Are the pesky bin men still on strike? I’ve completely lost track of what rubbish I can put out and when and I’m thoroughly sick of having to get full bins back in.

The waste food bin became such a foul, stinking mess I had no choice but to double bag what was basically putrid liquid and leave it in a public waste bin – I assume these are still being emptied?

The recycling bin has been playing hokey cokey for as long as I can remember and after getting it in again this week it was overflowing, so I emptied the lot into a large grab bag and dumped that in a public bin as well.

Whilst I doubt one bag of stuff not being recycled will directly lead to the icecaps melting any faster, I do hope people’s new-found greener habits aren’t adversely affected.

Although I have been splitting out my rubbish as requested for some time now, I’m more than a little sceptical that the tin cans, bottles, aluminium foil, yoghurt pots and other plastic containers are all sorted and recycled as they suggest.

Last week I saw a debate on social media where sympathy for the refuse collectors’ action was waning rapidly. But, when one striking bin man left a message suggesting it might be a nice idea for people to tape the odd tenner to their black bin (I assume these are being collected occasionally) to help make up for the pay lost by refuse collectors, the comments went off the scale – I certainly couldn’t repeat them here.

I don’t have all the facts to comment on the rights and wrongs of the strike action, but I do know many people living near me are taking all their rubbish and simply dumping it in general household waste at the tip. Several have already said this is a much easier option and saves a lot of messing about.

At the moment the council has disregarded greener options completely and is advising everyone just to put everything in their black bin rather than trying to continue recycling.

As far as I’m aware there is no end in sight for the current strike action but I do hope it gets sorted before too many people lose sight of the importance of recycling as much of their household refuse as possible.