Refuse disposal

[Eos]

Not for the first time, we have had guests holiday in our gite who decided, during their two week stay, not to put the refuse bin out for collection on any of the four days available.  Likewise the recycling bin for neither of the two collections.

Normally, this isn't too bad as I always ask guests, as requested by the mairie, to put all household rubbish into bin bags prior to binning. This makes it easier, if not exactly pleasant, to lift unemptied rubbish into the boot to bring to the dechetterie, to which guests are also given directions in case they decide to use that option.

Yesterday, two weeks worth of unbagged, maggotty, stinking refuse awaited.

Is there anything that any of you do that could help encourage guests assume responsibility for their own waste disposal? ie wheeling the bin less than 10 metres to the gate & back for collection.

[Suandpete]

 Our gite is on our property but separate from our house and they have their own bins.  However one of us empties the bins every couple of days and puts the rubbish with ours so that we can ensure it is put out on the correst days.  Only takes a few minutes and ensures that the rubbish never gets smelly.  Perhaps you don't live close enough to do that?  Lots of people just want to forget about mundane things like putting out rubbish when they are on holiday.    

[zeb]

Our first changeover on Saturday, and we had the same problem, although I'd left bags in all the house bins, and the large bins outside the kitchen door. When they'd filled these they started putting all their rubbish in the wheelie bins unbagged and unsorted; loads of food waste too. So, we had 5 large bins of smelly rubbish to dispose of and in this commune there are no large roadside bins; the rubbish is collected weekly or you have to take it to the dechetterie. We filled up the car and drove to the next department, dropping off rubbish at every communal bin we could find, and sorting it en route - yuk!

The guests had been given rubbish disposal instructions in the household information booklet and by the meeter/greeter. We will deduct from their deposit (they'd all left for an early flight) but it was an unfortunate start to the day. Grrr - you should've seen the rest of the house (it's large)! But, on the plus side, they all had a wonderful holiday, and that's what they were here for after all.

[cooperlola]

Can you stick (perhaps laminated) notices on top of all the bins - politely reminding them what each is for and asking them to line them?  I have "Recyc" and "Other Rubbish" painted on top of my two dustbins and that's just for us - not a gite!

[Clair]

I have never had any problem so far.

I explain to them about the house bins and sorting their rubbish when they arrive.

I leave spare bin bags for every bin in the house and it is clearly written in the house book that they should take their rubbish bags to the collection bins

They cannot avoid them as they have to drive past them on their way to the main road.

To encourage them to use bags, I would make the collection bins less accessible.

If they have to live with the smells, they will most probably be keener to get avoid them by bagging the rubbish (even if they don't sort it properly) and by taking the bags away.

[Suze01]

[quote user="cooperlola"]Can you stick (perhaps laminated) notices on top of all the bins - politely reminding them what each is for and asking them to line them?  I have "Recyc" and "Other Rubbish" painted on top of my two dustbins and that's just for us - not a gite![/quote]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one [:$]

[Russethouse]

Perhaps your guests are confused - in the UK some areas seem to discourage the use of bin bags and prefer the refuse to be loose in the bins -

[Eos]

Good idea of yours Suandpete but no, we are not close enough, often enough to regularly clear guests' rubbish ourselves.

Laminated signs, Cooperlola, might well be an option. I had wanted to keep the property as homely as possible (we used to live there ourselves) and not have those "polite notices" you see in hotels etc, just information about the running of the house & facilities in the area in our housebook. But I suppose a sign or two would be preferable to digging through maggots!

Clair, I too have left the information for the guests as you describe, as well as spare bin bags. I'm not sure I see the point of restricting access to the bins. The bags to which I refer are, in effect, bin liners for internal bins, then placed in the "wheelie bin" for collection and which the mairie asked all householders to use about three years ago in an attempt to keep unpleasant smells at bay.

I don't see how these particular guests could have been any more confused than any of the other guests we've had, Russethouse, most of whom have successfully left the bin out for collection while others have left bagged rubbish in the bin, which is easy enough to dispose of prior to the next arrivals.

This unbagged experience was a first!

Maybe Zeb, we'll have to institute a "polluter pays" option as you describe re deposit.

Anyway, thanks to all, as usual, for your replies.

[cooperlola]

Eos, I absolutely take your point about notices.  I once stayed in a cottage on the IoW and absolutely every part of the house (or so it seemed) had a little notice somewhere - it felt like living in a police state!

[Russethouse]

LOL - I am confused, my mother lives just 15 miles from me and as she now has limited mobility other people tend the rubbish - at home we use bags but leave them untied so they will compact,  we can recycle paper, cardboard and plastic bottles - at my mothers they are not keen on bags, don't like cardboard but take a greater range of plastics and glass.....

Laminated labels with lists of permitted contents a la  'rubbish for dummies' might be the way to go.....[:D]

[nimportequoi]

I have the rubbish collection details in the 'Welcome notes', I also explain what to do when showing guests around (although understandably that goes in one ear and out the other), I leave bin bags and recycling bags. If I see rubbish piled up outside I have a word with them (after offering to take what is there at the moment to the communal bin myself). Funnily enough, I find the French worse than the UK guests at rubbish disposal. I think this is because a) they rarely bother to read the 'régles de vie' and b) a lot of them come from towns or cities where the rubbish is collected and they can't understand the concept of a communal bin. The communal bins themselves, brown and huge, seem invisible to everyone. Although their locations of the nearest bins are clearly specified in the notes, I think nearly everyone has to ask me where they are, despite the fact they pass several of them on the way into town every day.

I agree, that you don't want signs everywhere, that is very offputting.