'Green' bin smell

[Twofingertyper]

This is only slightly related to gardening, so please do point me in the right direction should I ask somewhere else....

I currently have a rather large garden that (on average) fills up about half of the green recycling bin with grass cuttings every two weeks (and obviously the bins are only collected fortnightly).

I wondered if there was any technique to stop the grass/bin from smelling quite so bad once the grass has been put in? It normally only takes a couple of days after a cut for the fresh grass smell to be replaced by something not quite as pleasant... I do appreciate that it's a rather large quantity of grass, but wondered if there were any tricks I could use to reduce the aroma?

Thanks!

 

[libby lou lou]

Bin bag it before putting in the bin.

 

[danechip]

You're not allowed to bag it where I live. Strictly grass cuttings and prunings. Not even waste vegetables !!

 

[libby lou lou]

Not even biodegradable bags?, we get those for free not big enough for your application though.

 

[joe-90]

Why not compost it?

 

[imamartian]

Why not cut your lawn the day before the bins are collected your Dukedom !!!!

 

[libby lou lou]

Why not cut your lawn the day before the bins are collected your Dukedom !!!!

LOL

 

[ladylola]

We can't put plastic bags in our recycling either not even the biodegradeable ones although we can put in food waste not that it matters I normally do as joe suggests and compost it.
However, assuming that you can't or don't want to do that I'd say cut the lawn without the clipping box on it and leave the cuttings there for a couple of days to dry then either rake them up or easier still run the mower over it again with the box. Dry grass is hay which doesn't rot and smell.
Failing that move the bin as far from the house as you can and refrain from sticking your head in it

 

[fencer35]

i cut my grass then put it in a rubble sacks with the top open ....every couple of months i go to tip with bags as we dont have collection. yes.....it gets a bit messy ,but so what.

why dont you cut your grass , put it in sacks like i do then the day before collection empty bags into bin. close lid , job done

my bags of grass that are a week or so old dont smell!

maybe just leave the lid off

 

[Twofingertyper]

Why not cut your lawn the day before the bins are collected your Dukedom !!!!

Once every two weeks? Madness, it'd be like a jungle out there...

And then bin would be really heavy to move too!

I think into bags and then emptying into the bin would probably be the best option, I just wondered if I was missing out on any specialist knowledge to make my bin less fragrant...

Alternatively, ladylola's suggestion makes good sense, so may give that a go next time around

 

[David312]

I used to have the same problem, but the bin would be full as the lawn is quite big, so I started a compost heap and this is now full and does not look like it will make useful compost.
My solution was to buy a "multiclip" mower, it does not collect the grass, but chops it up finely and leaves it in the lawn.
It makes a great job, and I think the lawn looks better for it. My green bin is now used for the rest of the garden waste.

 

[JamesA]

Please don’t become one of those people who mow their lawns and trim their hedges at 9 at night then pay a bin cleaning service to bleach it clean the next day.

Making that kind of noise after 7pm is a sure fire way to get a visit from the council.

It’s a bin! I’d question the need for any wheelie bin to be cleaned every collection.

Is it really a problem with the lid shut? Perhaps you could keep it elsewhere in the garden.
It’s a different kind of bin from the other 2 and you don’t have to line them up.

A compost bin (or ideally 2) is better and if you put all your toilet roll cores, shredded paper etc it’s stops it being too nitrogenous and sludgy.
The thing about compost is it reduces in volume.
If you just left the grass in there you probably find you’d have room for the next fortnight's.

They don’t want to advertise it, but councils may well allow you to return the unwanted bin to them.
However it can still be useful to put the wheelie bin out every few months if you get a load of heavily diseased plants or just have a lot of heavy pruning done.
Ours goes out twice a year and builds up during that time with the little stuff I don’t want to compost.
It doesn’t cause any odour problems.

The introduction of composting wheelie bin collection has been a total disaster.
It follows that people needing to compost a lot therefore have plenty of room from compost bins.
It’s madness, bad for the environment and we managed just fine before.
All encouraged by despicable councils so they get a nice percentage of rubbish recycled on their reports.

Why are you sniffing your bin anyway

 

[Twofingertyper]

Why would I mow the lawn after that time anyway? I'd think mowing after 7 is acceptable during the summer though (the rest of the village seems to think so)

I don't really consider bin cleaning as an option.

I'm not obsessive about the smell, I just notice it sometimes, and being a kind and considerate neighbour thought I'd just check and see if anyone had suggestions - and yes, even with the lid shut you have a certain aroma, the bin (and all other brown bins in this village!) has a split up the side... not by design either...

 

[janz70]

why not move your bin further away from the house?

if that isnt an option then I would put other woody cuttings in first then sprinkle the grass in on top - the grass needs the air to circulate or it will just turn into a silage.

 

[trollmaster2000]

Why don't you just force your serfs to eat it, for your amusement? This is what I do.