Managing trash and recycling

[Moxie]

We have a trash issue. Our city collects trash and now recycling. We have a traditional trash can that sits in the corner of our kitchen and gets emptied outside daily. Now that we can recycle, I bought a second can that sits in the kitchen closet.

 

The problems I would like to solve

--guests don't know where the recycling is so cans get thrown in the trash

--the can takes up a lot of room in the closet and smells

--I can't fit a second can next to the regular can in the kitchen

--I've seen divided cans but they are expensive and smaller than a regular can (big family, we fill the regular size can daily)

--no room in the cabinets for a pull out can.

 

how do you manage trash and recycling??

[Pink and Green Mom]

I have a pullout drawer with cans for both recycling and trash those get emptied regularly into the cans in the garage.

 

What my parents do (they do not have an indoor recycling bin) is put the rinsed out cans/bottles/jars directly into the recycling bin in the garage or leave them to one side of the sink until they are going outside to the garage.

[Acorn]

The young legs get tasked with running stuff outside to the pickup box after each meal. They grumble, but I think they'll survive it.

[Renthead Mommy]

We don't drink soda/beer, so that really cuts down on stuff like that.  Ours is mainly cardboard and plastic.  But we have a certain "spot" at the far end of the kitchen counter.  That last little 18" after the stove so there really is nothing else that would go there.   We just set stuff there.   After meals when cleaning up someone usually just runs it out to the main recycling bins in the garage.  

[Pippen]

I take out recyling every day. Sometimes I take it out directly, but often I just use a bag or box that needs to go out anyway and fill it throughout the day. 

[carriede]

What my parents do (they do not have an indoor recycling bin) is put the rinsed out cans/bottles/jars directly into the recycling bin in the garage or leave them to one side of the sink until they are going outside to the garage.

This is exactly what we do with our recycling.

 

We have a large trash can right outside the garage that the kitchen trash gets dumped into when full or too smelly. So there's nothing smelly IN the garage since the recycling gets rinsed out.

[Laura Corin]

We have a recycling drawer under the sink with small bins for paper, plastics, compost, cans and glass.  These get emptied a couple of times a week into bigger bins in the garage.

[lllll]

nm

[marbel]

I keep a garbage can in the kitchen for recycling.  It doesn't fit well anywhere.   It gets emptied into the wheeled bin (that goes out to the curb on pickup day) pretty much daily.  When guests come, we put a sign that says "recycling" on it and put it in a more prominent place. We also pull the trash can out of it's usual place under the sink and put a sign on it.   Guests still put recycling in the trash (but rarely trash in the recycling). 

[regentrude]

My recycling box lives in the garage.

Empty bottles/jars are left on the counter, and I rinse and take them when I go into the garage the next time, which happens several times a day.

I keep a brown paper bag for paper waste under the sink; the bag gets taken out when it is full (once a week max)

 

I also try to cut down on recyclables. Using a sodastream means no plastic bottle waste, except for DS' sports drinks. I don't buy canned drinks. For my one big party with lots of guests, I put a box with a sign "recycling" so they know where to put their empty beer bottles etc.

[kewb]

I have a bag hanging in the kitchen for recyclables. When it is full it goes out to the recycling can in the garage.

[AK_Mom4]

Bottles and cans for recycling go on the end of the counter. DH is usually the one who runs them out to the garage bin.

 

Cardboard boxes go next to the garage door and get put out into the recycle bin when there is a large enough stack to irritate me.

[Acorn]

If we have guests, I label a paper grocery bag with Recycling. It stays on the kitchen floor during the party. It's not fancy but our parties do use cans and bottles.

[Pawz4me]

I keep a medium sized trash can next to our regular kitchen trash can.  Recyclables get put in there (we don't have to sort).  Cat food cans and other things that could smell get rinsed out first.  Our rolling recycle bin is kept behind our house, within our fence.  Whenever I let the dog in/out it's easy to grab the recycle can and dump it into the bin.  Our kitchen is large, so having an extra trash can sitting out isn't a problem.  Any guests tend to be family or close friends, and they all know where the recycling goes.

[Jane in NC]

I have a filter top bucket like thing near the sink for compostable food related trash. I keep a basket near the back door for newspapers, magazines, junk mail. This gets dumped into the outdoor recycling bin once a week. Plastics and cans are usually kept on the counter and whoever exits via the back door usually grabs them and disposes of them. Everything else is regular trash, emptied as needed.

[Annie G]

We have a large recycling bin that has wheels and a cover, that is kept outside and taken to the curb every couple of weeks. 

We have a small container in the house where we put recyclables until they go out to the big bin, which happens daily. 

Guests almost always ask where to put things like cans, but if they don't it's easy to just tell them to leave their cans on the counter when they are finished.  I tell new people this when I hand them a drink. 

 

When I've been to larger parties, most of my friends will put a trash can out with a sign that says recyclables so guests know where to put things. 

 

We can recycle almost everything but we rinse things out so we've never had a problem with odors. 

[happypamama]

If we have guests, I label a paper grocery bag with Recycling. It stays on the kitchen floor during the party. It's not fancy but our parties do use cans and bottles.

Great idea!

 

I have two identical trash cans with kids next to each other in the corner of my kitchen, one labeled trash, the other recycling. One son takes out the trash to the big cans at least once a day, even if it isn't full, twice if need be, and another son does the same with recycling.

[creekland]

We tell guests we'll take care of the garbage - just leave it on the counter or table.  My sons even told their friends this.  It's easier for us to sort than for them to figure it out - mainly because we do:

 

burnable garbage (non-recyclable paper products)

non-burnable garbage

recyclables (plastics, cans of all sorts, newspaper, cardboard - used to have glass, but that's been discontinued  :glare: )

chicken waste (food they eat)

compost waste (scraps for our compost heap)

hedgerow waste (biodegradables that don't fall into compost or chicken - things like bones - other wild critters love them)

 

There's actually very little non-burnable garbage - just glass, some forms of plastic that aren't recyclable, and things like batteries, etc.

[Evergreen State Sue]

I bought two identical stainless steel garbage cans with lids - the kind you can step on and the lid pops up.  They sit side by side in the kitchen. One of them has a sticker on it so people know that is the one to put recycling in.  I know you said you didn't have room for both, so that probably won't meet your needs.  I did have to make sure there was enough room where I put them so they work with the lid popped up.  The recycling gets emptied to the outside bin when full - once or twice a week.  The regular garbage can gets emptied when full - up to four times a week.  Having the lid drastically reduces the smell. 

 

One thing I haven't figured out is how to dispose the tubes from toilet paper.  They tend to just sit on the counter in the bathrooms until I find them and put them in the recycling in the kitchen.  I don't want to put a separate trash bin for them and I can't seem to train the family to dispose of them properly.  (sigh)

[MEmama]

Trash goes into the can under the sink. We *maybe* fill one bag a week for the entire household.

 

Recycling gets cleaned and goes straight out to the bin in the garage (or collects on a small corner of counter before going into the garage).

 

Returnables get rinsed and go straight into the box in the garage.

 

Compost goes into a bowl in the sink before going out to the compost in the backyard (usually multiple times daily).

[Prairie~Phlox]

I keep ours in the garage.

[JFSinIL]

We have a couple recycle bins in the mudroom off the kitchen. Once a week they get emptied into the larger recycle bin that is wheeled to the curb.  We just crack the backdoor open and toss items into the bins.

[elegantlion]

I have small laundry baskets with handles in my laundry room for recycling. I have separate ones for paperboard and plastic. My cat gets into the trash can, so our regular trash can sits on the back deck and we have a small trash bin sitting next to sink. We got it at IKEA. With two of us, we fill up the trash bin about every 2-3 days. The laundry room is just off the kitchen. 

[Caclcoca]

We keep our recycling bin in the garage.  We make a stack beside the sink and then take out as we go into the garage.  If the stack gets more than a couple of things, I will send my youngest out with some stuff.  He loves to recycle.

[Guest]

I should have added that our garage and our kitchen are on opposite ends of the house. The outdoor cans are actually closer than the garage.

[Carrie12345]

We have a milk crate in the dining room for paper/cardboard.

Cans/bottles/jars/etc. sometimes get set on the counter for a bit.  I usually hang a grocery bag on a cabinet pull if I'm cooking with a lot of recyclables or we're having a few bottled drinks.  We make a couple of trips to the outside can several times a day.

[Orthodox6]

City provides homes with outdoor recycling bins and trash cans. In the laundry room, we have a large, step-to-open steel trash can. Recycle items are placed in brown paper grocery sacks, which then are placed into the outdoor bin. We can recycle many kinds of things, and are not required to separate/organize them as I have heard is required in some communities.

[scholastica]

We keep a small trash can under the kitchen sink for recyclables. Larger ones go on the counter next to the sink. It is a certain child's job to take it to the bin in the garage each day.

[TrixieB]

Recycling here is divided into two categories:  one bin for yard waste and one for mixed recycling. 

 

We have a lidded food scraps container on the kitchen counter; it gets emptied daily into the outdoor yard waste bin.  Dh lobbied for a bigger food scraps container but I am anti-fruit flies and anti-smell and put my foot down on that one.  It is NOT that hard to run the scraps out daily.

 

Glass and plastic recycling is rinsed and put in the under-sink cupboard; it goes to the bin in the garage every couple of days.

 

Paper recycling goes into a bag in the pantry; it goes to the bin in the garage when it gets full.

 

Trash goes to the main garbage can as needed, usually twice a week.

 

We haven't had an issue with guests throwing out recyclables.  OTOH, when we visited dh's family a couple of years ago, I asked where to put the food scraps and cans for recycling.  "Recycling?  No, we don't have that.  I guess you could take the cans to the drop box in the next town over.  We just put everything in the garbage."  Every house had a huge wheeled garbage cart and some houses had two or three.  That really surprised me.

 

 

[LucyStoner]

We have a trash issue. Our city collects trash and now recycling. We have a traditional trash can that sits in the corner of our kitchen and gets emptied outside daily. Now that we can recycle, I bought a second can that sits in the kitchen closet.

 

The problems I would like to solve

--guests don't know where the recycling is so cans get thrown in the trash

--the can takes up a lot of room in the closet and smells

--I can't fit a second can next to the regular can in the kitchen

--I've seen divided cans but they are expensive and smaller than a regular can (big family, we fill the regular size can daily)

--no room in the cabinets for a pull out can.

 

how do you manage trash and recycling??

We have two smaller cans on pull out tracks we installed under the sinks, one on the left and one on the right. It's my son's job to take it out. Splitting up should slow down how fast the garbage files. You could have one kid take it out after school and the other take it out before bed though if you need a second run.

 

We mostly have guests from this area and we've been recycling here for a loooooong time so we don't have the issue of guests not knowing to separate things. One thing you can do is put a label on the lid (non-recyclables only) so they know.

[KungFuPanda]

I have side by side trash cans in my kitchen, so it's obvious which is which. Maybe you should put a sign on your trash can lid telling guests where you keep the recycling bin?

 

Also, the bin shouldn't smell bad. You should be rinsing everything out.

[LucyStoner]

Yes, underscoring the point that your recycling shouldn't stink. It's clean paper and rinsed out cans, bottle and such. If it smells, something is not right.

[Guest]

We don't have to rinse in our city. And my kids would never rinse out every can that they drink out of.

[Annie G]

We don't have to rinse in our city. And my kids would never rinse out every can that they drink out of.

 

We don't have to rinse either but we do because it eliminates the smell and the flies/bees around the bin outside.  If your kids won't rinse, they could leave the can on the counter and you could rinse.  Or assign it to a kid as a chore. 

[Renthead Mommy]

We don't have to rinse in our city. And my kids would never rinse out every can that they drink out of.

 

 

But the first three are all old enough to daily take out the recycling.  Mulitiple times a day if needed.  Even the four year old is old enough to carry a few things out when one of the olders is going.  So rinsing is not an issue.  Just take it out daily or after every meal as part of clean up. 

[Guest]

We have a trash issue. Our city collects trash and now recycling. We have a traditional trash can that sits in the corner of our kitchen and gets emptied outside daily. Now that we can recycle, I bought a second can that sits in the kitchen closet.

 

The problems I would like to solve

--guests don't know where the recycling is so cans get thrown in the trash

--the can takes up a lot of room in the closet and smells

--I can't fit a second can next to the regular can in the kitchen

--I've seen divided cans but they are expensive and smaller than a regular can (big family, we fill the regular size can daily)

--no room in the cabinets for a pull out can.

 

how do you manage trash and recycling??

First, I would switch the locations: make the recycling most prominent and put the regular trash can in the kitchen closet. Second, we have a paper sign (DD made one) that we keep on the recycling can. It makes it easy for guests to see where the recycling is. Third, we empty the recycling can into the garage receptacle daily, or more often than once a day. Fourth, I have a washable nylon liner in the recycling bin, so I can throw it in the wash if it gets smelly. Fifth, we have a compost for all organic vegetarian trash. (We also have chickens for scraps, but that is obviously a special circumstance.)