Getting your bins through a Montreal winter

Winter solves the smell problem, more or less. Cold slows bacteria to a crawl and the flies disappear. But it brings its own set of headaches: lids frozen shut, a block of garbage welded to the bottom of the bin, and the occasional bin knocked over or buried when the plow comes through. A little preparation in the fall makes the whole season easier.

Start the season with a clean, dry bin

Whatever is stuck to the inside of your bin in November will still be there in April, only frozen and thawed a dozen times in between. Liquid residue is the real troublemaker: it freezes into a layer of ice at the bottom, and anything wet that lands on top freezes to it. That is how you end up with half a bag of garbage that refuses to leave the bin on collection day.

So the best winter habit is really a fall habit. Give your bins a proper wash before the first hard frost and let them dry completely before they go back into service. A dry bin gives ice nothing to grab onto.

Keep liquid out as much as you can

A few sheets of newspaper or a piece of flattened cardboard at the bottom of the bin acts as a barrier between the plastic and whatever lands on it. It absorbs the moisture that would otherwise freeze, and on collection day it tends to come out in one piece, taking the rest with it.

In the compost bin, drain wet scraps before they go in, and wrap the wettest ones in paper. In the garbage bin, make sure bags are closed and not leaking. None of this is complicated, but it is the difference between a bin that empties cleanly and one you have to chip at with a broom handle.

When the lid is frozen shut

A lid that has frozen to the rim usually lets go with a few firm taps around the edge, or after an hour in the sun. Resist the urge to pour boiling water over it. Plastic gets brittle in deep cold, and a sudden jump in temperature can crack it. It also leaves water behind that refreezes, often worse than before.

If the lid keeps freezing, clear the snow off it after each storm. Snow that melts during the day and refreezes at night is what glues it shut.

Placement on collection day

Put the bin out where the truck can reach it and the plow is unlikely to hit it: on your side of the snowbank, on a flat spot, with the lid closed. Your municipality will have its own instructions, and the usual one is to turn the handles toward the house so the lid opens toward the street. A bin perched on top of a snowbank tends to end up on its side, and a bin tucked behind one tends to get skipped.

Once it has been emptied, bring it back in reasonably quickly. A bin left at the curb through a snowstorm is a bin you will be digging out.

The spring reset

When everything thaws in April, whatever was frozen in the bottom of the bin all winter comes back to life at once, which is why the first warm week of spring is often the smelliest. A thorough wash as soon as temperatures stay above freezing clears out a whole winter's worth of residue before it gets a chance to ripen.

That rhythm, a wash before the freeze and a wash after the thaw, is what our season is built around. Washing pauses from December to March, when water and cold do not mix, and picks up again as soon as spring arrives.