MYTH Busted
Based on the responses to this myth posting, most everyone feels that the new garbage and recycling carts are more than large enough for our needs. In some cases people felt that they were too large and took up too much space in the garage. Most people seem to be putting their carts out every 2 to 3 weeks, while Peter and Carolyn went a full 18 weeks before putting out the trash.
A couple of important points also come out of the responses, the first being that carts don’t have to put out every week if they are not full. Reducing the number of stops that trucks have to make will not only improve the service, but lead to reduced emissions from those trucks and over time reduced costs for the service. The other important point is that composting can significantly reduce our waste. Not only less garbage, but less wet stinky garbage means less trips to the curb too.
Thanks to everyone for their comments.
New recycling bin is here! (Photo: Green Action Centre)
A recent article in the Free Press indicated that Winnipeggers are recycling more since the city adopted the new automated carts. The associated poll seemed to support this, although 48% of those who responded indicated that they have “always recycled everything possible.” This got us wondering how Winnipeggers were feeling about their garbage carts. In the initial roll-out there was much discussion about whether these carts were large enough for people’s needs.
The discussion around our table seemed to confirm that most of us found the carts more than large enough and some found they were just too large for their weekly needs. Some indicated that they were putting out a cart partially filled each week, while others indicated that they were only having to put out their cart once every 2 to 4 weeks.
Here’s your chance to tell us your experience and then we will bust this myth!
The new garbage cans are gigantic! Since we’ve gotten them, we’ve started composting in the the old recycling boxes over the winter and we only put out our garbage every 2-3 weeks. Our new recycling bins, on the other hand, are just about the right size. We go through a LOT of cardboard, cans, bottles, tins, etc and that recycling bin gets full or 2/3 full every week! I love how the new garbage/recycling bins are easy to roll up and down the driveway though! Very convenient.
Glad you agree with the consensus. Also nice to hear that not only are you composting, but found a use for those old recycling bins. Next step would be to build or buy a compost bin and further expand that composting initiative. There is lots of information on our website to help you with your composting.
I find the garbage cart in particular too big! Even only putting out every 2nd week was never more than half full, and too high up to have kids lift anything heavier into it. The recycling bin gets fuller and the material is generally lighter to get into it anyways.
The carts are much bigger than most of us need but it is also nice to have the room when needed. The system is working very well in my opinion. The only downside is making room for the carts in the garage.
We have 2 adults and a 4 children in our household. We barely fill a bag of garbage each week; in winter I put out our bin every 3 weeks. Our recycling is usually full to the top. We compost all scraps, leftovers, etc. We’re vegetarians, so most of our food is composted.
That’s pretty cool! I’m the only one in my family who’s vegetarian, but I can see how having a whole family of vegetarians would produce less waste.. Good on you all! 🙂
We are a family of 4. We “put” both garbage and recycling carts out every week because the collectors empty them whether they are pulled out or not! For garbage we usually have only one small bag each week (we compost all year round). For recycling the cart is 1/8 to 1/4 full each week. These carts are way too big for weekly pickups!!!
The garbage cans are too big. They are a real pain to store in my small garage. When we paid for garbage pickup in the USA we had a choice of 3 bin sizes. The smallest less then half the size of our current bin. I would love have the smaller bin. Much more appropriate for many households, too bad we are not allowed that choice.
The carts provide much more than what we need in our two person household, especially the garbage bin which is normally less than 1/4 full, and never over half full. The garbage collectors just reach in and grab the bag from the bottom, rather than dumping the bin. The recycling container is also usually less than half full but was up to 3/4 full once.
The garbage carts (not recycling) are too big, since we received them in the fall I always put out the garbage cart half full, next winter I will only put out the garbage every 2nd week. The recycling carts are perfect, if I have too much cardboard I just put it in the car and take it to the city sites that are close bye.
I usually have one half bag of waste a week at most, but sometimes almost a half cart of recycling. Mind you when I had some construction done there was a little more. Most of my waste will be for yard waste as I don’t have enough space on my small property to compost all of it. I really hope that the city is composting it.(hell and damnation on who ever stole my metal garbage cans that was used for yard waste) My problem with the size of the current carts is where to put them week to week. I finally decided I had to take the chance of having them out on the parking pad and hope no one takes them. Often my garbage is added to by one of my neighbour whose households has four children and 3 adults living in it. Mind you at least with this system they are at least recycling some of their waste which they did not do before and it just use to made me crazy.
Is the author and greenies that stupid? These bins don’t take into consideration family size!!! Its not even enough for diapers!!!! I can recycle till I’m blue in the face and the garbage bin will still be too small. In Aylmer we pay much more property taxes than gatineau so why im i getting less service???? I will proudly dump on city property as you’ve taxed me into poverty and i dont have money and time to buy these stupid cash grab bags when we should be REDUCING plastic bags hypocrites!
Hi David,
We can’t speak to your situation in Aylmer as we are speaking about the situation in Winnipeg, but I hear your frustration about not having enough space for your garbage. Garbage dumping is not something we’d recommend as it causes smells, messes, problems for the ecosystem, and is unsightly. Something that works for many people is switching to cloth diapers! We have a great post evaluating the potential cost of cloth diapers here (https://greenactioncentre.ca/green-your-routine/the-cost-of-diapering-cloth-vs-disposable/) though note that the cost tradeoffs will vary depending on the type of diapers you choose (it can be done even more cheaply than the author evaluates in the post). We totally agree with you that we should be reducing plastic bags! In Winnipeg, you can simply place your garbage straight in the garbage bin and skip the bag entirely.
There are 2 people in our house hold and over the winter we were normally putting out our garbage & Recycling every 2nd week and the recycle sometimes every 3rd week.I don’t know what will happen when it gets warmer.I think the garbage will probably go out more often ( Smell)
Backyard composting would help to reduce the wet/stinky materials that go into your garbage. Its easy to do. Check out our website for more information (https://greenactioncentre.ca/program/composting/)
Amanda, you can compost over the winter. Just keep layering. By spring you have a giant frozen mound, but as soon as the first warm day comes, the pile just drops.
We have 2 people in our household. In the winter we put out our recycle cart and our garbage cart once every 4 to 6 weeks. I am not sure what we can do in the summer when the garbage will rot and stink in our garage. We live in an urban area, so meat and dairy does not go into our compost bin. We use about one small plastic bag a week. Maybe we can throw it in the neighbours cart. Or compost the meat and dairy ‘strategically’. Any ideas on this?
Meat and dairy can create odour problems in the summer months. We have not of course had to deal with this yet but in the past before the carts I didn’t always put out the garbage can every week. Any things that I felt had the potential to create odours I simply bagged tightly and then usually I was OK for 2 weeks or so. Once the city transitions to picking up compostable materials (other than yard waste) the problem should be solved.
We are a family of 5. When we put out our garbage can this morning the garbage within it barely covered the bottom of the bin. Sometimes in the winter we only put the garbage can out once a month. We recycle a lot (so that bin is often nearly full on a weekly basis) and we compost all our veggie/fruit, etc. scraps for our gardens. Our black bin is most definitely big enough for our family!
We need to have more people understand that if the bin is not full they don’t need to put it out. Less stops for the trucks, less CO2 emissions.
I live in East St Paul and we just received our carts recently. Our garbage cart is the same size (240l) as that for a single residence in Winnipeg. Our recycling cart is bigger (360l) and is collected every second week. Based on the frequency that I put out my trash and recycling in the past – I figure I will put out my carts about twice a year – I plant to empty them at the end of October and April of each year. Then I won’t even have to worry about shoveling a path wide enough for a cart!
The carts are a good enough size. people just need to learn to scale back their garbage. my house we put out our garbage cart once every 3 weeks if that. our recycling cart is once every 2 weeks.
i compost with Samborski Environmental Ltd to pick up my food from my home which I love because I don’t want to throw my food into the landfill
This lends itself to a contest: How long can you go before setting out your garbage cart!
We’ll throw down the gauntlet. Cart collection began October 1st. We first set out our garbage cart on January 27th – 18 weeks into the new regime.
Organics went to our backyard composter or yard waste collection. Our recycling cart is set out every 5 or 6 weeks.
There are only 2 in our household. A family would likely generate more waste.
Once the city begins kitchen waste collection, I’d expect them to scale back garbage pick up to every other week (like Toronto).
18 weeks, that’s tough to beat!
The carts are extremely generous in size especially when only used by one person. I have filled my garbage bin twice and my recycling bin three times since their arrival. I have to admit that I had more garbage than usual because I was not able to compost over the winter.
Winter composting is certainly possible. You may wan to check out our webpage on composting in the winter for some helpful ideas. (https://greenactioncentre.ca/content/compost-all-winter/)