Have you ever wondered why skip bins are called skip bins? According to Wiki, “The origins of calling a rubbish cart a skip come from the word ‘skep’, used to refer to a basket. ‘Skep’ itself comes from the Late Old English sceppe, from the Old Norse skeppa ‘basket’.”
We now know how skip bins got their name, but let’s look at their history in more detail. It is evident that skip bins evolved from a form of a basket, which presumably was used for waste collection back in the 1700s. The ‘skep’, or basket would have been formed from wicker, straw or hollow logs and evolved into a horse and carriage/cart sometime in the 18th Century. By the 19th Century, it developed further to form what we today know as skip bins.
Wiki states, “While the first recorded use of a rubbish skip dates back to 1922, the practice of using skips to dispose of residential and commercial waste became mainstream over the following century, culminating in the modern skip waste disposal system that is used today.”
The history of skip bins somewhat shapes their usage. In the 1700s, when they were still known as ‘skeps’, their fragile nature meant they were only suitable for the collection of light waste material. Their evolvement in the 1800s came about because miners needed a more robust waste collection solution to get rid of unwanted mining waste. Thus, wheels were added and the term ‘skip’ formed. It wasn’t until the 1800s that skip bins started being used by businesses and everyday people and moved from being horse-powered to fuel-powered employing a truck.
Today skip bins are found commonly on building and construction sites for the removal of heavy construction waste, and at residential dwellings for small to large-scale renovations. They are also used to remove junk and general waste from homes and premises, and they can even be used to remove garden waste from a home.
As with the name and design, skip bins usage has also changed over time. Today, you can find a skip bin suitable for just about anything, and their usage is limited only by the waste which is prohibited to be placed in them, so for more information on rubbish removal, rubbish bin hire and skip bins please go to www.bookabin.co.nz .
