![[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 (5325 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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@tbgoose: Definitely. I’m genuinely interested to know what people are putting in normal bin to fill it up. Aside from disposable nappies for people with young kids, I can’t think of much. Soft plastics can be put aside and taken to woolies etc, all organic matter in green bin (if your council has stepped up)/compost/worm farm, the rest recycled. Seems to me the recycle bin should switch places with normal bin in terms of collection frequency.
@Usernames: I am in Lake Macquarie Council. Green bin for garden, food scrapes collected weekly And Red rubbish and Yellow recycling bins alternative weeks. We generally have one small bag a week for Green and Red and use neighbours bins. Bread bags, etc all go to Coles and Woolworths, 10c refund containers to Return and Earn meaning Yellow bin about 1/2 full at the most.
Step on all recycling containers. Makes a difference.
I am living under Parramatta council and 80L bin is $423 and 140L bin is $440 for the waste management fee, so maybe you can either your waste or get a bigger bin.
Yeah you could actually fix that
Do you eat out everyday to not have enough rubish to fill your bin?
Reckon eating out tales more room in the bin compared to home cooking.
Our council is the opposite , if you get your bin replaced its about 1/3 less capacity.. you get zero discount you helping the environment by costing them less space at landfill and funnily enough saving them money. My current bin is like a mecchano set of bolts and nuts holding it together as that capacity is not enough as it is and Im not replacing it with the smaller size. Some councils offered larger sizes for free because of covid but not ours.
You can buy the big ones from bunnings. If the lid is compatible then go buy a big one and swap the lid over.
Thanks for that, lid is also held together with metal strips and epoxy … but they sell the lids too..
https://www.bunnings.com.au/handy-240l-green-wheelie-bin_p45...
https://www.bunnings.com.au/handy-yellow-replacement-lid-for...
really odd. my council just replaces the bins when i told them it's getting worn out.
Yikes, $500 annual rates - that's a bargain in itself!
I'm paying almost $4000 for a townhouse…. Good old MelbourneI concur… I don't think there are any suburb with rates under $1000 per year in Melbourne.
Average is $2,500 I believe, and $4000 I hope it's on the highest side.Under $1000 is possible but it'll have to be units and flats/apartments. I have to assume the OP lives in some form of multi-residential with rates like that.
Well considering rates are a proportion of property value I’m guessing your property is worth a lot.
The reasons to ditch Melbourne seem to be growing by the day.
Holy shit. Your rates are ~ $500 per year???????????? Mine are like $2k…
i assume the red bin is $500 per year. Plus yellow bin, other bins and other council crap is $2k
Mine are like $2k…
Holy shit. Your rates are ~ $2k per year???????????? Mine are like $3.5k…
JV your mask is too low
I'm jogging.
(user name checks out…)
@jv: jv's mask is just low enough to trigger people. well done mate.
No they're not.
$443 annual rates for a city like Sydney? No way…
This isn’t a bargain.
Better than $4000 Apple Notebooks
Not if it's the same as saying "Buy this lesser specced $3000 one instead"
The following will significantly reduce waste:
1. Worm farm/compost and leave it in the garage, they are very resilient and makes good fertiliser
2. Dig a hole at the backyard in a sunny spot for composting.We went from half bin full (5 bags) to 1 or 2 bags. Most veggie, and fruit scrap gets turned into fertiliser/soil.
True. Family of 5 and opted for an 80l bin when we moved to our new place, about two years ago. We struggled a bit initially then started worm farm and compost bin both and reduced our waste by about 30% plus savings on buying fertiliser for our vege patch and garden bed plants.
Worm farm may sound difficult but actually simple and easy. Worms turn your kitchen green waste into compost faster than an ordinary sun based compost bin (which smells terrible too). So if you are wondering which one to use, if cannot do both I would suggest a worm farm from my experience.And saving $$s is one thing but the feeling we are helping your planet and raising our three kids who are trained to put their half eaten fruits and peels into the little green bin under the sink.. priceless !
Black Soldier Fly maggots eat everything so fast it doesn’t have a chance to rot, and they out-compete regular fly maggots
(and the flies don’t enter the house or other people)
Thanks OP. Didnt know you can do this even, until your post. Apparently my council in vic also supports that. It’s not huge amount of savings around $21/pa (per bin) But why pay for extra something that you dont even need.
$21 for a cheap deal on ozbargin to spend on.
Our council went to fortnightly bins for hard waste so we had to go up in bin size.
Worried that landlords will grab hold of this and require renters to only use tiny bins.
All the bins in my area are always stuffed chocas. The cockatoo's in my area absolutely love it tho.
Same thing in my state. I actually thought it was normal?
Is it possible to entirely cancel the bin service and just dump one's rubbish in neighbours bins? (with their permission of course)
I would have no qualms giving you paintball welts if you were on my street.
Edit: you edited in the bit about permission but I'll leave my comment as a thought for others.
And on a related note I'd like to ping me some graffiti tag tards (can't call them artists as they can't do art if they can only tag).
This is why I won't let myself buy a paintball gun BTW.
Use a BB gun instead.
Why? Who cares, a) it’s a rubbish bin, b) unused space, c) are you a toad?
I'm my experience people using my bin
A) could ask first
B) shouldn't contaminate my recycling
C) shouldn't put things in my general waste bin that can be recycled
D) shouldn't require me to wage through their rubbish to fix B+C above
E) shouldn't do it when my bin is almost full (which ok is only a few times a year, but it has happened) because sometimes I've got a bag to put out the next day too you know. And I think it's fair I should be able to put it in my own bin rather than my neighbours.
F) depending on frequency, these people should stop and consider how much waste they are producing rather than expecting a get out of jail free card. Generating inordinate amounts of rubbish each week is not ok
G) I'm up to 6 valid reasons. I win, you lose.If people were actually responsible and respectful and stopped to think about the future they're creating then no I don't have an issue with occasional use of my bin.
Maybe why you can't see is because you're behind a mountain of trash?
If they've cancelled their bin service (not sure this is actually possible, but just continuing this hypothetical) then they're making it more expensive for everyone else and not paying for their own waste disposal.
Is this only for innerwest?
Do they have a 5-10 litre option for people who generating very little waste? Can someone who lives a zero waste life choose to have no bin service and pay no fee? Would seem absurd if the latter isn't an option.
Policing it is the issue. You would always get people who do generate waste still canceling their service and using others bins. I couldn't think of a better way to make neighbourhoods dysfunctional (ie: neighbours hate each other) personally. If it weren't for the douches you're right it'd be great.
Seems like inner west council is pretty transparent with their fees; unlike Burwood council’s site. Will give them a call tomorrow to ask.
Parramatta council only allows upgrade from standard 140L to 240L. No smaller sizes available.
This deal is rubbish
Can’t reduce my bin capacity with all those menulog bags
Mad, mine is$411 for 120L and $313 for $80L. Gonna check it out this week
Upvote even though its irrelevant to me. I live in an apartment. This is what most people would be interested and benefit from, rather than those shitty and stupid games (i am not against games and I also play games on consoles and computer) posted by an idiot everyday!
Doesn’t seem like all areas like Ashfield it doesn’t allow you to downgrade at all :/
I’m surprised how little rubbish people claiming they create…
Our kitchen bin gets filled up every second day… I have 2 very young children, but it’s not just the nappies though, there are also wipes, food waste, snack wrappings, non recycleable food packagings.. etcI was in a household of 7 and we rarely passed half full in the bin. Depends on what you use and how conservative you are.
E.g. using lots of single use packaged foods, takeaway food, wipes - vs cooking meals fresh, reusing bags, using cloth rags/napkins rather than wipes etc.
Soft plastics including (dry and unsoiled) food wrappers can be deposited into RedCycle bins at supermarkets. Food can be composted or given to chickens. I've a young child and put my bin out once a month, if that.
+1.
Household of 3 and our red bin is filled to the brim every week. (80L). Dunno how large households are doing it., And yes I even separate recyclables (even though its BS)..If you're interested in some practical tips, including following a street of different types of households reducing their waste, some from full bins to nearly empty, the War on Waste is on ABC iView. Episodes are an hour long but if you're not so interested in info about systems and policies etc, you can just skip through.
I think a lot of the problem comes down to laziness and ignorance. People just don’t care enough to bother separating waste correctly, or haven’t taken the time to watch programs like this. I often see recycling bins and general waste bins overflowing with soft plastics, most of which could be recycled. Ideally the recycling plants could be equipped to process all of our non-organic waste. Then society wouldn’t have to rely on people doing the right thing.
Our family is the same composition.
Just redcycle and recycle is enough. Seriously when you do there is virtually nothing that's "unrecycleable packaging".
Dunno why you mention wipes.. Don't use those for kids hands. Go buy a pack of 20 microfibre cloths.
I think our bin is 140L and on average it's a third full, so say 50L.
We just started composting so that'll help further.
We do have separate 240L garden waste and 240L recycling bins. Both usually 80-100% full. We wouldn't survive without that.
PS: don't recycle pizza boxes. Food contaminated packaging is not ok. Actually its when we order pizza that we use lots more space in our general waste bin :p
*Reuseable nappies (only use disposables overnight = 7 per week)
*Our 4.5 year old snacks mostly on fruit or larger packet snacks (rice crackers / vita-wheats / etc), not individually wrapped things.
*We cook at home, getting takeaway once per week.
*We make significant use of redcycle for soft plastics as mentioned by others.No kiddie wipes, just hand wash. Food waste goes into the green bin, and before that it was composted (we have as little "uneaten food" waste as possible).
Save up to $25/quarter to reduce bin capacity by over 50%. I would keep my normal bin and offer that space to the neighbours for a fee and make $50/quarter for a gain 🤣
Should do this in South Australia.
I used to do this.
But Penrith council has increased their small organics waste service to the same price as the large one. As such, I just told them to swap our bin over and give us the larger bin again.
And the idiots instead of changing our 120L organics bin to a 240L bin, they changed our 120L general waste bin to a 240L general waste bin.
Not a bargain?
80L / $440 = 5.5l per dollar
120L / $544 = 4.53L per dollar
Perhaps upgrading is the real bargain ?
Cool at least someone in the thread knows basic mathematics :)
This
Funny thing about deals is the greater the volume, the lower the unit price.
Also, unless you're using the space then you're paying for air space in a bin. Clever….
We're a family of 3 and use a fraction of our 120L bin. My bet is most won't need the additional space (or if they do they need to sort out their waste habits).
OP said they never use anywhere near the 120L capacity, why pay for something you don’t use?
The effective rate per kg is the (amount they pay) / (the amount of garbage they throw). If the denominator is constant (i.e: the amount of garbage OP throws out) then lowering the numerator will lower the effective rate per kg.but its not a deal or a bargain.
People saved money.
Outcome = bargain.
Whether you agree with the path that got them there doesn't matter tbh.
Ps: love the first comment as it's funny. It's just not right tho
@justtoreply: OzBargain new deal
Eat at home and save money. Outcome = Bargain@DisabledUser300385: Have my +vote.
Ps: not the same. Learning to make two meals for the same price that you used to make one would be closer.
My bin is full everywhere week with a family of 4, needs to be bigger, but remember we don't have a separate garden waste bin in my Council so all those lawn clippings need to go somewhere …
boxes from deliveries, nappies and plastic from packaging plus trimming tress and grass all cause my bins to be full every week
Grass clippings are free mulch for your grass!
Last thing I want to do is feed the lawn so it grows faster. I take the starvation approach.
Boxes could go in recycling bin as could most hard plastic packaging. Depending where you live garden clippings can go in the green waste bin. Soft plastics can be taken to red cycle. I think this is just about down sizing the general waste bin.
Fill your neighbour's bin for free
You've got a point if your neighbor doesn't need their bin why not share :)
In summary:
- The available bin sizes to upgrade/downgrade depends on each suburb within your council, so check your council's website
- Everyone has a varying degree of use cases and not suitable for everyone.
- People who have a massive bin and rarely fill it up should consider downsizing if their council area offers that.
- The savings are negligible about a 13.6% ($74) saving per year in the OPs case. but it is still money to be saved if you are like the OP who does not consume the extra volume, but if you do, then I don't see the point of downsizing and scrounging around trying to sneakily put your extras in your neighbours bin. Having said that if the general OzBargainers did attempt to downsize to save the money maybe it would push their habits a bit to reducing or separating waste better.
Wow, consume less, save money. Who woulda…?
Would prefer to pay less for fortnightly pickups instead of weekly - they'd get the waste run done quicker too.
[VIC] [Whitehorse] Free upgrade of recycle bin to 360L or second 240L bin. Bin size Bin charges Bin T&C's
Never paid for a bin in my life
$70 a year wow that's $1.40 a week how about stop paying $5 a coffee everyday at fkn Gloria Jean's
amazing what people think is a bargain these days
Is this really a deal or bargain?
Not an option with our Council (Georges River). It's already small anyway!!!
This is only available to the ex-Leichhardt Council part of Inner West Council (IWC)
4 years after the merger IWC still run so many separate things for the 3 ex-Council's its not funny.
NSW Govt did its job though - only 1 labour/green council to deal with instead of 3.
Don't think Wollongong Council does anything
Not a deal
Wish my council would discover the concept of green waste bins.
I would really like the option to pay less for a smaller bin but…
we get a full size yellow-top for recyclables and everything else (household waste and green waste) go into the full size red-top otto.
Red-top goes out every week and the yellow-top every second week.
When I do manage any garden work it is touch and go whether the weeks garbage as well as green waste will fit - a number of times the extra green waste has to sit around fermenting whilst waiting for the next weeks pickup.I still feel guilty putting our green waste mixed in with general household rubbish. (and before anyone jumps in with the suggestion for me to deliver my green waste to a 'green waste centre' there are a few issues that prevent that happening).
The council did tell us that it is sorted at the depot but I know that is not exactly accurate. (had a work mate who did part time there for a while)On the sunshincoast at least: Wait until the end of your current rates period to change, as you have pre-paid for your current bin size. If you change over today, your next rates bill will be cheaper, but you get the new bin straight away.
This is normal tho you pay more for a larger capacity
Anyone from other states having luck with promoting this great initiative to your councils?
Thanks op! Didn’t realise there were different rates for sizes!
I feel this should be tagged 'NSW'. I got excited then massive disappointment (not in NSW).
Targeted offer!
I already did this like 5 years ago. Now, my council has caught on, and have raised the rubbish management rates across the range.
What a great idea. Wish had at my local WA council
Seperate soft plastics if not doing so already. It greatly reduces bin volume