There has been quite a bit of bad press about the littering caused by students in some university towns. And in many areas where residents live in local proximity to local schools, college or universities, littering is a cause for tension between the local community and the educational establishment.

The problem with litter around education buildings is the sheer number of people that use these areas. But neither the students or the schools or colleges are to blame. Often the cause of the littering and the discontent amongst the local community is as a result of bad planning with the areas litter bins and bins for the public.

Student Lifestyle

Students also have an active lifestyle and consume more packaging and fast food products than regular consumers which often leads to a greater amount of litter in areas with a high student population.

This is often overlooked by local authorities who find that the number, type and frequency of emptying of their litter bins is often underestimated causing overflowing bins and strewn litter.

Bin collections too are often too infrequent in these locations and it is often forgotten that in student areas there are many adults living under the same roof so the amount of household litter will also be higher than in residential areas.

Increasing the frequency of collections in these areas will reduce the litter in the residential parts of town.

Public Bins

Around the high street the public bins may need replacing or increasing in number. If there is littering then it is likely there is one of three problems:

• There are not enough public outdoor bins
• The outdoor bins are not large enough
• The public bins are in the wrong location

If the local bins are often full then the problem is going to be size or number. However, it is quite common for the high street litter bins to be half empty but there is still a high level of litter. This may often be because the litter bins are in the wrong location. Ensure fast food outlets and main thoroughfares are covered with large capacity outdoor bins.

Public litter bins

Increasing the number of bins around an area will also reduce the amount of litter but this there is often an added cost to doing this as there will be more bins to empty. By replacing the public litter bins with larger ones this will prevent additional costs from occurring.

Providing public litter bins and waste containers is not as simple a task as it may first appear. There is more to the humble outdoor and public bin than just being a receptacle for rubbish. And quite often, if when local authorities, hospitals or other public body gets their waste bin decisions wrong – it can be disastrous and expensive.

There is so much to think of when supplying public bins and there is more to it than just supplying somewhere for the public to throw their litter.

Size, quantity and location

highly important as too small a bin, not enough of them or the wrong locations will just ensure littering continues. Establish the footfall in the area; what type of businesses are in the location (such as fast food places) and how often the bins get empties to ensure you get the right size and quantity. And place them where they are clearly visible and easy to access – a bin outside a fast food restaurant should be outside, not across the road!

Smells

If there are food businesses around then you will need to ensure that there is appropriate external bins provided for customers. These will need lids as the smell of rotting food is not only unpleasant it will attract vermin.

Transparent bins prevent explosive devices from being hidden

Fire retardant and Bomb threats

Often a consideration in public buildings like hospitals. Litter can often a be a source of fire so fire retardant bins are important as lives could be at risk. Also in public areas bins and waste containers have been used by terrorists and many public areas in countries that suffer this sort of problem use transparent bins to prevent the hiding of explosives.

Vandalism

A public bin needs to be tough and secure enough that it can’t be tipped over by vandals otherwise it will constantly get kicked over, spewing litter across the public are – making the bin pointless.

Sanitary Bins

In places like hospitals or public washrooms appropriate sanitary bins need to be used to prevent spread of disease. Regular bins should never be used for things like ladies hygiene products or waste bandages.

Every year in England alone we throw away some 25.5 million tonnes of rubbish in our waste bins and it increases each and every year as we throw more and more rubbish away, and the population continues to expand.

That’s enough rubbish to fill every Premiership football stadium in the country and with such large quantities of rubbish, litter and trash, it’s a miracle we are not all knee deep in filth.

While most of us aware that our rubbish has to end up somewhere, few people take the time to think where all this waste is going and whether or not we will ever run out of capacity on our burgeoning landfills.

There are really only three methods of dealing with household waste and each comes with its own costs and disadvantages:

Recycling

Perhaps the preferred and most eco friendly method of dealing with waste and rubbish is to recycle it. Recycling is just a term to describe reusing materials, either in their original guise or by breaking them down to their raw materials. Paper, glass, metal and a whole host of materials can be reused and recycled which reduced the amount of waste that is just dumped on landfill. Many households now have recycling bins for separation of these items. However, not everything we throw away can be recycled and it can often be costly.

Much of our recycling is also exported abroad added further environmental costs to our rubbish disposal as well as causing environmental problems in many of the developing countries this rubbish gets shipped to.

Much of what we throw away ends up in landfill

Landfill

Sadly the majority of what we throw away in our rubbish bins ends up in landfills. A landfill is just a dump where items are permanently stored until the landfill is full and then it is covered over. Some items on landfill sites slowly degrade, especially organic waste but a lot of what is dumped on our landfills can last for years and years.

However, landfills are not all bad news. The gases produced by rotting rubbish is now being harvested as a source of energy and many former landfills whilst unsuitable to build houses on are often turned into nature parks or other green environments.

Incineration

In areas where there is insufficient space incineration is still regularly used to get rid of rubbish. Incineration is perhaps the most environmentally damaging method of removing rubbish but in many areas there is little choice. The energy from the incinerators can be harvested though so it is not all bad news when it comes to burning rubbish.

Every single day, some 8 million disposable nappies are thrown out. This makes up four percent of all household waste, and most of it ends on land fills and takes years to degrade.

And while disposable nappies are quick and easy to use they are also expensive with a new born child easily costing between £2,000-£4,000 ($3,500 – $7,500) on disposable nappies and diapers alone.

And washable nappies are not as bothersome, cumbersome or messy as you may imagine. In fact, changing a washable nappy can be just as quick and easy as changing a disposable. Of course, they have to be washed but a weeks worth of nappies can easily fit in one load of most modern washing machines and if you cut down on unnecessary softeners and detergents you can minimise any environmental impact.

The only thing required is a good quality nappy bin. And even if you work in the service industry, social or care surrounding, or nursery and kindergarten settings, there is no need to have soiled nappies lying about and the washing machine on constantly.

A modern large capacity nappy bin can easily store a weeks worth of nappies, even from the busiest service industry setting. And if the nappy bin is well built and from a reputable supplier of nappy bins then it can store soiled nappies and diapers without any smells or mess.

Some modern nappy bins even have chutes for added hygiene and discretion.

The only other requirements for returning to washable nappies are a good supply of safety pins, although modern reusable sticky seals can be used for those fearing accidents with pins. And some modern washable nappies come with their own adhesion and attaching mechanism, so the old fashioned safety pin need not be used at all.

By returning to washable nappies, not only will it make a dramaitc difference to the waste that piles up in our land fills but the cost savings of using washable nappies and diapers can be staggering, especially in the service and care industry.