Wheelie Bin too small for nappies

som

Thanks for the responses, it's good to see some councils have various solutions to assist end users and I will put them to North Wilts. Yes we currently have a small bin, a few years ago there was just my wife and I and it was more than adequate.

I had a further response from the council and it appears they haven't changed any bin size limits since halving the collections - so any household that regularly used more than 50% of the bin space will now be having issues. The council also said they don't currently have any officers available to talk to us about this, can't say I'm surprised.

chunkychocky

It's strange that you found cloth nappies to be not as good as disposables as I found it completely the other way around - when we went on holiday and used disposables we had poo stained clothing regularly and damp patches around the legs even more regularly. We tried several brands from Pampers, Huggies, Tesco own, to eco ones (which were marginally better as at least they didn't cause nappy rash like the Pampers which were horrendous).

The cost of washing cloth nappies was negligible in comparison to the cost of the disposables. And yes I also had two children wearing nappies at the same time. It was no big deal. Collect the dirty nappies in a lidded bucket lined with a mesh bag. Every couple of days lift entire mesh bag and put straight in the washing machine. Voila. Clean nappies a short while later. Nappies have improved even more recently so that they are now virtually dry when you get them out of the washing machine so are ready to reuse within an hour or two after you take them out.

If you really can't cope with a normal sized bin then there must be something wrong. We have fortnightly collections and rarely fill it more than half full. We recycle everything we possibly can, but don't choose products based on their packaging so should have the same amount of rubbish as any other family of 4.

ThumbRemote

chunkychocky wrote: »

If you really can't cope with a normal sized bin then there must be something wrong. We have fortnightly collections and rarely fill it more than half full.

Well done for deciding that there must be 'something wrong' with what the OP is doing.

Since
a) You don't know how big their bin is; not all bin sizes are the same
b) They have already said their bin is mainly full of nappies, which clearly you don't have
it might just be that your assessment is incorrect.

chunkychocky

ThumbRemote wrote: »

Well done for deciding that there must be 'something wrong' with what the OP is doing.

Since
a) You don't know how big their bin is; not all bin sizes are the same
b) They have already said their bin is mainly full of nappies, which clearly you don't have
it might just be that your assessment is incorrect.

OK I did assume that most rubbish bins are a similar size, though I have seen tiny ones for flats. So I might well be wrong about that. The point I made was that as we don't even fill ours half-way surely that should leave plenty of room for disposables - though again I confess I have no idea how much space a fortnight of nappies would take up. If their bin is considerably smaller than that is the only way I can understand how it wouldn't fit.

On the other hand, the stench of fortnight old nappies in a bin must be vile especially in summer. Is there a tip that you can take them too? That would save your nose and space in your bin.

pimento

I remove all spurious extra packaging at the supermarket (boxes on cat food and that kind of thing) and leave it there. I have a can crusher and as my husband has a Coca-Cola habit, a bottle crusher as well (Lakeland.co.uk).
You can fit more into a wheelie bin if you don't put it into an extra bin bag. We just throw everything in loose and have it cleaned once a month by a man with a van who can.

My husband is also quite good at stamping it down into the bin.

bombini

Have you tried using one of those tommee tippee nappy bins ? We used ours when our son was a baby and found it quite good for compacting the nappies ?

I can see where you are coming from though as my son has just become toilet trained in the last month and our bin is nowhere near as full as before. Its amazing how much waste they create !

Can you put an extra bin bag out with your bin ? Im sure i've seen some of our neighbours do this before.

withabix

Have you thought about getting a wheelie bin compactor? £20-£25 delivered.

The bin men hate them, but they can't stop you using one.

A bit easier than the wheelie bin dance!!

upsadaisy

This is from my local council's website:
If you've given the standard sized bin a chance, and genuinely cannot manage, we will consider requests for larger bins from homes with six or more permanent residents, a family with two babies in nappies or those with healthcare waste. If appropriate we will issue a larger bin (240 or 360 litres). This will then be re-assessed annually.

So it might be worth double checking yours, just in case. Maybe try a nappy wrapper as they may squash the nappies smaller?

som

Wow, wheelie bin waste compactors! Didn't know about those thanks very much. Looking like the most probable solution to date. I'll have to hold my breath when compacting.

I've seen those nappy bins in shops but never really figured them out, they look like a bin with some sort of refills, but not been able to see if they really do anything clever or useful?

Fosterdog

I know our local council won't completely empty bins if you have used a compactor, if the waste doesn't freely fall when it's lifted onto the bin lorry they press a button that bumps the bin slightly, if it doesn't empty after two presses it's left as it is.

The only other way they can be emptied is for a person to lean in and pull the waste out and that would go against health and safety.

Withabix you are right that they can't stop you using them but you also can't make them climb inside your bin to fully empty it.

Som have you tried talking to your bin men about the problem? Try popping out with babe/s in arms and explain that you're really struggling with two wee ones and the size of your bin. If you're really nice about it they may tell you to just put out an extra bag and they will take it as a favour or they may possibly speak to someone who sorts bin deliveries and tell them how urgently you need one.
If it works a nice xmas tip would be a nice thank you touch for them