Rubbish We Say...Rubbish!

Are you ever dumbfounded by how something that should be so simple is made to be so incredibly complicated?  That's what garbage (or as we say here "rubbish") collection in Scotland is like.  Don't get us wrong, we recycle and think that everyone should, but this is so ridiculous that it could be material for Robin Williams.  (Unfortunately for you, our telling of this probably won't be that funny :).

Here's the rundown:

There are grey bins, green bins, blue bins, brown bins and red bins.  We have one of each. The grey lidded bins are collected weekly.  We're fairly clear on what goes in the grey bins as they are listed as "food" bins.  The collection calendar states that they are picked up weekly.  That's it...just "weekly."

The green "household" bins and brown bins are collected every two weeks, except in winter when the brown bins are collected only monthly.  They are collected on alternate Thursdays from each other, not on the same Thursday. The green bins are for "general" rubbish - we're really not sure what that means in light of what goes in the blue and red bins.  However, we're pretty clear on the brown bin and the garden waste. 

The blue bins are for glass and metal and all food tins and drink cans must be flattened first. However, "crisps or sweets packets" are not allowed.  Paper also goes into the blue bin, but not if it is an envelope or a food wrapper.  You are allowed to put textiles in the blue bin, but only if the sheets are cleaned first...oookaaaay.  Of course the textiles have to be placed in the orange textiles bag before they can be put in the blue bin.

Is your head spinning round and round a la Linda Blair yet?  Wait...there's more to come...

Now, the red bin is for cardboard, cereal boxes, greeting cards (can we put the envelopes here?) and plastic bottles (without lids, even if they are plastic).  But, if we like, we can also use the clear plastic bags for the bottles as long as we secure them so the bottles won't fall out - no mention is made as to if the clear plastic bag then goes into the red bin.  The red and blue bins are collected on alternate Mondays from each other, not the same Mondays on alternate weeks.  

The homeowner's advice to us?  Just see what the neighbors are putting out and follow their lead.