ZOE’S IN WITH THE BIN-CROWD
A20-YEAR-OLD art student has become Pembrokeshire’s first female refuse collector after signing up to keep busy during the lockdown.
Zoe Coleman, from Pembroke Dock, is now the only woman in the team of 165 council workers after she swapped her summer holiday job for a bin round during the coronavirus pandemic.
Zoe, who will study art at the University of South Wales in September, had originally planned to spend the summer months outdoors as a lifeguard at Pembrokeshire’s Wake Park.
But when her fellow lifeguards at Pembroke Leisure Centre were offered the chance to sign up to a job on the bin lorries, she decided to follow suit.
Zoe said: “I had a shift last Friday and I asked ‘what’s happening now?’ because so many people have stopped work at the moment.
“I just said ‘can I have something to do?’ and they said the boys were starting on the bins.
“I’m just casual staff on a zero-hour contract and I didn’t really know what would happen with payments, so I just thought I would help somewhere to keep occupied for the next couple of months.
“My summer has gone from getting a job at a nice outdoor waterpark to being on the bin round.”
For Zoe, days on the job start at 6.30am as she and a team of two others head out to collect the recycling.
She has completed her first week after training last Saturday and starting two days later.
Zoe said: “In my previous jobs I worked in retail in Tesco and for the last few years I’ve had a job in a leisure centre, which has both male and female staff.
“This is completely male-based, which has been completely new – the boys are lovely though.
“It’s not a route I would have gone down before the pandemic, but now I’m doing it it feels good to be helping.
“I’d never thought about it – before I’d just think about putting the bins out, but now I’m here it’s a lot harder than I thought.
“It’s pretty hot. Even now it’s only 10 degrees out there and I’m roasting, and that’s before it’s even summer.
“On my first day I came home and slept for two hours – I didn’t realise how knackered I was until I got home. It’s a lot of work. My legs were killing.
“The boys were saying they haven’t seen the waste this busy since Christmas, since people are eating more at home and having a big clear-out now they have the time, so we have to empty the lorries more frequently.”
Despite the hard work, Zoe has seen one unexpected perk since taking on the role.
After posting a video of herself in her new protective uniform on her TikTok channel, she’s received more than 200,000 views.
Zoe said: “I got home with my uniform, made the TikTok and within three days it had 200,000 views. Ninety per cent of people who are seeing it and commenting are women who are saying ‘well done’ so I’ll have to feed it back to the boys who are out there every day.”
She added: “It’s just nice to be outside and helping the council doing my bit.
“Now I get to be out for the best part of the day. You get to see parts of Pembrokeshire I never would have known about before and places I never would have had time or thought about going to. I get to see all the nooks and crannies.
“It’s been quite empty [on the streets] but not as empty as I was hoping – there were so many older people out and about. I’m hoping over the next few weeks we’ll see it get quieter and quieter.”