It’s that time of year when seagulls are most active, scavenging for food wherever they can find it.
Unfortunately, this means a few residents waking up to the sight of ripped open bin bags and rubbish strewn down the street on bin collection day.
While most Dorset residents have wheelie bins to keep their rubbish and recycling in, some households cannot accommodate these containers – usually because they have nowhere to store them or a safe place to leave them out for collection.
In these cases, Dorset Council provides hard plastic boxes for recycling materials and blue plastic bags for rubbish. But, unfortunately for those who live in coastal areas, the bags are relatively easy for seagulls to get into.
While it is the householder’s responsibility to keep their waste contained securely between collections, in areas where these blue sacks are vulnerable to attack by gulls, residents may request a gull proof bag in which to protect their rubbish on collection day.
These are reusable heavy-duty sacks that residents can put their blue bags into when putting their rubbish out for collection.
Dorset residents who put their rubbish out in blue sacks and live in an area susceptible to seagulls can request a free gull-proof bag from the Council by e-mailing wasteteam@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk or calling 01305 221040.
If bag is lost or damaged, one free of charge replacement can be requested within a 2 year period but additional requests will be charged at £6 per bag).
Residents who do not have wheelie bins are also reminded that rubbish or recycling of any kind should never be put out in black bin bags as it will not be collected. Dorset Council also encourages people to use the weekly food waste collection service, which will help keep food out of the rubbish making it less enticing to gulls and vermin.
Why is it that many shops in Dorchester still do not put their waste in the gull proof bags. Every Wednesday I walk to work and rubbish is strewn across the high street. I wonder if the staff who work at these places realise the mess they are creating,not to mention the fact that although these gulls may be viewed as vermin they may be consuming plastics that could cause unpleasant deaths.
Do you supply disposable food bags for the food bin. I cannot at the moment find a supplier.
They can be found at most supermarkets and convenience shops – look for compostable caddy liners. Otherwise, feel free to use sheets of newspaper – James