It's rubbish…

I just moved into a new flat in London. It’s a teeny, tiny studio flat – basically a room above a shop with a small kitchen and small bathroom. I don’t mind that it’s teeny tiny – that’s not what’s rubbish. What’s rubbish, is the rubbish situation…

I can’t figure out where to put my rubbish. Before I moved in, I casually asked my letting agent as we were walking to the flat, and he pointed out an alley way. He told me to just put it in there, which seemed a bit strange to me.

Not sure about the alley way situation, I decided to email the council. They replied promptly and politely, and informed me that I should have a wheelie bin. They also told me that if I put my rubbish in the alley way it could be considered fly-tipping.

I have no wheelie bin.

I’ve looked around, and there isn’t even a place where wheelie bins for the five flats in this building could be. What’s more, the council website says that waste is collected every two weeks. So, does that mean I am supposed to store up my rubbish in my teeny tiny kitchen for two whole weeks until I can run outside and dump it in the alley way? If I dump it in the alley way before it’s due to be collected, foxes will probably open it up all over the street.

The council did very kindly provide me with a phone number which I could call to order a new wheelie bin. However, even if I did decide to splash out £15 for a bin, I would still be stuck for somewhere to put it.

On another rubbish-related point, I also asked the council what I should do about recycling. I was informed that, as I live in a flat, I am “not required to recycle“.

This was quite a shock to me. I thought we were supposed to be upping our environmental-consciousness and recycling more. I had already started separating out my paper from plastic, but no one cares – because I’m living in a flat.

Has anyone else in London experienced a similar problem? Can anyone offer a solution?

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