Opinion : During windy weather do wheelie bins cause more damage than falling trees?

Wasn’t it a right kerfuffle on Thursday with the strong winds brought by Storm Doris.

As usual, trees fell down disrupting rail services and for one day only life became slightly more interesting as people told tales of the storm.

I’m sure many home owners will have suffered damage with the high possibility that fences were blown over and other loose outdoor objects damaged as a result of the wind.

As for my good self, well, yours truly returned home to find my neatly manicured formal lawn strewn with rubbish that had blow from a distant neighbours wheelie bin.

When it comes to handling windy weather wheelie bins are probably the worst designed rubbish receptacles ever. Their high, square sides have the aerodynamic properties of a wardrobe and their easily liftable lids seem the want to flap up in anything above a slight breeze.

Of course having a high wind resistance means that, when empty, the bins can topple over and if the wind is strong enough the bins can be blown around by the wind.

I wonder how many more people returned home on Thursday evening to find their gardens covered in rubbish from the wheelie bin?

Yours truly has even heard reports of people who, when driving home, found bins which had been blow into the road. When the bin men empty the bins they just leave them by the kerbside ready for the wind to blow them over into the carriageway of the road.

A black bin on a black road at night is hard to see indeed on my my friends was driving along when suddenly there was a loud ‘BANG‘ as their car hit a bin which has been blow over onto the road.

My good self heard of another person who left their bin in the driveway close to their car. Unfortunately the bin was blown over and fell onto the car causing damage to the vehicle.

Now I’m asking myself the question ‘During high winds do wheelie bins cause more damage than falling trees?’.

We live in a world where health and safety are paramount yet it seems that there is a hidden danger in the humble wheelie bin, especially in windy weather.

Those who suffered damage to themselves or property through a wheelie bin that has been influenced by wind should, in my opinion, be compensated by those who put the bins into such widespread use.

The chances of being hit by a falling tree in windy weather is very remote however wheelie bins being blown over and blown around is common place.

A desire to cut money on refuse collections has left every home in the country with a wheelie bin that can simply release its contents in windy weather or cause damage to vehicles, property and people if it blows over.

I think it’s time we went returned to using black bin bags as they are far safer, more hygienic and less dangerous especially in windy weather.

What do you think?

*My blogs are published every Tuesday and Friday evening around 8.00pm here on the WycombeToday.com website.

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