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A beginner's guide to wheelie bin etiquette (plus how to store them)
You can thank us later.
WHETHER YOU LIKE it or not, wheelie bins are now a part of your life.
People have at least two and sometimes three bins (black, brown and green) and let’s be honest, they’re not the prettiest of garden accessories.
To be quite frank, they’re often a visual blight on your garden, front or back. As well as that they can get stolen, mislaid, or damaged just by being out and about on the streets.
So while it’s not the most glam of subjects , we’ve decided to give you the low down on your wheelie bins, some solutions that can help with bin management, and general help on making your garden look better while also managing to store your bin away from sticky fingers and beleagured eyes.
Bin storage and management
First off, there doesn’t seem to be any rules from the various councils as to wheelie bin storage or management. You get given your bin and it’s up to you to look after it, it seems.
It would make sense – and be neighbourly of you – to keep them contained and off the footpath or surrounding areas (except on collection days), and to keep them close to your house – wherever it is you store them.
Payment options
Depending on your location and your refuse collector you can either buy bin tags as you need them for black bin (general waste) collection, or set up an account (particularly with Greyhound collection) that you prepay into, and have your bins collected as you need them. Recycling and brown bin waste is collected for free.
Innovative and attractive solutions for wheelie bins
You wouldn’t have imagined there were too many different options when it comes to storing your wheelie bins, but we found an Irish company Bruscar that provides pretty innovative (for wheelie bins) solutions to the problem of bin storage.
There are three main options – the screen, planter and chest.
The chest is the most secure of them all as there is a bolt which can take a padlock. It comes in single, double, or triple depending on your bin needs and has a lid.
The planter has a base section to put (obviously) plants into so you can hide your bins and add a bit of colour to your garden all at the same time.
The screens are open topped to allow you to put your rubbish in unimpeded and are hinged in the middle for easy access on bin collection day.
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