How can I keep the bins clean?

How to avoid attracting flies to YOUR BIN and decrease your chances of getting maggots

Your bin is an excellent food source and breeding ground for flies, but there are many things you can do to help prevent attracting flies.

• Do not leave any food waste, including pet food, uncovered inside the house as it will attract flies and wasps which can lay eggs on it before it goes in the bin. Place it immediately into the kitchen caddy or into your brown wheeled bin. Wrap meat, fish and dairy waste in newspaper and/or a paper caddy liner before putting it into your brown wheeled bin.
• Store your bins away from open windows and doors if possible.
• If possible try to keep the bin in shady areas out of direct sunshine as the sun will warm up the bin, increasing the smell and attracting flies.
• Make sure you keep the bin lids closed at all times to prevent animals and flies getting in.
• Put disposable nappies in your blue bin and make sure they are double wrapped firmly in bags.
• If you dispose of pet faeces in your blue wheeled bin, clear up regularly after your pet and place in the bin in a securely tied plastic bag;
• Some essential oils, such as citronella and tea tree oil are natural insect repellents. Try smearing your bin lid with one of these oils if flies are a problem.
• Place newspaper in the bottom of your bin after it has been emptied to soak up any residue from your waste.
• Rinse out plastic bottles and tins before putting them in the recycling boxes.

If you do get maggots in your wheeled bin, most of them will be removed when your bin is emptied. However, maggots and fly eggs can be killed using boiling water, so it does help to wash your bin out after it has been emptied. Using a mild detergent with a fragrance will help to keep flies away from your bin. Please make sure that you are careful when using hot water and make sure that any water is emptied out of the bin before you put your rubbish in.  See below to understand the life cycle of the fly

It is up to you to manage your bin and ensure it remains user friendly.   See below for local bin cleaning companies.

Bin Liners

Residents can purchase liner from local retailers if they wish.  Alternatively they are available direct from suppliers.

North Dorset District Council accepts two sorts of liners.

• Biodegradable Brown Paper Liners
• Cornstarch Liners

Biodegradable Brown Paper Liners

The Biodegradable liners come in two sizes:-   Caddy Liner 20p per bag 140 litre wheeled bin liner 65p per bag

The company supplying the paper Biodegradable Brown Liners can be contact on 01202 476172 or 01258 840587 or at www.biosack-dorset.co.uk

he cornstarch liners come in three sizes:- Caddy Liner £4.99 for roll of 52 (9.5p per bag) 25 litre container £8.99 per roll of 25 (40p per bag) 140 litre wheeled bin liner £3.25 per roll of 3 (£1.08 per bag)

These cornstarch liners meet the Composting Association standards and along with the above Biodegradable Brown Paper Liners are the only liners we will allow in the bins.  Biodegradable carrier bags from supermarkets etc ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE and will still be classed as contamination.

The company supplying the cornstarch  liners also have a website www.gardeningdelights.com where you can purchase mail order and also buy accessories such as additional kitchen caddies etc.

Several local retailers supply these bags - click here for details

Bin Cleaning Services

There are companies who can provide wheeled bin cleaning services please see local directories and the Yellow Pages.

David Baird provides a Wheelie Clean service on 07788 811502

Understanding the life cycle of the fly

The life cycle of the common house fly has four stages, egg, larva (maggot), pupa and adult fly. Adult female flies will lay their eggs on any organic material that will provide suitable food for the maggots when they emerge. Each female fly can lay up to 500 eggs in batches of 75 to 150 in three to four days and in the summer during warm weather these eggs can hatch into maggots within eight to twenty hours. The fly can complete the whole cycle in as little as seven days and as many as 12 generations may occur in one summer.