Do you mean that you ask your neighbours to do it when you have a sitter?
Sorry but that is ridiculous! We have never missed a garbage day.
If I stepped back to think about what type of Sitter might be more aware of garbage day, what might these factors be?
Perhaps you are not choosing the right Sitters.
As Sitters, WE were asked to put out the neighbor’s garbage cans, as they were on vacation! No problem, we thought. That is what neighbors commonly do for neighbors, and we were filling in.
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I am honestly confused by this as every sit I’ve been on there has been discussion about garbage and mention in the welcome guide and I just can’t imagine this not getting done. I would try discussing it in advance on the video chat and maybe ask people about their previous experiences with this! (My guess is this is one of those things homeowners don’t bother mentioning in a review if everything else goes well.)
We sit full time and we’ve missed 1 bin day in 16/17 months, which is very impressive for us because we used to miss it more often when we used to live a normal life in our own home 
.
In the place where we are sitting at the moment, along with all of the normal ways, they’ve noted it on a calendar on the wall, along with which bin is to go out because in the UK there are multiple bins for alternative weeks.
Their calendar is uncluttered and hanging up on their kitchen wall, which is en-route to the main entrance, so we pass it quite a number of times on a normal day, and whilst we don’t properly look at it that much, visually you can’t help but notice their calendar every time we go out as it sends a message to our brains to say ‘have we missed bin day yet?’… even when bin day may have only been a day or two ago! It’s psychological!
Also, what about popping a sticker on your kitchen bin within your home with the day and time it needs to go out, rather than the day it gets collected… I know you shouldn’t have to, but you’re already doing everything else, it may help.
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I think you have gone over and above in informing sitters re your garbage/recycling schedules @catgal. They have simply not carried out that task as part of their responsibilities. And it is a common task we do at home so why not on a sit??
That’s very helpful, #HappyDeb. I like the idea of a clear uncluttered garbage/recycling calendar. I’d probably stick it on the fridge.
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Thanks, Marion. It is so good to know that most sitters do keep these pickups in mind. I’ll definitely add it to my video chat list of things to cover.
What wonderful thoughtfulness–I’m sure the neighbor and the HO appreciated it.
What are the factors contributing to the problem? Probably a combination of sitter forgetting and me not making it clear enough. Thanks for helping me think about this.
@catgal The information you have provided to sitters about this sounds very thorough.
One reason I can think of for sitters not doing this is if the garbage ( rubbish ) has to be put out at a certain time or the evening before for an early collection and the sitters didn’t realise this , so missed it ?
Or if they are not sure of where they should put the bins ( it’s not always been obvious when we have done a rural sit where the bins needed to be put for collection, ( “end of the lane” ? “By the gate” ( which gate ? )
We have always checked with owner by text if not sure , so not really an excuse .
Whilst we usually set reminders for ourselves , as a sitter I would not object to a text reminder the evening before , I would find it helpful .
I will admit that there have been at least a couple of occasions where I’ve woken up in middle of night and realised that I’ve forgotten to put the bins out … 
so then have to decide if to get up and do it in the dark ( which will wake the sleeping pets who will be very happy to see me and think it’s now breakfast time ) or set alarm 
for very early am to get the bins out before collection time.
Have always managed to get them out on time (even if it was only just in time ) 
.
Is it just me or any other sitters going to confess ?
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Well, your sitter is looking after the animals and so, if you’re worried about your bins being put out ready for collection/emptying, a neighbour could do it for you?
That is not an awareness that I have. Here where I live (and on several sits), there is no garbage day for me. Here I bring the waste to the garbage shed at any time. In Groningen it needed a plastic card to open the lid to the underground storage. In those cases, it does not matter on what day of the week the garbage truck comes to collect it all.
In the Provence, I did not understand the system for bottles. The container was padlocked, I did not quite see what I should do so I brought my bag back to the home. HO was upset about that in her review (many of those bottles were her own). Such a fuss about something so minor.
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As well as mentioning it in the welcome guide ‘home’ section, it’s worth also including collection details in the ‘on sit reminders’ calendar.
If you’ve noted collection days in the welcome guide (both sections), left notes and discussed with sitters, the only other thing you could do to ensure collections aren’t missed is to send a WhatsApp message on the evening before pickup.
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Thankfully, that’s all going to be regularised in the near future, or so I’ve read. 
Yes, I figured that each country is different. Good point.
Yes, the important thing is that the pets get taken care of! I am so grateful for that.
It does sound like your hosts could have communicated better about the system in those cases, and saved you confusion.
Yes, pet care is the main thing!
That’s news to me and I very much doubt it. Issuing 28 million households with three or more wheely bins won’t help the environment very much!
From:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/household-waste-collection-in-england-and-wales/?
’ Are there any plans to change materials collected for recycling?
Yes, in England.
Section 57 of the Environment Act 2021 will allow the government to amend recycling collection requirements to ensure the same materials are collected across all local authorities.
The UK Government published a response to its Consistency in Household and Business Recycling in England consultation in October 2023. It confirmed that all local authorities in England will be required to collect paper and card, plastic, glass, metal, food waste, and garden waste. The government’s response contains further information about the exact materials included.
These changes are expected to begin by 31 March 2026.
There are no proposed changes to household materials to be collected in Wales.’
So standardising what will be collected not how, so still different bins, bags etc will be allowed and will still be different depending on the area.
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Yes, exactly. That confirms my view of things. In my area we will get a bin for food so a fifth recycling container to manage.
I will be glad to be able to recycle food but it is challenging for sitters.