Lauren Goodger broke the internet. And the Ideal Home editorial team.
She said something wild on TOWIE. “In Essex we don’t have bins.” No kitchen bins. None.
She isn’t alone in this rebellion. Her co-stars nodded along. Saffron Lemprije admitted she fills a carrier bag once a day and tosses it out immediately. Sophie Kasaei agrees. Courtney Green is in too.
Is this actually how people in Essex live?
I grew up in Essex… and I was surprised.
That’s what Maddie Balcombe told me. An Editorial Assistant there. She says her family home has two bins. One for recycling. One for trash.
She added a caveat. They installed a food waste disposer in their sink. Because food waste smells terrible if you let it sit. She hates the thought of it sitting too.
So the ban isn’t real. It’s just a preference. A weird one.
Sophie King backs this up. She’s from Essex too.
“I’d have struggled without them,” Sophie says. “We always had bins in every room.”
Her mom still does. Most of her friends do.
Why then does Lauren insist?
It’s aesthetics. Cleanliness. The vibe. They want their kitchens to look sterile. Minimal. Polished.
Sian Howarth from Norah Rose confirms it’s not an Essex thing. It’s a social media thing. People want uninterrupted surfaces. Clutter-free views. Integrated waste systems hidden in cabinetry. It’s about the look.
But who does the look work for?
The problem with no bin is that you still produce rubbish. You can’t wish it away.
If you swap a bin for plastic bags every single day you are creating more waste. Worse for the planet. More plastic.
Mark Hall from BusinessWaste.co.uk calls this dangerous. He says it ruins recycling streams. If you don’t have a system food waste gets mixed in with general rubbish. The recycling centres reject those loads.
It creates chaos. No one knows where the trash should go. You lose track of what you are throwing out.
There is a better way than plastic bags. Or bare counters.
Put the bin inside the cupboard.
Robert Dyas sells a sleek hanging bin for £7.99. It slots inside a cabinet door. Invisible. Clean lines. You empty it every day. Just like the girls. But without the extra plastic carriers.
Sian calls this practicality first. Waste management is a daily function. If hiding it creates hygiene issues you lose the game.
Having no indoor bin is a step too far.
I agree. But maybe your bin just needs to look better.
Valérie Denys from Brabantia thinks so. She says bins don’t have to hide. They should match your taps. Your handles. Your cabinets.
Visual continuity. It sounds fancy. It just means make the trash can match the room.
Place it near the sink. Or by the dishwasher. Keep the walkway clear but make it reachable.
At Ideal Home we say yes. Definitely yes.
We rounded up bins that look good. Some hide away. Others stand out.
Where do you stand? Do you want a bin? Or are you ready to carry a bag to the curb every single night?
Decide.
