It’s all about the bins. A card recently sent to me by someone who watches the annual bin debacle with some amusement.

Hi folks – I’m getting a lot of enquiries regarding Christmas bin collection arrangements in the borough of Walsall, and since the change to rounds earlier in the year, there is only one simple answer to find out when you bins will be emptied.

All you have to do is click here to use the postcode checker on the council website – just enter your postcode in the box, and it’ll tell your your next few collections.

Sadly, the new rounds aren’t in clearly defined geographic areas so it’s best to check with that tool.

Note that the only days the refuse service doesn’t operate are the three bank holidays – but collections are rejigged over the festive season to attempt to cover those affected by the bank holidays. Generally for a short period after Christmas, collections of both recycling and normal refuse go weekly to help with any backlog.

If you have bags you need to store, someone suggested you pop them in your brown bin if you can until they can be popped into the grey bin, which seems like a good idea to me.

Hope that helps clarify things – folks seem to get a bit worked up about Christmas bin collections…

Of course, if the winds get up again, your bin could well put itself out… Image from My Writer’s Circle.