Keeping Garbage Bins Clean

There's no better time to declutter your house than when you're moving. For starters, you'll reduce your moving expenses by reducing the volume of your belongings, and this also allows you to sort through everything as you pack up once and for all. Renovation also comes with its waste, and you should plan for how it will be removed.

Over the years of living in any home, we accumulate plenty of clutter because we have the space. This only becomes significant when there's no more space or when it's time to move. This article highlights some tips to help you declutter your home or yard with skip bins so that you remain with only the things you need.

1. Sort before you hire

Go through your clutter/waste and create three piles: donations, junk and useful-but-unnecessary. Take your donations to the nearest goodwill centre, and then have a yard sale for the third pile. These are usually things like old toys, extra electronics, kitchenware etc. Try to put aside any sentimentalism. For instance, tell everyone they're allowed to hang on to a few things and only if they've been used in the last one year. Yard sales can offset the cost of hiring a skip bin for the junk pile.

2. Be careful about disallowed items and recyclables

The reason you need to sort your junk is that not everything can/should be dumped together in the same bin. There are potentially hazardous household items not allowed in skip bins, such as asbestos, drywall, paint, explosives, solvents and gas bottles among others. In addition, if you have green waste (recyclable), it makes sense to have it together in a single bin and then send the rest to a landfill. Sorting help you choose the right number and size of bins, like two mini-bins rather than one large bin.

3. Separate your clean fill

For renovation decluttering, include a pile called clean fill, which is construction waste that can be redirected to other construction jobs. Clean fill should be handled carefully, as you can make some money off developers usually looking for clean fill for their jobs. However, if they're contaminated by radioactive, reactive, toxic, corrosive or noxious materials, they won't be accepted. Clean fill includes concrete, top soil, dirt, rubble, sand, gravel, brick etc. It is even better if these materials are unmixed; you can get paid more. Materials like asphalt should be put in a separate bin, as they cannot be recycled if mixed with any other clean fill type, for instance.

4. Get the right size

Skip bins should not be overfilled, as this poses a risk when the bin is being collected and transported. Remember that you're charged for hiring a bin once it's been delivered to your compound. Once you've sorted your clutter, call a professional to help you assess whether you can fit them in a single bin or you need to separate them. Different companies have different bin sizes, from mini-bins (3-4m length) to large bins (8-10m length). Don't hire oversized bins which cost more for nothing. Load the skip bin carefully to make use of all available space.