Rubbish and litter is an inevitability. Everybody accumulates waste and rubbish that has to be disposed of. The average person in the United Kingdom disposes of over 5 kilos of rubbish a week in their rubbish bin – a quarter of a tonne a year.

All that waste has to go somewhere too. It is either buried in landfills, burnt or it can be recycled. However, not everything can be recycled and much of what we throw away in our rubbish bins isn’t biodegradable, meaning it can linger around landfills for decades – damaging the environment in the process.

Types of rubbish

The type of rubbish we throw away can be divided into five different categories. Some of which is biodegradable, some which isn’t:

• Plastic – Most plastics aren’t biodegradable. Many can’t be recycled either which is why the use of plastics is becoming an increasing environmental concern.
• Paper/card – from packaging to newspapers most paper can be recycled in some for or another. Paper recycling bins and recycling containers make it easy to store before it is taken away.
• Tins and metals – Most metals can be recycled and special recycling facilities exist in most towns and cities to deal with it.
• Ceramics and glass – Both can be recycled so look out for bottle banks or glass recycling bins.
• Organic waste – from lawn trimmings to the garden to food scraps fro the kitchen. The least harmful to the environment, organic waste is useful as compost and fertilisers.

Recycling

Recycling is essential if we are to keep in check our growing need for landfill and the increase in rubbish that is being discarded. Different types of recycling bins are available for both public and home use.

Household recycling bins, for inside the home, are often separated into compartments to make recycling easier. The rubbish can then be disposed of in the relevant outdoor bins. Often recycling bins are colour coded to make the process easier.

Can bank

Non-recyclable waste

Waste that is thrown in the rubbish bin and can’t be recycled can become a nuisance, especially many plastics that linger in the environment. Look to ways to reduce the amount of plastics and packaging you consume to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill. You will be surprised at how little you really do need to throw away in the waste bin.

Litter and rubbish bins are a practical and important part of keeping the world clean. We couldn’t live without them and one is probably sat no more than a few feet from you as you read this, but very few of us pay the humble rubbish bin any attention.

However, there are a few people who have found not only novel uses for some bins but also there are some weird and wacky bins out there.

Wheelie bin urinal

Perhaps the most bizzare bin in the world - this bin has an inbuilt urinal

Whoever thought of this must have been on the way home from the pub at the time. The idea is to prevent people from urinating in public but surely wouldn’t a toilet be a better solution?

Novelty Bins

There are bins representing almost every possible comic book and cartoon character out there. This is perhaps my favourite:

Feel the Force - a Novelty Star Wars Bin

The R2D2 bin is a great homage to the Star Wars film and a great way of helping to clean up the Empire.

Novel uses of bins

With a growing number of abandoned puppies being dumped on the German streets – the obvious solution – a puppy bin. But don’t worry, any abandoned puppy left in the puppy bin will be re-homed – lets just home they don’t find a litter of them in there!

The practical Bin

All these bins provide a fun approach to dealing with our litter. However, while novelty bins may brighten our day they are unlikely to provide a practical solution to preventing rubbish and litter. Rubbish bins are an important aspect to keeping the environment clean and choosing the right bin is important in preventing littering or other hygiene problems.

In providing litter bins you should always ensure the bins are :

Robust

Have a tight fitting lid

Be practical to use

Large enough to cope between being emptied

Plentiful

Supplying the right type of bins is crucial for any educational establishment if they are to keep the school or college grounds clear.

School Bins

Littering is not a problem of the youth, or any other social group, it tends to occur because there is inadequate or shortage of bins. When hundreds of people are gathered anywhere, they will produce litter, so ensuring there is somewhere for them to put it is vital if you want to prevent people from discarding litter.

Not only are the number of bins and choosing the right location important, but putting some thought into what is going to be thrown into the bin will help ensure you get the right type and size of bin and in schools and colleges that often means thinking about the type of rubbish your students will be throwing away.

Typically, in most schools and colleges; crisp packets, cans of pop and other snack items make up most of the rubbish so sufficient litter bins in size and number is one way to ensure the students are not littering. But there are other things to think about to:

Free Standing Sack Holder Bin

Selecting the right location for the bins will help ensure the bins are used and not ignored. The canteen and any entrances in and out of the building should always have plenty of bins. Free standing sack holders are the easier solution for this as they are quick to empty and replace the sacks.

But there are other needs for student bins, that have to be thought about. For colleges, despite the policy of the school, smoking will certainly be going on somewhere, often outside entrances, so to prevent a build up of cigarette butts in doorways, its better to place a cigarette bin, or wall mounted ashtray.

Exterior Bin

Sanitary bins also need to be provided in female bathrooms, as they will also be needed in staff facilities and bins for paper towels will need to be in all bathroom areas.

Classroom bins tend to fill with just waste paper so regular waste baskets are good for here but in the corridors there will be more of a variety of items so having a few wall mounted bins along corridors is a good idea too.

Most of us have a rubbish bin sat at the front of the house. There must be millions of them up and down the country but other than on rubbish day when someone comes round to empty them, few of us ever give the bin a second thought.

However, there are people who have looked at bins and thought, ‛Hmm, now here’s an idea,’ and have put the bin to some use, other than what it was designed for.

Here are some things people have done and used bins for other than for disposing of rubbish.

Bin Racing

Believe it or not, there are a whole host of racing events organised for bins. The annual wheelie bin racing championship in Thoona, Australia is a huge event and has been going for years. The idea of event is to take wheelie bins and convert them into down hill soap box carts. There are strict rules and regulations but anyone can enter an it is incredibly popular with families.

Wheeli Bin racing in Thoona

Other bin racing goes on around the world and most take a similar theme to the Thoona races but are less well organised.

Bins on ice

People in Canada have found a great use for the bin. Recycling bins and other receptacles are often used as sledges and ice carts. In areas all over Canada young children and families can be seen having fun in these make shift receptacles. A good though if you are to have a go yourself – make sure its empty.

Babies in bins

It is sadly all too common for new born babies to be left in bins too. Often its by mothers who can’t cope and they are often place din bins near hospitals. Because of the growing number of babies left like this, baby bins have been introduced in Germany which are secure and heated enclosures designed for confused mothers to leave their babies in. Many of the children left in the these bins are often reunited with their mothers soon after so the project seem to be effective.

More sinister things bins

Unfortunately because most of use never give the rubbish or litter bin a second thought all sorts of sinister items have been deposited in rubbish bins. Bodies (and parts of), guns and explosives have also been deposited in rubbish bins.

There was a time that most of us had only one bin. A large plastic or metal container that sat in the back yard or alley. All our household waste would end up in this dustbin, which was conveniently emptied, without contention, every week.

But times move on and now with more and more emphasis on recycling and with local authorities trying to minimise waste disposal, the number of bins householders require has now increased.

Recycling bins are a vital tool for any household that is recycling as they separate conventional waste with recyclable items. And they are numerous in type too with recycling bins for paper, glass, cans; gardening bins, composting bins, nappy bins.

And with so many different types of recycling bin and differing requirements for recycling. It can be confusing to decide what and how many recycling bins are needed.

But there are products out there that can make life easier and some can even help save money as well as the environment.

Recycling bins for bottles, glass and cans

There is really no need for this type of bin at home but for businesses or institutions these are important to ensure people separate the recyclable items that are commonly consumed in these environments. And don’t forget, tins and cans can even be redeemed for cash if they are of the right metal.

Household recycling bin

Householders will often be supplied with recycling bins outside for the external waste. Different councils provide different bins for different waste but there should be clear notice of what materials should be disposed of in each. For indoor use a good recycling bin for the kitchen is probably a good idea. Some of these have several compartments so its easy to separate was when it first gets thrown away.

And if you have a new born, are expecting, or work in the child care industry. A good quality nappy bin is essential. By returning to washable nappies you can dramatically reduce your waste as well as save a fortune on disposable nappies an diapers. Large capacity nappy bins are available that can handle even the busiest nursery or child care setting.

Whatever type of recycling bin is required you should ensure its a good quality recycling bin and from a reputable supplier. There are really three things to remember when you are looking for recycling bins: It should be well manufactured; Practical and modern in design; Have a good quality lid that fits to prevents smells.

We probably have one in each room of the house and yet very rarely give them a seconds thought but the humble waste bin is an important part of keeping our homes clean and tidy and without them we may find ourselves knee deep in rubbish before we know it.

Yet the different types of rubbish bin used around the home are quite numerous as each bin has to work in a different environment. Waste bins are far more than just receptacles for rubbish a lot more thought goes into them than that.

Take the external waste bin, often called the dustbin or garbage can. These bins have to be large enough to hold an entire household’s waste for a week or in some locales – two weeks.

External bins therefore have to obtain certain criteria to function. If waste is to sit in them all week then they need to have a good string lid that will not only keep the smells in the bin but prevent vermin from entering the bin and making a mess. External bins need also to be functional which is why the growing trend is for wheelie bins. Wheelie bins make it a lot easier for refuse collectors to transport the bin from the front of our homes to the rubbish collection vehicle (bin lorry).

Many of us are now recycle much of our rubbish which probably means not only do we have an external bin for our household waste but also we have recycling bins for different types of recyclable rubbish. Gardening bins for instance are the same as normal wheelie bins or external bins but more -often-than-not they are painted green to help distinguish them. Other recycling bins are used externally too and often they are colour coded too.

And indoors we have recycling bins also. Many kitchen bins are now accompanied with multi-section colour coded recycling bins. Like regular Kitchen bins they have to have a good lid too to prevent smells from leaking out and making the kitchen stink.

But kitchen bins, recycling bins and wheelie bins are only part of the story. Other bins around the home have to have different functionality too. The living room bin for instance often need to be more stylish than regular bins (as we do have to look at them every day) and designer bins are now common. Sanitary bins are often used in bathrooms as they are more hygienic to hold waste that often contains body waste, while the humble waste paper bin is perhaps the simplest of all but then it doesn’t need to protect us from smells or unhygienic waste.

Most of us have one and probably have done for most of our lives but very few of us give the humble dustbin much thought. But in fact the dustbin has gone through dramatic changes which have coincided with changes that our society has been through over the last hundred years of so.

Whether you call it a dustbins, rubbish bin, garbage can or wheelie bin, the changes to our main refuse collection bin have been dramatic and represent the changing way we live ourlives.

Dustbins have only been around since the last 150 years or so. Before that time there was little need for dustbins or waste bins as most waste people discarded were ash (from fires), wood, bones, body waste and vegetable matter which more-often-than-not was just burned in the fireplace.

However, when the industrial revolution happened and more and consumable items were being purchased and a an increase in plastics an other materials were being used. The need to keep our towns and cities clean became apparent.

The 1848 Public Health Act as the first time that a government decided that each household should have access to a rubbish receptacle which was emptied by state funded binmen. Dustbins were introduced by many councils. These rubbish bins were large metal containers and didn’t change on shape or design for decades.

In fact it wasn’t until the latter part of the twentieth century when concerns about land-fill space and the need to recycle some of our waste become apparent did the style and shape of dustbins change.

Along with the introduction of bottle banks, large plastic dustbins were introduced in many parts of the country as a cheaper method of producing bins compare to the heavy metal trash can. However, the need for recycling increased and goner too are these old style bins and most people in England and Wales were given wheelie bins. Wheelie bins not only make the job of collecting rubbish easier, different coloured bins have been introduced to encourage recycling. Many areas of the country now have two or tree wheelie bins. One is a conventional household rubbish bin the others are recycling bins for garden waste or recyclable materials.

Tags: bins, dustbin, household waste, waste bin, wheelie bin

Tags: bins, recycling, recycling bin, rubbish bin, waste bin

Tags: bins, hospital bin, rubbish bin, school litter bin, waste bin

Tags: bins, hospital bins, hygiene, infection control, public bin

Older Posts