It’s time to ditch the bin bags
Have you ever stopped to count the number of bin bags you use every month, every year?
I did just this last year, and multiplying that even just by the number of people who live in my small city makes for a pretty huge number. So I switched instead to compostable bin liners (I got them online, but many supermarkets or eco-friendly shops sell them). They were already quite expensive, though, and after they increased in price this year I thought to myself – do I actually need a bin liner?
All our food waste goes in the compost bin, and all recyclables go in the blue bin, so really all that’s left is dry stuff. So now I don’t bother with a bin liner at all and I must have avoided using about 20 medium bags so far! If there’s anything I really, really need to use a bin liner for I keep a roll of the compostable ones to hand, but I’ve only used a couple so far this year. (One example was when the dog was sick on the floor – I won’t elaborate; I’m sure you get the picture!)
(The other good thing about having a dry bin is that it makes you realise how much plastic packaging gets thrown out in an average week. Cereal bags, bags for dried fruit and nuts, plastic wrap for sandwich wraps, etc. If you’d like to do something about this, too, check out Naomi’s post on eco-bricking!)
So why not try it yourself? You could line your bin with newspaper at the bottom if you’re worried about any bits of moisture etc. But really it’s as easy it sounds – and will save so much plastic and money!
So will the council bin lorry just take a bin full of things that can’t be recycled if they are not in a bag along as it’s not wet?
Yes! Ours certainly will anyway. No bag required, they just tip the whole contents straight into the lorry mechanically so noone is getting their hands dirty!