I'm travelling in a few weeks and have a night to myself in a Premier Inn (UK budget hotel chain) so I'm thinking of filling the bath with as much shaving cream as I can and having a good wallow...

But how do I get rid of the cans afterwards? I'd want them to be recycled as I'm feeling guilty enough about the environmental impact as it is. I know Premier Inn are pretty good at recycling but I'd be a bit embarrassed to leave them in a bin bag in the hotel room when I check out, even if I did leave a tip for the cleaners. I've checked and no supermarket (that I can find, anyway) recycles cans, and council-run recycling centres only allow people from the area.

I should also say I'll be using public transport which makes it even more difficult to get to recycling places, and also means I can't just put a bag of recycling in the boot of the car

Do I give up on this and just stick to a few pies?

Drop a few cans in each public receptacle, such as in the lobby?

Leave them in a bin bag at the end of a corridor, they will not know which room they came from.

Possibly, though I'd have to be in ninja mode to sneak it out of the room without being seen (plus I'd expect there to be CCTV in the main corridors). And also they'd have to be placed so they wouldn't get in the way of anyone trying to get past (including wheelchairs, and the trolleys used by the cleaners which are pretty wide too)


I'm not convinced they'd be recycled then, unfortunately. Premier Inn ask that recyclables be put to the side of the room bins so I think they have to be separated manually from non-recyclables.

Bear in mind, the cans are steel and will be extracted from the waste stream (by electromagnet) regardless of whether they are put in a "recycling" bin or not. TBH a lot of the business of separating waste is "environmental theatre" - behind the scenes it all gets merged together anyway (sometimes it's all collected by the same wagon, something friends in nearby cities have complained about a few times - they carefully separated recycling into the green bins and then the council send one wagon to empty the lot, mashing it all together in the compactor).

TBH the idea that individuals failing to recycle things is the cause of the environmental crisis is one of the greatest corporate scams ever perpetrated, and I say that as a lifelong believer in green causes.

Your best best is to use the cans, bag them separately, leave the bag in the room with some £20s on top for the cleaners, and don't worry whether they go in the green or black bin. Because steel is valuable and can be sold, most council's waste processing stations will first shred the waste, then pass it under magnets to pull all the steel out, and that then gets recycled, and the council get paid for it.

Enjoy the wallow, and don't worry about the cans, just leave the place neat and clean for the staff.

Yes, that's a good point, and a relief. I'll dispose in the general waste with a clean conscience (and body)

Now I just need to work out how many cans to buy