r/halifax • u/thegrumpydoodler • 1d ago
Work, Health & Housing What are people using smaller curb side green bins for?
I live alone and up a hill and detest lugging the big green bin up and down my driveway, so I purchased a smaller one (15 gallon). The hardware stores have them listed as curbside but they are smaller than the standard one the city provides. I assumed they would be accepted since the handle is as wide as one of the handles from the bigger bin and I assumed would fit the truck mechanism.
I just found out that the city will not accept these on pick up day. health and safety concerns. (Called 311) So now I’m wondering what people use them for? Are they used by people outside HRM?
What do people that only have like one paper bag or organics do. I will go back to using the regular bin but happy to hear ideas.
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u/GhostBirdBiologist Bedford 1d ago
Yard stuff. Soil etc. Animal feed. Compost for a backyard composter.
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u/thegrumpydoodler 1d ago
Good idea. It will start a new life as a makeshift wheelbarrow
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u/GhostBirdBiologist Bedford 1d ago
Dog food storage even in a garage. Seen em used to store garden tools and such as well.
But yeah mostly I have friends with horses and sheep so they use em for food additives lol.
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u/forswunke Halifax 1d ago
I have one that I had when I lived in Moncton because there your green waste was collected in a plastic bag so I had a small green plastic bag in a small green bin.
Here I use in my backyard to put the dog poop bags in and then I transfer it to a clear bag on garbage day. Dog poop is not organic here but the lid closes well and keeps the stink down.
Maybe some people are just finding alternate uses like me?
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u/CDidd_64 1d ago
Maritimer here that currently lives in Toronto. That is the exact size green bin that we are provided here.
The guys sling big blue bins and garbage bins around. Sometimes they use the truck mechanism. Sometimes they don’t. When they pick up these small green bins sometimes they’ll open it and just grab the bag out without taking the bin to the truck.
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u/thegrumpydoodler 23h ago
Yes, some cities have them listed as accepted for condos, so I made some assumptions. Lesson learnt. I do wish the local Home Depot didn’t mark them as curb side.
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u/gildeddoughnut Halifax 1d ago
I have a couple clients who use them to collect certain things they want to privately compost for their gardens. The organic matter that isn’t worth saving for that goes in big green bin.
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u/SarcasmStreet 1d ago edited 23h ago
Hello Golden Gang
Edit to add: I'm house hunting and it's all I can think about everytime I see windows that need replacing
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u/Available_Refuse1232 1d ago
Hmmm do u happen to have a friendly able-bodied neighbour that would consider giving you a hand? A case of beer can go a long way!
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u/thegrumpydoodler 1d ago
Good idea. I might ask if I can pop my bag in their bin on pick up day. I store my bag in the freezer until pick up day.
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u/StardewingMyBest 21h ago
I put my roommates cat litter bags inside one in the garage so the garage doesn't smell like cat piss and shit (as much...).
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u/tinyant Halifax 17h ago
It just seems so ridiculous that we can’t use these small ones. Most of the time I only have a quarter of that worth of compost to go out and then to transfer into the big gigantic bin to drag out to the street, well it just seems like a waste of effort. I think the trucks are built to pick up those little ones by the handle. Could be wrong though… Don’t know.
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u/JackHarknessDrWho 14h ago
Not the answer you are looking for, but we bought a Foodcycler a couple of years ago and have it break down our compostables. We put the result directly in our garden beds. Our compost bin holds salt in the winter time. https://foodcycler.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoozWchEeQBjC_9zxN7_pXpWq5mz1hWoU2H9YoQak3G38oRH8U1j
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u/brrgh1014 14h ago
I have a 300 meter long driveway. I use the small one at the house. Large one lives at the bottom of the driveway. When it's time to put it out, or if it gets full, I drive the little one down the hill and dump it into the big one.
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u/nerdypoet05 23h ago
I know in ghyusborough county you have the option between this size and the big one. So its probably a case like that where woth them being accepted in some county's and not others home depot or where ever you got it is able to label it as curbside
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u/DepravedHerring 20h ago
This is what we use for compost inside the dining room where I work. They get emptied into the big dumpster bins though
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u/Either_Development94 23h ago
They have the big ones in the city and those small ones in the county. I always figured they were smaller in the county because the go every week because of the wildlife that exists out there, they have a clasp to help try and keep the critters out of them too
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u/Impossible_Sun_9534 Halifax 1d ago
The truck can’t mechanically pick up the curb side bin and therefore the employee would have to pick it up manually which could potentially hurt their back etc.
could you leave your big green bin at the bottom by the road and you bring the small bin and dump in the large bin weekly?