Ness' Outpost

Last night was a windy night. Gusts of up to 100km/h and 25mm of rain were forecast and yet still people put out their trash and recycling bins the night before.

When improperly packed – perhaps haphazardly as is the case in our house – the empty cans, paper and junk fly around the neighborhood. Even some unstable garbage bins were flipped if they were placed out in the open where the wind can lick at them all night long. Since our house is located at the end of the street we have a huge fence line that collects this stuff if the wind is blowing out of the East.

If you have to put out your refuse the night before, stack your blue boxes so only the top one has items exposed to the wind. Put a sturdy cardboard box upright against the windward side of the box blocking the wind and forcing it up and over the cans, paper and everything else inside the box. Better yet, invest in a large clear garbage bag or two and use it if your recycling bins are overflowing. These ideas may not work in hurricanes, but it’s better than nothing.

At least compost is too heavy to be blowing around.