
Garbage can be frustrating. Many of us want to dispose of less to save the hassle and the environment, but there can be many rules and regulations surrounding what you can and can’t dispose of in your general waste and what can be recycled. Many homeowners also have to contend with construction waste, which can be much harder to dispose of in your regular curbside garbage bin. If you’re trying to be a waste wizard to save time, hassle, stress, and money, you can learn all about what you can put in your garbage bin and alternative disposal options below.
What Can You Put in Your Garbage Bin?
Nearly anything from the home that can’t be reused or recycled can go in your garbage bin for curbside pickup as long as it fits in the bin and isn’t hazardous. You can dispose of cleaning wipes, liner bags from crackers, cookies, and cereal, plastic bubble wrap, and plastic and foil wrappers.
Your garbage bin is also the best place for plastic gloves, masks, dryer sheets, make-up pads and baby wipes, popsicle sticks, metallic gift wrap, and non-CFL light bulbs. If you have an accident in the kitchen and drop a dish, bowl, or mug, these broken essentials can also go directly into your garbage bin.
What Can You Put in Your Organics Bin?
If your city provides a ‘green bin’ for organics, you might be curious about what you can and can’t put in it. You can use a provided green bin for all food waste, such as fruit and vegetable scraps, baked goods, nuts, pasta and bread, and meat, poultry, fish, and shellfish.
However, green bins are also suitable for non-food goods, such as paper napkins, coffee grounds, clean paper bags, and food-soiled pizza boxes. You can even use the green bin for feminine hygiene products, pet waste, diapers, and house plants you weren’t able to keep alive.
However, you can’t use your organics bin for anything recyclable or garbage. The intention of an organics bin is to collect organic materials and process them into nutrient-rich compost to nourish and feed the soil.
What Can You Put in Your Recycling Bin?
Recycling is important. The more we recycle, the less we keep out of landfills, and the lower our greenhouse gas emissions. However, not everyone knows what they can and can’t put into their ‘blue bin’ for recycling.
Glass bottles and jars with their lids on are accepted, along with rigid plastic products like food jars, food containers, and disposable plastic cups. You can also dispose of your salad dressing bottles, clear CD and DVD cases, and plastic beverage bottles with their lids on. However, if you have black or compostable plastic, these must go in your garbage bin.
Your recycling bin is also an excellent place for soft, stretchy plastic products, such as grocery bags, non-foil bread bags, sandwich bags, and plastic over-wrap. If you have metal, such as empty aerosol cans with their lids on, steel food cans, cookie tins, and clean paint cans without tops, these are all recyclable. Paper, paper containers, cardboard, and foam polystyrene may also all be disposed of in your blue recycling bin.
However, if you live outside of Toronto, check with your local authority. Bin colours and approved recycled materials can differ in each town, city, and province. There are also a number of products and materials that aren’t suitable for recycling, including:
- Black plastic packaging
- Household hazardous waste
- Plastic straws, coat hangers, toys, binders, CDs, DVDs, and cassettes
- Glass products like drinking glasses, dishes, mirrors, pots, pans, and light bulbs
- Metal pots and pans, appliances, electronics, tools, and clothes hangers
- Aluminum food foil wrap, blister packs, and metallic gift wrap
- Textiles like carpet, bedding, shoes, clothes, and curtains
- Paper products like lined frozen food boxes, tissues, paper towels, napkins, beverage cups, and waxed paper or cardboard
- Renovation waste
- Wood
- Cables, ropes, and hoses
What Do I Do With the Rest Of My Waste?
Your local waste services provider might cover many bases with regard to standard household waste, but they can’t take care of everything. You might not have a waste plan for non-hazardous building materials, appliances, furniture, odds and ends, and bulky items that won’t fit in your garbage bin for curbside collection.
Fortunately, you can rent a bin in Canada and solve that frustrating problem. Bin rental businesses like Express Bins rent large 8, 10, 14, and 20-yard skip bins to residential and commercial users to take care of a number of materials. In fact, you can rent a bin for the removal of:
- Concrete
- Construction waste
- Demolition materials
- Renovation debris, such as siding, roofing, and drywall
- Yard trimmings and green waste
- Scrap metal
- Dirt
- Sod
- Gravel
- Rocks
- Household junk
- Appliances
- Furniture
- And more…
There are normally just a few items and materials your local bin rental business won’t accept, such as:
- Chemicals
- Solvents
- Oils
- Gasoline
- Asbestos
- Propane tanks
- Toxic waste
- Biological waste
- Car batteries
Why Rent a Skip Bin?
While there is nothing wrong with using your garbage, recycling, and organics bins to take care of most of your waste, you can enjoy some of the following benefits from renting a skip.
Convenience
Renting a skip saves you a trip to a transfer station or landfill. Rather than taking large and inconvenient waste away from your property, you can arrange for a skip to be delivered to you. The same company can then collect the skip when it’s full.
Range of Options
Everyone’s waste requirements are different. Most of the best skip rental businesses in York and further afield have various bin sizes to suit residential and commercial customers.
Driveway-Safe Bins
You might not like the idea of renting a skip because you’re concerned about property damage. High-quality skips are driveway-safe, which means they can be placed on your driveway and removed without damage.
Sorting your waste can seem like a full-time job, but it doesn’t have to be. If you have waste unsuitable for your garbage, recycling, or organics bin, a skip can likely be the option you’re looking for. Explore the range of driveway-safe bins at Express Bins today and enjoy a convenient, fast, and stress-free waste removal service.