When it comes to refuse ambassadors, Victoria Beckham is an unlikely candidate. But there she was, in a TikTok shared by daughter-in-law Nicola Peltz Beckham at Christmas, freeing a full liner from under the curved lip of a bin and fastening the drawstrings assertively in a tight knotted bow. Fashion and beauty moguls, they’re just like us.
“I’m doing the bins,” she deadpans into the camera. “And I’m just saying, I bet that Jennifer Lopez doesn’t do bins.”
Beckham’s pristine terry-cloth robe was probably not the smartest choice for dealing with bin-juices, but her hair was more sensibly styled – swept back in a loose ponytail by a silk scrunchie. Underfoot, the woman who once said she “can’t concentrate in flats” was wearing a pair of low-profile slippers.
This improbable sight was a reminder that bin day is one of life’s great equalisers. One of those domestic tasks that crops up with sudden urgency. Ignored, sometimes willfully, until it can be put off no longer, often coinciding with the most inopportune of moments.
You’ll be racing out the door when you spot the near-bursting receptacle out of the corner of your eye. Perhaps you’re only half dressed – business up top, elasticated sleepwear below – when you hear the thundering roar of the rubbish truck.
Suddenly you’re doing a speed trial down the drive, under eye masks holding on for dear life. Needs must – you know that pongy wheelie bin can not go another seven days. When the bins need doing, they need doing now.
This spirit of half frazzled, as-is-where-is duty inspired this shoot: bin day outfits thrown on with the immediacy of a quick drag challenge.
Morning leisure
Juliette Hogan cashmere cardigan, $499
Kowtow shirt (worn underneath), $199
Juliette Hogan cashmere track pants, $379
Moscot ‘Gazeektal’ spectacles, $585
Sylvester scarf (available March), $119
Acme x Karen Walker mug, $32
Vintage 2017 Miu Miu slides
Freeman peel off mask, $18
In Aotearoa that experience just got more ubiquitous: from this month, a new standardised recycling programme rolls out, meaning what can go into council kerbside recycling is the same across the country.
The changes are part of the wider transformation of the recycling and food scrap system in New Zealand that also saw the introduction of those cute AF wee food scrap bins last year.
Having a motu wide set of materials that can be collected from households for recycling will help increase the quality and quantity of materials collected for recycling, and reduce the amount of recycling and food scraps sent to landfill.
The government estimates an extra 36,000 tonnes of waste will be diverted from landfill each year – that works out to roughly 30 kg per household.
The morning rush
Cos pinstripe blazer, POA
Juliette Hogan fine cotton cashmere tank, $179
Videris underwear (just seen), $38
Lace stay-up stocking, stylist's own.
Aquis hair wrap, $45, from Mecca
Foile reusable jelly eye mask, $45
Vintage Prada (1998) mules
What to know
• Only plastics 1, 2 and 5 will be collected. If the recycling symbol on a package does not have a number inside, it cannot go in your kerbside bin.
• You can put out glass bottles and jars; paper and cardboard; and aluminium and steel tins and cans (some councils have separate bins for glass).
• Aerosol cans will not be recycled; dispose of these through your local Transfer Station, metal recycler or in your council roadside rubbish collection.
• Liquid paperboard (like Tetra Pak), milk and juice cartons will not be recycled; dispose of these through your local Community Recycling Centre, Transfer Station or in your council roadside rubbish collection.
• Anything less than 50mm x 50mm cannot be recycled.
• All lids must be removed and are to be disposed of through the council roadside rubbish collection.
Want to know more? The Ministry for the Environment has some helpful and more detailed guidelines for what you can and can’t put in your recycling bin.
Straight outta bed
Videris bra, $75
Tekla pyjama pants, $225, from Simon James
Twenty-seven Names hoodie (worn around waist), $390
Kevin Thorne pearl necklace, stylist's own
Ugg classic ultra mini, $309
No way I’m waking up early tomorrow morning to do this…
Paris Georgia silk dress, $970
Baina robe, $275
Rubber gloves, from the local dairy.
Gel eye mask, $16
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Photographer: Matt Hurley
Stylist and model: Crystal Lim
Hair and makeup: Lara Daly
Photo assistant: India Wray Murane
