6 alternative uses for wheelie bins

by Craig Pryce January 18, 2019

The most common use of wheelie bins is for the storage of waste and recycling before it gets collected by either the local council or a waste company. While this is their intended purpose, there are actually many other uses for these practical containers, which we are going to outline in this blog post.

Wheelie bins are available in a variety of sizes and colours and are highly robust as well as waterproof, making them ideal for all manner of household and outdoor tasks i.e gardening.

Extra storage

Garden shed

If you have run out of space in your loft, garage and shed, then your wheelie bin can provide some much-needed extra storage space and will keep your things clean, dry and free of dust until you need to use them next. Store your wheelie bin inside or out and you’ll have easy access to your tools, toys, sports equipment, pet food, or festive decorations.

Ice bath

If you’re a sports fan, you might know that some sports teams, including the Scottish national rugby union team, take an ice bath after training and matches. This is said to promote quicker recovery after exercise, so why not follow in the footsteps of the professionals if you’re sporty and jump in a wheelie bin ice bath when you finish working out? No pain no gain!

Compost bin

If your wheelie bin has come to the end of its working life as a bin, don’t recycle it yet — you can upcycle it into a compost bin in just a few small steps. To aid air circulation, you just need to add two air filters — one to each side of the bin, and also drill a few holes in the bin lid. Then you need to create a flap from which you can remove the finished compost, and you can do this by cutting a rectangle out of the front of the bin, then reattaching it using hinges at the top only.

Fancy dress

Robots, fancy dress idea

If you’re heading to a fancy dress party soon, why not accessorise your costume with a wheelie bin? Bear with us while we explain! Wheelie bins can be transformed into fantastic characters, such as Minions, R2D2, Spongebob, or even a robot, a vampire, a shark, or a dog. Let your imagination go wild and get creative with your bin for Halloween or any other fancy dress occasion!

Catching snakes

This isn’t a problem in the UK as we have very few snakes and the ones we do host aren’t poisonous. However, in other parts of the world there are a whole host of dangerous snakes. For people living in those countries, a wheelie bin could be a great place to encourage a snake to slither to — then you shut the lid and put the bin upright again while you think about how to deal with the issue!

Feeding horses

Just chop a neat hole out from the bottom of the front panel of your wheelie bin, fill the bin with hay, and you have yourself a horse feeder! Ideal for times when the weather is bad. You might want to lock the lid down if you own a cheeky horse to prevent them eating from the top of the bin and letting the hay get wet!

Do you have any other ideas, or have you turned your own wheelie bin into something else? Let us know in the comments!