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Dressing up to take out the bins is the latest lockdown craze

Originating in Australia, ‘bin isolation outings,’ is the new trend quickly spreading across the globe and raising people’s spirits during the pandemic. 

Ah, boredom. We fear it, but we also secretly love it. A breeding ground for innovation and creativity, there are simply no limits to what one can do to entertain themselves when bored. With life in lockdown bringing a whole new meaning to the word ‘boredom,’ people are being driven to find excitement in unusual ways. Some are excessively baking. Some have shaved their heads, tattooed their thighs, and bleached their eyebrows. Families are hosting makeshift ‘Come Dine With Me’ nights. Friendship groups are organising pub quizzes to avoid drinking alone on the weekends. And some are donning full glam to — you guessed it — take the bins out.

It’s appears true that people will seek fun in the most unlikely of places when forced to remain indoors for over a month and for Danielle Askew, house arrest gave her an idea that would soon become a viral trend. Just one week into quarantine, the Queenslander saw a meme on Facebook: ‘isolation day six,’ it said. ‘It’s bin night, I can’t wait to go out.’ What started as a joke between Danielle and the friend who had posted the image, rapidly turned into an entire Facebook page dubbed Bin Isolation Outing which now has close to a million members.

Although most are from Australia, the page has received contributions from people in countries stretching as far as the US, Switzerland, Hong Kong, and India, who are all part of a community dedicated to posting photos online of themselves dressing up to take the bins out. ‘We have over 20,000 pending posts a day,’ says Danielle. So far Australia has the most participating members dressing up to take their bins out, though we have people from all over the world.’

It’s a very simple concept really. As the page description says: ‘basically the bins go out more than we do so why not dress up for the occasion?’ 

And, why not? During such a surreal time in history, it’s an absurd fad that weirdly feels appropriate and yet another brilliant way of staying connected while keeping the necessary safe distance.

‘Isolation just goes against our nature,’ she adds. ‘Using Facebook and the Bin Isolation Outing page we’ve been able to network together and be social again from the safety of our own homes. It’s been amazing watching what people are coming up with. The main thing we’ve learned is that people all over the world have different bin days.’

In addition to the #HomeCouture DIY trend that gained traction a few weeks ago and the countless new ones that keep popping up all over social media, I think it’s pretty safe to say that we’re coming out the other side of this with a lot more than just a regretful hair cut. I personally can’t wait for other forms of creativity to be spawned in isolation. What’s next? Walking the dog in a bikini? A full face of makeup using kitchen ingredients? We’ll have to wait and see.   

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