An entrepreneurial north-east woman is on cloud nine after scooping awards for her efforts to tackle the scourge of “unsightly” wheelie bins.
Carol Renton had the spark of inspiration for her business, Bintended, in 2018.
She told The Press and Journal she was determined to banish the ugly wheelie bins that “blight properties and gardens in towns and cities from Land’s End to John o’ Groats and beyond”.
With many councils now collecting two, three or more different types of bins on alternating refuse collection days, most households have multiple large plastic units.
Carol decided designer bin storage was the answer.
Although storage solutions already existed to hide wheelie bins, they were usually no prettier than the bins they try to hide, she said.
The challenge was on to come up with something a lot more attractive and sustainable.
With support from a ByDesign grant from Scottish Enterprise to develop her idea, a prototype – made from recycled plastic – was produced in 2019.
Artists commissioned
Carol commissioned surface designs and illustrations from talented graduates of Scotland’s art colleges.
She also sourced imagery from original photographs as well as from award-winning photographer David McLauchlin.
This imagery is applied across the front of the product, which Bintended’s founder said helped create “art for the garden as well as bin storage”.
She added: “This enables gardeners to make a feature that enhances their gardens.
“But if the desire is to quietly conceal the bins, customers can choose something low-key to blend in with their properties – such as a granite-block photo finish.
“It is all about the aesthetic and visual impact is key here.”
Each storage unit weighs about 95lbs and is made from recycled plastic items including drink bottles and lids, food trays and agricultural film.
Double celebration for Bintended
The business, based in Westhill, near Aberdeen, got properly up and running under a year ago but has already won two prestigious awards.
It scooped the UK’s most innovative garden product title and also the innovation in design gong in LUXLife Magazine’s Home and Garden Awards 2024.
Carol said her awards double was “a fantastic accolade” following the challenges of Covid-19, Storm Arwen and problems launching her website all delaying progress.
She has recently been out and about in Aberdeen city and shire finding nice photoshoot locations for her eye-catching products.
Nikolina Makazchieva, a third year placement student on a fashion management course at Robert Gordon University, and “model” Deya both helped Carol with her photoshoot.
Locations included the David Welch Winter Gardens at Duthie park, Aberdeen, and South Ythsie stone circle near Tarves.
A spokesperson for LUXLife said: “With its luxury designer storage solutions for wheelie bins, Bintended has swiftly solidified its position as an award-winning competitor in its sphere.
Sofi Parry, the publication’s senior editor, added: “Not only do Bintended’s stores have the right specifications needed to keep your property looking tidy and beautiful, but they are made of 99% recycled plastic – helping us and the planet simultaneously. What’s not to love?”
