![[NSW] Reduce Your Bin Capacity to Save $ @ Selected Local Councils](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/48/570648.jpg?h=1a3782dd)
We downgraded our bin litre size from 120L to 80L and rates for inner west Sydney went down from $544/pa to $470/pa.
With a 55L Bin this world go down to $443pa.
A simple saving since we never get anywhere near filling out bin each week!
[NSW] Reduce Your Bin Capacity to Save $ @ Selected Local Councils
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carlost82 on 05/10/2020 - 21:58 innerwest.nsw.gov.au (9675 clicks)
Last edited 06/10/2020 - 23:40 by 3 other users
Last edited 06/10/2020 - 23:40 by 3 other users
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Family of 4, 4.5 year old, 4.5 month old and 2 adults. We barely manage to fill up a garbage bag in a week, let alone a whole wheelie bin, and that's with all of us at home the whole time.
You should feed your kids….
Kids take up less space in the bin than the garbage they make…
Wow. A jv comment that hasn't been negged into oblivion. 😂
@Trishool: I'm not sure the ancient power we call jv really has a gender, at least not of the kind humans understand.
Wow. I thought it was just me. It's like a hazardous Jenga puzzle every week. Excited that one day I'll be able to achieve zero subtle lid lift at kerb point.
I try to avoid lid lift at all cost. Friggin' seagulls….
We eat a lot.
…. then stop putting your family in the bin.
Well done! I guess it's a nice example of how some people can avoid rubbish and some don't really think what they buy and how much they throw away. I used to fill up our bins to the top but changed a bit my shopping behaviour and now it's hardly at 50% full (80l bin - family of 4 - full time at home).
I used to pay rubbish by kg when I lived in Europe (yes … your rubbish truck weighs your bin and since moving to Australia I got used to just produce as much rubbish as I want … guess it's time to rethink again.)
Waste by weight is a good idea.
@[Deactivated]: We tried. Tip: Don't use Cold Power.
I can't remember what the agent is in it that's bad but it's common and very hard to be sure whether it's in a product or not.
PS: This post is Chinese whispers from my wife so caveat emptor. I'd change my share of the nappies etc but she'd buy the laundry powder.
@justtoreply: That’s a shame about the reusables. Spending a huge amount before finding a reliable nappy and fit is what has put me and hubby off reusables. I started looking at various websites and Facebook groups and all the conflicting info put me off. So I can see why you’re annoyed.
I kinda think the responsibility of taking care of our kids waste and the associated costs is up to the parent not the council. i.e. if it were by weight I’m not sure there should be exemptions for babies. Perhaps for people with disabilities or the elderly that use continence pads, then it’s not really a choice. However everything costs more once having kids, for most (admittedly not all) they are planned and it’s a consideration before having them. I’d be happy to pay a bit more for my poor environmental choice of disposable nappies.
Having said that perhaps a government rebate for reusable nappies isn’t a terrible idea, similar to other environmental initiatives like solar rebates. I wonder if one of the reasons there’s not is that a lot of reusables aren’t actually that eco. They are mostly laminated with non biodegradable plastics and have hard plastic snaps etc which will end up in landfill eventually.
@morse: We used cotton nappies with a wicking poly liner. No nappy rash ever, and that was in Darwin.
We did buy a pack of Huggies for emergency backup when out, but never finished the pack@pebee47: That sounds good. I’m almost contemplating it now bub is 12months and not going through too many nappies, better late than never I guess. It was just too much to think about for me when Bub was little and all the experiences similar to justtoreply’s put me off. What brand do you use?
I’d be happy to pay a bit more for my poor environmental choice of disposable nappies.
What's stopping you from doing that today?
@morse: Clean cloth nappies Facebook group is the gold standard for advice. The owners are scientist mums.
@justtoreply: why should that be a special case? you choose to have children dont expect everyone else to subsidise you.
@unifex: You choose to live on the east coast, don't expect WA to subsidise you.
Whilst I'm not being literal about that, I hope it makes the point very clear that a large chunk of life is subsidised one way or another. Life without subsidy.. only in an economics textbook is that a utopia. Having children is economically beneficial BTW
Life without subsidy.. only in an economics textbook is that a utopia.
What economics textbook specifically?
Having children is economically beneficial BTW
For whom?
Waste by weight is a good idea.
Only if there is a way to stop your neighbours from dumping their heavy rubbish in your bin. There's plenty of opportunity if your bin is left out overnight for early-morning collection.
@Russ: Not really hard once the culture of honesty sets in - cameras and neighbourhood trust go a long way. If there’s are cases where it’s not possible, then alternative solutions can be explored. Obviously wouldn’t work for all communities and living arrangements.
@Russ: I caught out ours sneaking bags into our bin once. Sent them a nice worded letter and appears to have stopped it.
@Russ: That is why there are no western sydney 'burbs listed lol
Yes i agree it won't work here, sadly.
@[Deactivated]: The theory is good, but I bet it encourages a lot more streetside dumping.
Its would also turn the good deed of putting your empty coke can or whatever in the closest bin while walking, from a good enviro decision, to costing someone a few cents.
This is ozbargain; you'd be kidding yourself if you didnt think some people put money before enviro; there'd be bags in every bush reserve.
@MasterScythe: True. Education is a big piece. When we go bushwalk. I tend to carry an empty bag and pick up rubbish along the way.
Same here. Except the Europe bit.
Probably 1/3rd of our bin is nappies, and that's just because we use disposables overnight - everything else is bought with a focus on minimising landfill waste where possible - recycling, composting (our council provides a benchtop compostables bin to go into the regular green bin, and we can include most food scraps, fish, meat, etc into there since it's a high heat industrial compost). Our kitchen bin only gets emptied once per week, but the recycling can be 2 or 3 times.
We found that Marley Spoon / Dinnerly are pretty good in terms of waste reduction, because they generally come in paper bags. Dinnerly is actually better for this, because the simplified menus mean that there is less single use packaging for small items.
For nappies, we use Bubble Bums, and we are still using the same ones we bought for the first kid with the second. We wash them with wool wash, and use a sports/disinfectant rinse instead of fabric softener to maintain the absorbancy.
@nezumi: We have that benchtop bin as well (Frankston?) but I find it useless during a hot summer. These bags burst open in the regular green bin, and since that bin only gets collected once every fortnight it just fills up with stench, flies and much worse.
Pretty impressive if you primarily cook at home c.f. eating out.
Family of three. Two adults and a fifteen year old. We've also switched to a smaller bin, but did it ages ago. We also only barely manage to fill up one kitchen garbage bag a week.
Hoarders?
That's because your kids are not old enough yet wait till they're at school, everyday piles of craft and junk that comes home along with all the extra snacks you need, I've got four I could use two bins since homes schooling, I think we've double our amount of garbage.
Mostly recyclable but that fills up and needs to go into the garbage because they only empty recycling every 2 weeks.
This is what needs changing. Council needs to catch up with the times and empty it weekly.
In the meantime, however, if it’s recyclable, why are you putting it in the normal bin? Best to speak to neighbours and add to their bins if possible.
why are you putting it in the normal bin?
Because it doesn't really matter. Recycling is one of those things that makes you feel good but in reality is mostly based on a lie.
@1st-Amendment: Recycling facilities certainly need to be improved in Australia so we don’t keep sending a heap of it overseas for dumping, but don’t think that’s a reason to just opt out of attempting to do the right thing.
@Usernames: Ah the good old 'right thing'. Who gets to decide what the 'right thing' is? Recycling is a scam, but if it makes you feel better…
@1st-Amendment: The right thing is understood and agreed by pretty much everyone.
Who wouldn't think that recycling is the right thing to do?Regardless of your personal, unfounded opinions on the matter it seems you're choosing to NOT do the right thing as some sort of protest.
The right thing is understood and agreed by pretty much everyone
Right… https://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-lone-german-man-who-r…
@1st-Amendment: Calm down we're talking about recycling here - there's no human rights debate to be had.
@bmerigan: I'm perfectly calm, my point was that an unqualified "The right thing" is quite often the path to misery. eg. https://www.smh.com.au/national/grandad-dies-after-water-cla…
@bmerigan: Another person just trying to do 'the right thing': https://thebrockvoice.com/2019/11/18/argument-over-recycling…
@Usernames: It's not that I dont want to do the right thing but the council can't expect us to stockpile our recycling and not put it in the bin better than the cockatoos and Crows putting it all over the neighbourhood.
They only empty the bins fortnightly I already do put some in the neighbours bins it doesn't happen every week but the system needs to be changed weekly recycling and fortnightly rubbish would probably work better
@Usernames: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/not-sure-what-can-and-ca…
the reality couldn't be further from the truth , much of the recyclables are contaminated and compounded with different rules per councils (read the article). the amount of judgemental high horses are astounding here.
not that i'm advocating throwing away proper recyclable materials in garbage, but these things are just simply not black and white.
education is key, standardisation of the rules and processes is key.
Where’s the nappies going?
just the yellow bin due to increased shipping materials. red one just about 1/4 best case
I hear ya.
I've got a 2-month stockpile of cardboard and polystyrene that I'm slowly getting rid of from buying a TV, desk and office chair.Polystyrene foam doesn’t go in the recycling bin
big apartment block down the road that doesn't lock off their bin area. Never fill my own bin now.
Rubbish bins never gets past 1/4 full, but recycle bin can fill almost up.
But that’s like saying instead of getting a large size drink which you can’t finish, get the smaller drink and claiming a saving.
You are giving up utility for a price reduction, so is it really a saving?
not if people have been paying for the large thinking that's the normal one and throwing away leftovers
So in that case would this be a PSA similar to the Amazon Prime annual fee vs monthly fee post?
Yep… We need someone to post "Cancel ebay Plus, save $50 per year…"
@jv: I wonder if you picked that example deliberately jv given the various $30-$50 vouchers available (depending on promotion/timing) for people who are either new to eBay Plus or cancelling their subscription.
Awesome, hopefully the neighbours don't notice the extra rubbish in their bin.
I never care if my neighbours put rubbish in my bins- if it has space, use it! However one of my neighbours lost his nana over it and started throwing rubbish at people. Made quite the scene in front of his kid. He’s a wife basher and a crim anyway, so expected Behaviour I guess.
Probably containers of supplies in his bin he was scared of having people see.
Or recognise the smell of.
Alot of these around unfortunately, i put 3 recycling bottles in a neighbours bin the second after it got emptied (because i was near) and the next day he had stacked them up outside my house on the ground…
the next day he had stacked them up outside my house on the ground
Sounds more than reasonable to me. Use your own bin. Next time they might not be so friendly.
My previous neighbour stated putting rubbish in my recycle bin. Council frequently checks bins before pickup and rejected pickup multiple times. Had to show the footage to neighbour from Sec camera who first denied.
However one of my neighbours lost his nana over it and started throwing rubbish at people
I hope that he finds her again soon.
if it is properly bagged, no issue. i have ferals that throws unbagged rubbish in my bins before. no one appreciates having to clean out oil and milk at the bottom of the bin during summer.
I also had some ferals fill up their recycling bin with general rubbish and out pizza boxes on the top to hide the crap, truck driver figured it out and just stopped collecting it
They tried with the garden waste bin too and were successful some of the time
This is a great initiatve. Wish my council would do it. OMG are your rates only around $500 per annum!?
I definitely pay a lot more then 500pa for council rate in WA what is this NSW black magic.
Lol no but the website link states PA not per qtr!
From the link, it seems the $500 is just the DWM charge:
"Your rates notice includes an annual Domestic Waste Management (DWM) Charge to Council to manage and collect residential waste."
The total council rate is more like $1000+ PAOMG are your rates only $1000?
Seriously $2500 in WA is common. Even a small house in a lower socioeconomic area runs at $1600.
For the next 8 years we're effectively paying $3500 due to underground power installation. How the frock they charged us extra to replace their old assets blows my mind.
I guess 'small' is relative. The examples in the link were talking about 200sqm blocks, which is not unusual for Syndey Inner West, but I don't imagine it would be common in WA?
@Tiggrrrrr: Who on earth would buy a 300sqm block in the emptiest state?!?!?!?!?!?! That’s just madness
@wetwork: Insanity.
Especially since the last few years, paying a loan below 500k has been cheaper than rent, in most of the emptier states (qld, wa, nt, etc).
@MasterScythe: Don't get much for <500k in Perth these days.
Unless you like living in the ghetto.
Which to be fair is about 2/3 of Perth…
@HelpMeiCantSee: Haha. There are people buying blocks <170sqm!
There's only one city in WA, and that is surrounded by desert. So I guess with the lack of viable public transport, parking, and poor road infrastructure people are trying to live close to the CBD?
rates is local council, substation upgrades are energy company. no wonder people get fleeced when they're too lazy to even understand this stuff let alone advocate for themselves around it.
@dec1an: It wasn't a substation upgrade anyway, it was a transition from overhead to underground power.
The city did a poll whether people in the suburb wanted it. The city has paid in full and the residents are paying half back to the city.
How the heck $9000 per property is considered half I don't know. I suspect the city was stupid and got ripped off. I could see the number of crews running and how long it took.. The company made an absolute killing (probably a few hundred percent profit margin).
The poll was done before we moved into the area, not that my one vote would have changed anything.
Also I've worked in asset management, it's a crock as replacement costs are factored into ordinary utility rates. The only reason to pay extra is to bring the replacement forward of when it is actually cost beneficial to do so.. Which is whay happened of course BUT the residents should have only paid the residual value of the existing assets. I fear we've paid for the whole damn new one and then some. Idiots in council, I tell you.
same here, wish our local council would consider this. we have changed from verge collection to 3 free skip bins pa. we probably only ever order 1 bin maybe once every 2 yrs, but we see our neighbour use all 3 every year full of rubbish.
Never heard of free skip bins before. I only see some skip bins at the markets and shopping centres which are supposed to be free for use for everyone?
Please post on OzDowngrade… This is OzBargain…
Is there a link to OzCompost?
Next step: How to cancel bins service?
Not possible.
Tried to do this years agoNext step: How to cancel your mail
Is anyone filling their bins less since we all started working from home plus started buying even more online? That and baby no.2 means that we struggle to pack everything in each week/fortnight.