RESIDENTS are being encouraged to rethink their rubbish with a new campaign.

Dorset Waste Partnership has teamed up with a Dorchester photographer to make the county’s bin men the focus of a series of photographs.

Richard Budd went out and about photographing Dorset’s bin men to highlight the valuable service refuse collectors provide all across the county.

His series of 30 photos, entitled ‘Those bin-men at Dorset For You’, shines a light on a service that most people overlook in their day-to-day lives.

The result is a series of unusual and eye-catching photos that show the people and personalities dealing with our rubbish every day.

Mr Budd explained that the whole process has opened his eyes to the important services the staff provide, too.

“I’ve been getting a lot of interest in the photos.

“I have just finished photographing the Sandbanks beach polo championships and have covered other motorsport events in the past, but this has been a complete contrast to any of my previous work.”

“Travelling around the more rural parts of Dorset I saw them collecting the bins by hand all down Gold Hill, the scene off the old Hovis adverts.

“And they also climbed up what must have been over a hundred steps near Nothe Fort in Weymouth, just to collect the bins from this lady’s seaside café,” he said.

And the campaign is having success before it’s even been published, making everyone involved rethink how they see rubbish collections.

Mr Budd said: “I never even considered what the men do, I just put my bins out like everyone else.

“It’s incredible to watch the guys at work.

“Some of them are older than me and I struggled to keep up because they were just dashing here, there and everywhere with these really huge amounts of rubbish.”

Michael Carhart-Harris from Dorset Waste Partnership said: “Our campaigns in the past have just shown the bins and bags but we wanted to make it much more human this time around.”

“We are hopeful that the photos show how we are supporting local businesses all across the county, providing a hard working service, celebrating iconic locations in the area, and protecting the beautiful Dorset environment too.”