3 Reasons to Let Your Neighbours Use Your Skip Bin

If you've decided to hire a skip bin to get rid of rubbish from your home or garden, then you can offer to let one or more of your neighbours dump some waste in it as well. There's no reason why you can't share a bin as long as everyone sticks to the rules of what can and can't go in it.

When might it be a good idea to allow your neighbours to use your bin?

1. You won't fill the skip bin yourself

Even a mini skip bin can hold a lot of waste. If you plan to have a general spring clean or want to get rid of building waste after a small project, then you might have some room left in the bin once you've dumped your stuff in it.

You'll pay the same hire charge whether the bin is half-empty or full. So, if you prefer to use as much space as you can, you could ask your neighbours if they have any rubbish they want to get rid of.

2. You share a driveway

If your home shares a driveway with a neighbour, then you need to put some extra thought into where a skip bin should go. If the driveway is an easement on your properties, then you both have to follow certain rules on permitted work and access on this shared land.

For example, you need to take care not to block your neighbour's access. Even if you can get a bin on your part of the driveway, they might not be happy about having a skip bin there.

While you can locate a bin outside your home boundary as an alternative, this isn't always an ideal solution. If the bin isn't close to your home, it takes longer to fill.

Plus, you'll typically have to get a permit before you can place a skip bin on a road or in the street. This adds to your costs. It's also harder to police a skip bin in a public place—random people might think that they can dump their own stuff in the bin.

Your neighbour might feel better about having the skip bin on your driveway if you tell them that they can use it too. They get an easy way of disposing of any excess rubbish they might have.

3. You want to save on hire costs

If you work on a joint project with a neighbour, then you can arrange to share skip bin hire costs. For example, you can do this if you have joint responsibility for boundary fencing and have agreed to split the costs of removing your current fences and installing new ones.

If one of you is willing to take down this shared fencing and wants to hire a skip bin to dispose of the old fences, then you can bundle hire charges into your overall project costs. If you have spare room in the bin, then you can both use it for any other rubbish you want to get rid of.

You might be able to reduce some of your hire costs in other situations too. If you find that one or two of your neighbours have a fair bit of rubbish to dispose of, then they might be willing to contribute to your hire costs so that they can use the bin.

If a lot of your neighbours are interested, then you could even hire a bigger skip bin that you can all use. If you share some of these costs, then you all save money.

To find out more about hiring skip bins and to get advice on sizes and placement, contact Green Bins. We'll give you a free quote on any options you want to consider.