Reducing waste and doing away with the bin collection

[sponge]

Originally Posted by CleoCy

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]

Originally Posted by summersun

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]

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]

Originally Posted by TanTan

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]

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]

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]

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]

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 http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Organics/Hom...../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]

Originally Posted by TanTan

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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/