Useful tips for a garden clearance

At the time of writing, many of us are facing the problem of getting rid of our unwanted garden waste due to COVID-19 restrictions. Although many local authorities up and down the UK offer free ‘green waste’ collections, some do still charge householders a fee. This is fine if you only accumulate a small amount of organic waste on a weekly basis but if it’s more, or you’re having a major tidy up outside, you could run into problems if you’re planning a trip to your local recycling centre.

Although most are open, some require that you need to book a slot in advance in order to pay them a visit. Some are also placing restrictions on the type of waste they’re currently;y accepting. For example, if you live in Eastbourne and decide you don’t want to book a skip but prefer to do it yourself instead, you may find yourself driving back home with some of your rubbish because they’re not currently accepting it. Furthermore, if you take a look at this page of the East Sussex Council’s website, you’ll be faced with a long list of potential issues that could await you when you arrive. Aside from the obvious problems of maintaining ‘social distancing’, the web page is quick to point out that:

“It is inevitable that there will be lengthy queues due to high demand and the need to implement social distancing measures at the sites.”

And that’s only the first sentence. A casual read of the page presents you with a whole host of potential problems that you’ll need to take into account.

While this may be fine if you can fit all of your garden waste into the boot of your car in one trip (and you live reasonably close to your local dump), it may not be ideal if you need to make several separate runs; particularly if you’re faced with a long queue when you get there.

As such, you may decide it’s easier and more convenient to bite the bullet and book a local rubbish clearance service instead. Although you may think that this will work out more expensive, it can actually save you money if you factor in the time and associated travel costs that you’ll incur. Not only that, it can also help you avoid the stress and hassle of doing it yourself – Will there be a queue at the tip? Will they refuse to accept certain items? Will you have to wait while they swap the full containers for empty ones? Will it aggravate your bad back?… and so on. The growing list of possible problems can all be avoided if you get a professional waste management company in to help.

Which service should you choose?

Although some companies only hire skips and some only offer ‘man and van’ type clearances, Skip Hire Info provides both. This gives you the flexibility to pick the service that’s right for you. There are several key factors that you should take into consideration when booking one of our services. Firstly, it’s a good idea to take a look at our skip hire FAQs if you’re thinking of booking a skip. It covers several key topics including permits, what you can put in the skip, and tips on choosing the correct size for the job. We’ve also previously written about some of the benefits of hiring a skip, together with some handy hints in another post, so it’s worth checking these out too. We also go into even more depth in our ‘skip vs. rubbish clearance’ blog here, enabling you to get a better idea about which type of service is most likely to be the best choice for you.

You should also be aware that the service you choose should reflect the type of waste you’re looking to dispose of. For example, if your garden shenanigans involve digging up large amounts of soil or rubble to lay down a patio, then the right size of skip will need to be booked since, due to weight restrictions, we can’t lift very large skips that are brimming with heavy items such as soil, clay or concrete. Similarly, this type of waste isn’t well-suited to our rubbish removal service, which is tailor-made for larger, bulkier items such as branches, fence panels and broken gardening equipment. If you have a mixture of both types of waste, the best thing to do is to contact us first so that we can advise you on the type of service that’s right for you.

The time and energy factor

Let’s face it, undertaking a garden clear-up can be back-breaking work. Do you really want to do it all yourself or are you looking for someone else to ease the physical exertion that’s required to get the job done? Either way, before you start, it’s a good idea to map out your unwanted waste on paper or in your head so you’ve got a rough idea of how long it will take and how much garden waste there’s likely to be. If there’s a lot, it may be worth doing it in stages so you don’t overdo it. If you over-exert yourself, you could be paying the price physically in the long-run.

If you book a skip, you’ll obviously need to load it yourself. While this requires more effort, it gives you the chance to do things in stages. For example, you could load this skip with a few bags of the heavier stuff then take a break before doing any more. We generally allow up to 2 weeks’ hire for our skips, which will give you plenty of time to space the work out into manageable chunks. Conversely, if you book our rubbish removal service, our team will be on-hand to help, thus relieving you of a significant part of the manual labour. Once again, get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to discuss the options further with you.

Getting value for money

Since our services have to be paid for, we always recommend ways that help clients get the best value for money out of the service they choose. One of the biggest problems we often see is a lack of thought going into how to load a skip or minimise the amount of space that your garden waste will take up in one of our trucks. Because our rubbish removal service primarily works on ‘volume’, the more compact you’re able to make your waste, the more you’ll be able to fit in. A classic example of this could be fence panels or an old garden shed. The more you break these items down, the more you can fit in – The more you can fit in, the less you’ll pay.

Summary

We hope you’ve found this quick guide useful and that it’s helped you decide whether or not to run the gauntlet at your local recycling centre. If you do, here’s a list (with links) to all of the recycling facilities in East Sussex. If you’d prefer to play it safe instead and book with us, we’re on-hand to answer any questions or queries you may have.