Each year, every household in the UK gets rid of about one tonne of rubbish. From kitchen scraps and waste containers to old newspapers and tin cans, a myriad of items are thrown away by each-and-every-one of us.

Coping with all this rubbish is down to the humble dustbin, wheelie bin or household bin. But things have been complicated in recent years with the need to recycle, fortnightly bin collections and restrictions to the amount of waste some households in the country are permitted to throw away.

All this has made getting rid of household rubbish a complicated task. Having to use different bins for recycling, trying to avoid pests and smells, and keeping on top of the household waste can be a chore. But here are some tips to make dealing with your rubbish problems a whole load easier:

Kitchen

Perhaps the busiest bin in the house. Nearly everything gets chucked into the kitchen bin from food scraps to old cartons, tins and wrappers. One of the biggest problems with kitchen bins is the mess and smell they can produce. But there are simple ways to reduce this. Firstly, a good tight fitting lid is a must for any kitchen bin. This will prevent smells but the lid does pose other problems.

As we frequently cook in the kitchen, touching the bin is unhygienic – so rather than frequent hand-washing you should consider a pedal bin, swing-top or even a sensor bin. Sensor bins are fantastic as they open and shut automatically, sensing when you are near and raising the lid just in time.

Sensor Bin - opens automatically

Recycling bins

To make that task of separating different items into different bins consider buying recycling bins.

Many of these are colour coded so you can separate waste before you have to put it into the different recycling receptacles outside. And if you haven’t room for several different bins – think about a double triple compartment recycling bin which are a convenient and space saving way of separating waste.

Bin deodorisers

All kitchen bins should be cleaned regular to prevent smells but a great way of ensuring your kitchen doesn’t stink of rubbish is to use a bin deodoriser. Bin deodorizers ensure your bin smells fresh and clean – no matter what you have been throwing away.

They are everywhere; on roadsides, along pavements, in our homes, front drives and at work. We hardly give them a second thought but the humble rubbish or waste bin does a highly important job that keep our homes, streets and city centres clean.

There are several types of waste bin used by each of us. There are those that we dispose of our waste at home or work. The outdoor bin where this rubbish is stored until collected by the local authority of waste management company, then there are the public litter bins provided for us on the high street to ensure our streets are kept clear.

But there are other types of rubbish receptacles that are increasingly being commonly used, including:

• Recycling bins
• Gardening bins
• Bin banks for bottles and cans

At Home

Many of us may remember the traditional dustbin that most homes had. Either metal of plastic it was this bin that stored all our household waste until it was emptied by the dustmen.

However, increasingly as more local authorities have switched to fortnightly collections and the need to reduce landfill and encourage recycling, these types of outdoor bin have slowly disappeared from our neighbourhoods, to be replaced instead by wheelie bins and recycling bins.

At Work

Similar changes have happened around the workplace too. Recycling is now much more common at our places of work, although the business sector has a long way to go to achieve the same levels of recycling that happens in the domestic environment.

However, it increasingly common for business, especially offices to recycle paper in paper recycling containers. Other recycling containers such as cup collectors that are used to recycle disposable coffee cups from dispensing machines.

Transparent bins prevent explosive devices from being hidden

In Public Areas

Bins in public locations such as along the high street or in parks are often immobilized by being floor or wall mounted to prevent vandals (and even theft) and vermin from emptying the bins.

However in recent years it has been commonplace for terrorists to use bins to hide explosive devices this has led to a decline in the number of bins in enclosed areas such as railways, airports and shopping centres although transparent bins can often be used in these areas – often a clear bin bag suspended from a frame.

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.

Never has something so innocent and mundane caused as much controversy since its inception than the wheelie bin. Wheelie bins have been around since the 1970’s and since their introduction in British society they are rarely out of the headlines.

There have even been campaigns by British newspapers to get them banned from the streets but are wheelie bins are practical solution for removing and handling waste so why have they been controversial. Partly, the reason lies in the conservative nature of the British householder, also combined with some myths propagated by the national press – wheelie bins have become notorious.

Blamed for rubbish reduction by stealth, accused of being dangerous and with stories of bugs, cameras and even bodies found in wheelie bins its no wonder they have a bad reputation. But here are some genuine facts and dispelled myths about the wheelie bin:

• Practical: wheelie bins are a simple method of removing waste. They are safer to handle than waste bags where protruding items such as glass can snag a rubbish removal man. It’s a common misconception that the elderly or disabled struggle to move wheelie bins but the truth is that if somebody can carry a black bag full of rubbish they can manoeuvre a wheelie bin.
• Wheelie bins can reduce waste. It is true that many councils do prefer wheelie bins to encourage a decline in the amount we throw away. But if we are allowed to dispose of whatever we like our council tax and rates will rise as a result – all councils are struggling to find landfill space to meet the nation’s needs.
• Wheelie bins are also claimed to be unsightly but a wheelie bin is no more unsightly than a conventional bin or pile of black sacks. Waste has to be stored in something and most wheelie bins are in a neutral colour and are unassuming.

And while wheelie bins are not the complete answer to the problems of limited landfill and an increasing population alongside recycling bins, litter bins and other rubbish bins, they play a crucial role in part of the nation’s rubbish and waste management.

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