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This Life: Ready to clean up
Steve Potter set up his own wheelie bin cleaning firm Keep It Fresh in August this year after being made redundant from his job in the plumbing industry.
The 51-year-old lives in Woodlesford with wife Fiona and children Tom, 10, and Heather, six.
Interview by Grant Woodward.
It's soul-destroying when you lose your job.
The banks throw money at people during the good times and it's easy to get into debt. Then you hit a time like this when reality kicks in, all the debts are coming back at you and you might have lost your job.
Fortunately we've been careful. But it's so easy just to fold, feel sorry for yourself and say, 'I'll become one of those people who lives off benefits'.
You really do have to be the one who gets out there because no one will do it for you.
My first job was working in a garage repair centre as a dogsbody during the summer holidays.
Since I left school in 1974, which seems a long way away now, I've always been in plumbing.
Up until this year I was training plumbers but the company I worked for went bust.
Initially I thought I would get another job doing the same thing but to get in with a college I would have needed qualifications.
I realised I needed to do something fast. There are two kids to support and a mortgage to pay. So I set up Keep It Fresh.
I couldn't belive the mistiming of it all.
I got a friend to help with the website, put a business plan together, hired an accountant and bought a van and all the equipment.
Then three weeks after the launch of the business along came the bin strike.
At the time I was saying to everyone, 'This won't last long'. And here we are nine weeks later and it's still going.
All we can do is keep our fingers crossed. Because bin emptying is so haphazard, I have to ring customers and ask if their bin has been emptied.
Because the rubbish has been sat in there for so many weeks a lot of bins absolutely infested with maggots, even after they've been emptied.
I feel a lot of sympathy for the strikers.
In other cities this significant loss of wages has been offset.
But I can't help feeling that it's all become very political.
What people are telling me is that there won't be any response until the strike's over.
I just hope people are keeping our advert to hand and will get in touch once their bins are emptied again.
Until then I've had to go back to plumbing to bolster this up a bit.
It just shows, you never know what's round the corner in life.
People would probably be surprised to hear I used to be a drummer in rock bands.
In my teens and early twenties I had the shoulder-length hair and all the rest of it.
We only played around Leeds and Yorkshire but I absolutely loved the buzz on stage.
The last band I was in was called Shadowdance. We played all our own material and even cut a CD in recording studios in Ossett.
When I want to relax I open a good bottle of red and put on some David Bowie or Pink Floyd.
Dark Side Of The Moon is a particular favourite of mine.
I don't mind my own company. I'm happy just sitting there and reflecting on the day.
I'm very proud of my kids.
We've been in restaurants and people have come over and said how well-behaved they are.
We don't smack our kids, you don't need to. If you respect them they will respect you.
They know there's a time for playing and a time for eating.
The best piece of advice I've received is that if you do everything in moderation you won't go far wrong.
People might tell you it's bad to smoke and drink, don't eat this, don't do that.
But I think a little bit of what you fancy does you good.
If you don't indulge yourself too much I don't see anything wrong with it.
My philosophy on life isn't earth-shattering, it's just to live your life to the full.
Life isn't a rehearsal, you can plan for future dreams but don't neglect what's happening in the here and now.
Because that's life, it's what happens right here and now.
The person I would most like to meet is David Bowie.
To me he's a fabulous singer, the stage and audience are his. But when you see him interviewed he's so humorous.
I would love to be there with a few friends having a laugh with him.
The last time I cried was when my children were born.
It's an absolute miracle and until you've been through it you don't know how incredible it is.
People say it's soppy for blokes to cry but I don't believe in that.
The best thing about Leeds is that it has the best of both worlds.
I'm biased but I think we're so blessed with the location of Leeds. The shopping facilities are brilliant, not that I visit them much, but it says something about the place when I've heard the coachloads of people come down from the North East to shop here.
For the younger people the nightlife is amazing. I'm always knocked over with the number of places there are.
Then when you drive out of the city you've got some of the most beautiful scenery on earth.
On top of that I think Yorkshire people in general are amazing.
They always seem ready to help.
FAVOURITE THINGS
Favourite food: Haddock and chips
Favourite holiday: Florida
Favourite TV: Fawlty Towers
Favourite actor: James Cagney
Star sign: Sagittarius
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