When plans were announced to halve the garbage collections of Canberrans and introduce a new food and organic waste bin instead, there were fears of streets full of stinking bins overflowing with nappies.
The FOGO - food organic and garden organic - bin was introduced as a trial to 5300 households in four Belconnen suburbs in 2021; this week the government announced a further expansion to 1150 more homes.
The program aims to reduce landfill waste by providing a bin that combines food scraps and garden waste for weekly collection, reducing the collection of the weekly red-top garbage bin to fortnightly.
So three years on, what is it really like to live in a FOGO household? And should the rest of us be getting FOMO for FOGO?
The Canberra Times visited two of the trial suburbs of Cook and Macquarie to find out.
What about the smell?
When the trial began, some residents expressed frustration about overflowing bins and predicted parents of babies in nappies would suffer with bins sitting in driveways for two weeks instead of one.
However, none of the residents The Canberra Times spoke to expressed any concerns with smells.
Anne Waight, of Macquarie, was supportive of the trial, but she did notice a challenge for some families.
"I find the red bin being picked up fortnightly OK, but I see houses with families tend to overflow a bit," Mrs Waight said.
Does it change what you throw out?
Another reason for the bin was to change how we got rid of our waste. Before the bins were introduced, Canberra households were sending more food waste to landfill than the national average.
Myrene Hickey, of Cook, noticed her waste habits changing.
"The bin has helped me become more proactive with my waste," Mrs Hickey said.
Beyond minimising Canberra's food waste habits, Cook resident Reece Biddiscombe has begun to change what he consumes, buying more fresh produce and less packaged food.
He found himself spending less on takeout and paying attention to the food he eats and what he throws out.
"The new bin has pushed me to be healthier, eating better food and less waste. Fundamentally the outcome has been good," Mr Biddiscombe said.
How is it being monitored?
With the new bin comes new responsibilities. In order to make it a success, the waste still needs to be disposed of correctly.
During the trial, bins have been monitored to assess whether waste is correctly sorted.
Mrs Hickey noticed tags placed on her bin showing smiley faces when they used it correctly and a frowning face when it had included the wrong waste.
"They regularly check on my bin," she said.
The local councils appear to be checking the bins at random and making sure everyone is playing along.
What's next?
A spokesperson from the ACT government said the pilot was expanding into more apartment buildings in 2024.
The areas and timing of the expansion is currently being explored and will be announced in the coming weeks.
The wider ACT community can expect a FOGO collection service once the large scale FOGO processing facility has been built.
