process slows,the little bugs are still at work.
Lots more info about this,but my space has run out here.

tigerlilly.100
19-12-2009, 09:56 PM
Just last week we were considering getting the bins from private company.

Have two things that I really must get rid of: Disposable nappies and ashes.

Any ideas on what other people do would be appreciated.....

Hi Sidh,

My sister switched to cloth nappies for this reason.
And
Ashes can be spread under trees and shrubs as compost and ground cover which will keep weeds down.
also...
you can put cooked foods and meat into wormeries.

Hope this helps.

Etana
19-12-2009, 11:18 PM
I recently got a waste disposal unit fitted in the sink and now my bin bag only seems to have kitchen paper and not much else. I have loads of vegetable and fruit peelings. Had to stop making compost because of rats. They were even digging up my potatoes and dragging them off, I watched one from the safety of my kitchen do that last August, so no more vegetables in garden either. I need an allotment.

If the ashes are from wood its ok to put them on the soil but coal ashes are another matter. Dont think you can put them in the garden.

N00dle
20-12-2009, 10:47 AM
Hi all,
Great thread,
like a few of you I managed to get down to just ashes in my bin. I found that wood ash (sometimes called potash) is great for the garden, be careful to spread it out - think sprinkle- as a thick layer will go squishey and horrible.
My parents have a stove and use only wood in it and it produces very little ash, they prob only empty ashes once ever 2 wks. must burn at high temp or something?
Then the little man arrived so I looked into cloth nappies.
I have been using clothies witht he little man for 6 months now and am delighted with them. I'm a bit addicted so have way too many type so didn't really save money on buying nappies but defo do on waste charges. There are some great Irish nappies which I love but if your on a tight budget and looking for a reliable easy to use nappy google pocket nappy on ebay and there are really good chinese versions at qtr price which i have found very reliable and daddy friendly.
hth

thepallasbull
20-12-2009, 12:04 PM
the best 1 i saw was a woman in limerick taking her waste and putting it in the Council's bin on the street and filling it.
maybe she lives alone but it was strange for me is society gone that bad what next flytipping. we save on recyclying and spend foolishly on other things ?

jojotherock
15-01-2010, 03:04 PM
If you have children in plastic nappies, potty train them asap! In the meantime, consider switching to cloth nappies. I use organic cotton or bamboo nappies, fleece liners and wipes. All can be machine washed (hot for soiled, not for wet). Whenever we've had to use plastic nappies, our black bin is full and huuuuuming (gross) in such a short time.

Ebblue
15-01-2010, 04:03 PM
I definitely think it takes little effort to sort your recycling and cut your waste. It does take a bit of thought though to get it organised. We have various bins in our utility room to help with the sorting of the recycling. We have a compost bin too and two dogs that eat any leftovers, though these are rare! Soups & stews are great for using any veg that are near their end.

We also have special recycle bins in bathrooms. These are 'pretty' bins so guests don't get confused. This helps a lot. Our regular bin in the bathroom is practially zilch now as most waste would have been shampoo/conditioner/shower gel containers/toilet roll holders and so on.

I also save glass jars, I use these for freezing sauces, or for emptying food, say nuts out of plastic and into a jar. I write the bb date on that and it lasts far longer than in the bag.

Outside we have old wheelie bins, you can often find these on websites for free or very little money, they are nice and tall and look neat and store loads.

We had a problem with rats and our composter so pulled out the composter and put slate underneath. This has worked.

We then take all the recycling to the recycle centre and we also take the non-recyling waste where they weigh it and charge us for that. So it works out that we go about once every two months and costs about 11 euro in total, our recycle centre is 3 euro and the rest is weighted rubbish which is excellent.

Hope this helps.

cathd66
31-01-2010, 01:18 PM
I managed to get down to 10 bins last year, and hoping to do better this year. I have a compost heap, wormeries and go through the bin in the kitchen (no food waste so not smelly) to check for recyclables at the end of every day. South dublin co co now takes all clean plastic in their green bins so I dump all dirty plastic bags/ food containers in the washing up water when I'm finished washing up and leave them to soak for a while. Then I empty and drain them and pop them into recycle bin.
I've logged my progress with wormeries on:
http://www.wormslovewaste.com/

miss lilac
01-02-2011, 01:05 AM
some great ideas there for reducing waste. What about the really strong cardboard which comes in the box when you buy some electrical product like i did recently. ( A new scanner for the printer)? Could you fill this with compost and use to plant seeds in it I wonder? Would it decompose in the soil eventually? Just thought of that yesterday. May be a good way to give seedlings a chance to grow before reaching the soil itself?!! Has anyone else tried this before? Would love to hear...

murmac59
05-02-2011, 01:10 AM
This will be the 3rd year of doing this and have found it a FAB IDEA. Cut your bin charges in half by sharing with your neighbour. Most of us put out a half full bin weekly or just put it out every 2 weeks even though we have paid for a weekly collection. Here in Carlow e27/month is the charge and in my case am sharing with 2 other households. e9/month - Saving us each e216 yearly.