skip hire in stoke on trent

How The Pandemic Has Changed The Way We Look At Waste

Here in the UK we are very much known as a throwaway nation, much like the USA. With many items being single-use, and then ending up at a landfill. The Covid-19 pandemic has very much impacted the amount of waste that households are currently producing. We have seen a rise in the amount of general household waste, and a decrease in the use of recycling. The start of the pandemic also saw a great decline in skip hire, which we can safely say is no longer the case. So how has the pandemic affected how we dispose of our waste, and how can we improve this moving forward.

Single-Use In The Pandemic

The use of single-use items in the pandemic has vastly increased. This is mainly to help reduce the level of infection and reduce the risk of spreading. This means that there is very little that we can do about the number of masks and gloves that people are using, especially as they play a vital part in keeping our NHS safe from the virus. However, what about the single-use items that you may use around the home and office.
There are single-use items that we can look to reduce in our day to day life in order to bring the level of waste back to pre-covid levels. Look at swapping out those plastic bottles of water that you are drinking daily for a refillable bottle. This can reduce plastic waste that ends up in the landfill, along with recycling where possible. If your office currently does not have recycling facilities, look at championing this and getting it in place moving forward.

Food Waste

Throughout the pandemic, a number of councils stopped collecting food waste bins, with many still yet to start again. This means that food waste has been put into the general household waste, to eventually end up at the landfill. Where possible, why not invest in a compost bin. This can then turn into a great source of nutrition for your plants in the garden.

Skip Hire

As we mentioned, the start of the pandemic saw a vast decrease in the use of skip hire. This has unfortunately meant that the waste we normally see, that gets recycled, has been entering the general waste and arriving at landfill sites by the truckload.
We are glad to see that this is no longer the case and skip hire is booming more than ever. This allows the team here at Staffordshire Skip Hire to play their part in combating the level of waste and recycle where possible.

Moving Forward

Pre-pandemic, we saw the nation making great strides in reducing the waste that we produce. Sadly, the pandemic has put us right back where we started. Moving forward, we would like to encourage our customers to recycle wherever they possibly can, reduce the level of food waste that their household produces, and for the bigger projects, hire a skip and let us worry about the recycling!

For more information on where your waste goes when you put it in the skip read our blog: Where Does My Waste Go?. You can also get in touch with a member of our expert team today who will be happy to assist you with booking your skip hire.

from-plain-space

From Plain Space To Entertainment Central

Here at Staffordshire Skip Hire, we have seen an increase in customers getting their garden and driveway ready to entertain guests as we come out of lockdown. From extending the driveway to fit more cars, to creating a grand entertainment area in the garden, there are a number of services that we offer that will make the whole project that much easier.

Skip Hire

With every regeneration project, there will always be an abundance of waste. Whether this is excess rubbish, waste ground, tearing out old drives and patios, or those bushes that are currently in the way. Hiring a skip in advance can help you to move the waste in one fell swoop to get it out of the way.
If you don’t have a driveway space that your skip can sit on while you are working around it, you can request permission from the council to have it placed on the road. This will give you the full range of movement to work on your land without having to work around the skip. Please ensure that you have permission before we arrive with the skip. If you are unsure, please contact your local council for more information.
When undertaking larger projects, we recommend that you size up from the skip you think you need. You may find that you end up with more waste than you initially thought, of it may not compact as well as expected. It can help to save you money in the long run as it can stop you from needing a second skip.
If you are working in the height of summer, please check out our blog on Summer Skip Hire Tips.

Machine Hire

At Staffordshire Skip Hire we have a range of machines that will make light work of digging out your space to lay your new driveway or patio. This includes mini diggers (who wants to shovel out ground in the sun?) and mini excavators. Please visit our Digger Hire for a full list of the machines that we have to offer, or contact us to discuss your project and the best machines for the job. Or head over to our blog on Revamp Your Garden With Ease With Machine Hire.

Aggregates To Suit

Depending on how you are looking to finish your driveway or patio, you may need to invest in a selection of aggregates. We have a range of both builders aggregates and decorative aggregates available for both collection and local delivery.
If you are laying yourself a slabbed patio, you may need to consider the aggregates that you have underneath rather than straight onto soil. Depending on your ground will depend on which is best for you. Contact our team if you are unsure which works best for you.
The quickest and easiest (and sometimes cheapest) way to expand your driveway and patio is to have a selection of decorative aggregates as your final finish. We stock a range including plum slate, red granite and Cotswold stone, which make for an attractive driveway or patio.
Check out our blog on Using Decorative Gravel.

For more information on skip hire, digger hire or our collection of aggregates, please get in touch today and our expert team will be happy to assist you. You can also check back to our latest news for more ideas on how our services can help you.

skip-hire-in-summer

Summer Skip Hire Tips

When it comes to hiring a skip, many people view summer as the ideal time to get clearing out that garden, ready to transform it into an amazing place to entertain friends and family. But there are a few things you need to consider before hiring a skip in the height of summer.

The Heat

Brits are a nation of sun lovers, even though some of us should stay as far out of the sun as possible, so we thrive on being out in the sun and soaking up those rays. This even includes some hard labour in the garden. But is this always a good idea? Probably not.
Clearing out your garden in the beating sun is hard work. If you aren’t careful it can lead to dehydration, sunburn and even sunstroke. So here are a few tips on clearing out your garden this summer.
Hire The Skip Last – typically we recommend hiring a skip before commencing work, to save having to make two moves with your waste. However, in the height of summer, we are saying the opposite. If you have the space to pile up your waste, we suggest that you complete the work over a number of days in small bursts. This will help to avoid long periods in the sun.
Fill The Skip At Dawn/Dusk – as you will have already piled your waste together, it makes it easier to fill your skip in one go. We recommend doing this at either end of the day, before it gets too hot or after it starts to cool down. Again, helping to reduce exhaustion.

All At Once

There are a number of us who may not have the luxury of being able to spread the work out over a few days. This means that even in the height of the sun a number of our customers will be working hard to clear the garden and fill the skip all at once. If this sounds like you, here are a few tips that might help you:
Set Up A Shelter – where possible, set up some form of shelter to help shade you from the heavy sun, and where you can, work under this. This will help to reduce the time you spend in direct sunlight.
Drink Plenty – clearing your garden can be hard work, as can filling a skip. So remember to drink plenty of water to help you avoid dehydration.
Avoid Heavy Lifting – where you can, cut things in smaller sections, this will help to reduce the weight that you are lifting into the skip
Break Up The Day – while you may have a lot to undertake in one short space of time, taking regular breaks and getting out of the sun will allow you to cool down and stay healthy.

Skip hire in Stoke On Trent is proving to be quite popular this summer, so if you are looking for a skip in the near future, we recommend getting in touch as soon as possible to help secure your booking on the date you require.
You can check out our latest news for more ideas on how you can use a skip this summer.

loft-clearout

Safely Clearing Out Your Loft

Clearouts are a great time to sift through the stuff that we have collected in our home. Removing the rubbish, the unwanted and the unused. And for the most part, anything we decide to keep ends up in the loft. Out of sight, out of mind. So what happens when we decide that it is time to clear out the loft?

Safety First

When it comes to our loft, many of us are using precariously balanced ladders, and an abundance of upper body strength to get through the hatch. This can mean that safety is thrown to the wind.
If you are clearing out your loft, extra care needs to be taken in order to avoid injury and potential damage in your home. We recommend that you utilise two people to move things up and down your ladders. Along with investing in a good quality ladder that is long enough to get into the loft space.
You will also need to consider how you will be transporting items from the loft and down the ladders. To decrease the risk of injury and falling, consider lowering items down in some form of collection item, such as a garden bucket, or a holdall. If necessary, these can be attached or rope or straps to be lowered right down. Please avoid throwing items down the ladders as this can move your ladders and they can become unstable.

Where To Start

Each of us has a different way of pilling stuff into our lofts, some of us have boarded the space so we can cram more in, others have popped a board or two down to avoid the insulation, then we have the extremes, the completely kitted out space and the throw caution to the wind and put everything on the insulation. Depending on how you have your loft, will depend on how you can work through everything.
We recommend that you create yourself a space towards one end, and work through it, putting stuff to keep into that space and moving along. This will help you to work through it without forgetting where you have been or doubling the work. You can then load any unwanted goods into your container to be lowered down.

To The Skip

When it comes to loading your unwanted items in the skip, remember to keep your eyes out for the few things that shouldn’t be placed into your skip. Check out our handy guide on what you can and can’t put in the skip.
Positioning larger and heavier items in the skip first will help you to fully utilise the space as you can place your smaller items in the gaps. We appreciate that this might not always be the case when you are working from one side of the loft to the other. There are a couple of ways that you can work around this.
Create a sorting space – either use the floor of a room in your house, or pop a sheet down near to your skip. You can then place the smaller and less bulky items here until the larger items are in the skip and you can load over them.
Create a small item side – if you know you only have a few larger items to dispose of, you can load the one side of your skip with the smaller items until your larger items are in place.
Cherry-pick larger items – If your loft space, if larger enough to enable you to remove the larger items first safely, you can cherry-pick the larger items first to create a base layer in the skip.

Choosing The Right Skip

Choosing the right skip for a loft clearance can be somewhat tricky. You never know how much you will be removing to know how much space you will need. If you can have a sort out before ordering you will have a better idea, however, we know that the limited space means that this isn’t always possible.
Consider how large your loft space, and roughly how much you are hoping to dispose of, you can then discuss this with a member of our team who has a good understanding of how much you can safely fit into a skip. Remember, ordering a slightly larger skip than you think you need is better than having to hire a second skip. Commonly, people will find things in the house and garden to fill the skip.

For more information on hiring the right skip for your loft clear out, please get in touch with a member of our expert team today who will be happy to assist you. Remember to check out our blogs regularly for more ideas and information.