Some time back, my grey bin vanished so I had to buy a new one. Lo and behold, then the old one turned up. I now have two grey bins.

Recently my green one vanished. I asked the Council / Biffa if they would swap the extra grey bin - which I don't use - for a green one. No way! I have to buy a new green one at £24.

It occurs to me that, somewhere, there may be someone with an extra green bin they don't use, who have lost a grey bin and want one.

If so, can we do a swap? I will happily transfer my excess grey bin to their home and take the green one away in return.

Worth a try anyway. Anyone inteested?

paint it or write "green bin" on it.

Yes Id go along with fish's suggestion and give it a rub over with sandpaper and then spray it with carpaint or something .

The cost of paint and sandpaper is an appreciable percentage of the £24 cost of a new bin, and I value my time too much to spend it painting a rubbish bin.

I do question the wisdom of charging for bins though. Doing so creates a crime in which one missing bin can generate a stream of crimes as the victim steals someone else's rather than pay the £24. The new victim then steals someone else's and you have a chain of hassle.

I have levelled the same criticism at car manufacturers, who charge a fortune for items which are easily nicked from someone else's car. In my case I noticed a missing wheel nut on all four wheels of my car. An enquiry at the local Ford dealer revealed the reason for the theft. You had to buy a complete new set at about £50 (plus the vat, sir!) Fotunately, I got them second hand for a quid.

The crime is that of the thief of course. But if you should take some responsibility for putting high-value items before a public that has a high percentage of people who cannot afford the price of a replacement can help themselves.