how many binbags

[snapdragon]

Well done on the reduction
Dispoable nappies are such a filler of bins - shame they are so convenient
We have a fortnightly collection but generally put wheeliebin out every month to six weeks (two of us plus dog, added coal ashes in the winter)
I just learned that my council are offering a composter/digester at a quarter of the list price, I think I'll invest in one.
This morning I emptied the old plastic dustbin that serves as composter in the back yard - top half was still identifyable as peelings teabags etc. and has gone back in, but bottom half was real proper compost - tipped it onto newly turned veg plot - wooooo! proper black stuff and the blackbirds are feasting too

[Millymollymandy]

About one black binbag a week plus another bag same size which are for our recyclables which go in another bin at the communal collection point in the hamlet. We have to use bin bags as there's no collection from houses out in the sticks. Tampons have to go to landfill as we have a septic tank and no I'm not going to bother with a mooncup for the last few years as I can't be bothered now! My cat prefers to do his business in the litter tray as he's a lazy sod but I do lock him in at night and that's when he tends to go! Everything else is just packaging that can't be recycled and as I eat about 2 yoghurt pots a day that takes up some space. I can't keep any more marge tubs as I've got 4 years worth of marge tubs, ice cream tubs etc in a cupboard and it is completely full. Glass gets taken to the village glass bins.

We have far more stuff that goes to the green bins at the tip - whole trailer fulls of garden rubbish that isn't compostable!

[Flo]

The recycling wheelie bin goes out about once a month. It takes paper, light cardboard, tins, types 1 and 2 plastics. And lots of junk flyers that people shove through the door.

I'd expect to have about a carrier bag of my own rubbish a week on a bad week and about that much over two weeks normally but it does depend on how much rubbish blows into the front yard when the wind gets up. There's about a carrier bag of compostable waste a week (I'm 95% vegan) and on odd occasions (like next Monday) there will be a visit to the bottle and tetrapak recycling area.

I reckon that it's too much for a one person household. It'll be the freebie newspapers I pick up on the bus and throw in the bin at home rather than see them not recycled at all. I'm also given to buying beans of many varieties in tins which can be recycled rather than in plastics that can't. Saves cooking times too of course.

[Rosendula]

We have a blue bin for paper waste (no cardboard). It's the size of a small wheelie bin and I usually put that out once every 2 months. Sometimes I can go for 3 or 4 months without putting it out - depends how much cr@p gets put through the letterbox.

We have black boxes the size of large stacking boxes. These are for glass, aluminium, steel, plastic bottles, aerosols, and clothing. I tend not to put clothing in very often as I put that in charity bags instead. I have two of them* and they are collected fortnightly. One's always full, the other's sometimes full, sometimes only half full depending on how many bottles of lager DS has had.

The 'big' bin used to be full every week, but these days it's not usually more than half full. LO has refused to wear reusables since she learned how to unfasten the velcro herself, and she refused to walk in them anyway. So we're on disposables, which are down to a couple a day. That's really reduced the bin-load. I have to shamefully admit that last time the bin was emptied it was nearly full because we had take-away pizzas one evening (which came in 6 boxes), then on my birthday a few days later, OH and I went for chips at seaside and the kids ordered more pizzas - another 4 boxes and they can't be recycled here.

*actually I have four. The Council gave us one and I said it's not enough and need another. So they sent me another one. Then another one. Then a neighbour decided to dump theirs on us when I wasn't looking. They are so useful I'm not complaining. I keep one in the greenhouse to keep compost in, and with the lid on top I can store things on the top. The other one gets used for putting weeds or rubbish in while I'm gardening.

[Millymollymandy]

It's crazy that you can't recycle cardboard. Why is it that different councils (or waste companies or whoever) have different recycling rules?

[Flo]

Here we are waiting for new equipment at the recycling points so that thick cardboard can be handled. It seems that the thick stuff blocks the system as it goes round and is dangerous to clear at the moment.

[Uller]

We have one small black wheelie bin for rubbish and one small blue wheelie bin for recycling - glass, paper, tins, cardboard and plastic bottles can all go in together.

When we first moved into this area, we were sent 240l bins - I called the council and asked for the 120l. It took several minutes of arguing with the lady on the phone to convince her that 2 people with alternate fortnightly collections shouldn't need more than a 120l bin! If we forget to put the bin out (which happens regularly), both bins can last us 4 weeks with a bit of squashing down.

We've reduced our rubbish by shopping at a bulk food co-op - we can buy things loose and put them in paper bags which can then be recycled. Soon I'm going to make some fabric bags which I can wash after each shop to reduce the recycling.

We've virtually cut out hard plastic, but there still seems to be a lot of soft plastic around. Our council doesn't take mixed plastics, so we keep it and take it to my parent's place in Oxfordshire - their council will recycle them. Our milk is still in tetrapak which isn't easy to recycle - we might look at using our local milkman so we are using glass.

Our biggest item is glass - we seem to get through loads of jars. I don't do much preserving (yet!) so don't put them out in the recycling. If I had space, I might keep them and then Freecycle them.

[sleepyowl]

We have 1 a week between 3 adults & subsequent geuest which in our house equals 4 people really, Paul & I perpare meals seperately as we eat at different times, Rich eats when I eat as he is too lazy to cook.

[pumpy]

Our 'normal' rubbish is probably between one & two black bags a week but, having no where else to dispose of 30-40kgs of cat litter each week we add another three or four bags to that
OH takes all our rubbish & recycling to the c.a site each week so the poor binmen don't hurt their backs! if I can lift them surely they can too!!)
I'm on a mission to reduce our rubbish at least.

30-40kgs? are you sure that these are domestic cats? I'm a Leo, but i'm sure that i don't produce that amount!!