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Trash Cans - hi-tech?


AlaMoi

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for years we had a stainless 30L with a step on pedal.  little by little the operation became and more unreliable, sticky, etc.  so I toss the outer shell, used the plastic inner w/ bag.

 

last  night the kitty kat decided the pork chop bones smelled pretty good, maybe a 4AM snack would do a kitty good....

 

now that's she's learned, time for a new lidded can.

 

I like the idea of the (battery powered?) hands-free type - when I'm cooking I'd generally prefer to not be fondling the trash can....

 

anyone with experience / good / bad / brand / etc?

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 I have sent two back to two different companies because they both were crap and absolutely no improvement on using one foot to pop a lid open  ..not to mention the batteries burned up so fast it made no sense at all ..

 

spend your money on a good solid old school pedal trash can that requires you to really use your foot to defeat your kitty ..my dog figured the pedal out so I put a small loaded  mouse trap in the trash a few times that worked perfectly but I have a giant headed stubborn assed dog  and really it may sound mean but so does surgery if he eats dangerous trash 

 

I agree with MSRadell  

Edited by hummingbirdkiss (log)
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why am I always at the bottom and why is everything so high? 

why must there be so little me and so much sky?

Piglet 

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I was at the vet with my dog a few days ago and a woman was in with her black Lab which had to go in for surgery. The Lab had apparently got into corn cobs from the trash, considering the cost and risk of the surgery, you could buy a really good trashcan for that money, not worth the risk.

 

p

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Ah for the days when you could just use one trash can for everything. I now have to have 4 fairly large cans and they are ugly and don't fit in a conventionally designed kitchen so I have eliminated all waste cans in the kitchen. I lined them all up in a cubby hole space in the hall (which is 30 plus feet from where I cook). I guess all the trekking back and forth will eventually do my waistline some good but I still wish I didn't have not to think or walk and could just step on a pedal of a single can sitting nearby.

The plastic bins I am now using are all black. I labelled the front so I remember if they should have a blue bag and hold plastic/metal, a blue bag to contain paper/glass, a compost bag or a clear bag for what little is allowed to go in the 'regular' trash these days. Swinging lids, no step pedals, no auto activation - but a heck of a lot cheaper than pretty stainless with or without an electronic mechanism. On the other hand, I need another closet to store all the different bags I now am commanded to use - and if I could still just use one type as I used to perhaps I could actually afford a stainless step-on can!

All that said, I third the motion to just buy another step on can - don't go touchless.

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If you have outdoor wildlife, which I do, and I battled with them for a decade or so to try to keep them out of my outdoor cans, you can just feed them your meat bones and leftovers directly. I place it on the edge of the woods, and it is all cleaned up by morning.

 

They used to climb into the outdoor trash can, rip open the bags,  and strew paper and plastic trash everywhere to get into the cans because  they smelled the meat bones and other edibles (to them). Now I wash pretty much all the trash, because I have to do so anyway for our great recycling program. My one indoor trashcan receives only what the recycling program doesn't accept, and adds up to one bag of trash a week. Rinsing styrofoam containers and other trash the recycling program doesn't accept like plastic film that has come into contact with food, and throwing edibles (to them) wildlife keeps the open trash container from stinking during the week and pets are not tempted.

 

Just saying, an alternative way to solve your problem. But if you live in apartment, it may not be viable for you.

> ^ . . ^ <

 

 

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sounds like an idea to dump (g)  I haven't (yet) found a plain ole toe-push that operates smoothly - pretty much all Chinese cheap as possible stuff - so wondered if the self operating were any better.

 

we have deer, fox, raccoon, ground hog, possum, chipmunk, squirrels.... and a couple people.  the township does the trash pickup and they recently switched to the big plastic totes to work with the mechanical pickup arm on the truck.  fortunately the wildlife is not getting to the trash - I compost all the vegetable stuff, perhaps that keeps them happy....

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I am also in the market for a new trash can.

I currently have the battery-operated type; mine is the Itouchless model:  http://www.amazon.com/iTouchless-Deodorizer-Touch-Free-13-Gallon-Stainless-Steel/dp/B000EJVYTS/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1444657838&sr=1-2&keywords=battery+operated+trash+can

 

Within a week or two of owning this can I had to remove the batteries as it opened every time anyone walked by, even my small dogs.  And the odor of garbage constantly wafting into the room was too much.

So I continue to use it by manually lifting the lid.  But I would really like something that I don't have to touch with my hands.

The unit I've been eyeing is a Simplehuman; I need a can that can fit under a counter so that's a bit tricky.

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thanks for the link - it gives a good overview.  I'd really like first hand examine them - so much of stuff now-a-days looks good on the web but it's just junk inside.  one would think the medical types would be a bit more reliable...

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Hi AlaMoi

 

My first question is, where are you located?

 

I ask this because the city I live in, (Vancouver, CDN) has gone "green", and there is no such thing anymore as "trash".  There is "recyclables" (paper products, food containers, glass), and there are "Compostables" (food scraps, soiled food related paper products, yard trimmings.  The city has issued each household with containers for these and has weekly pick ups, and a bi-monthly pick up for "garbage" that doesn't fall into the above mentioned categories.  Commercial businesses--including restaurants have to separate compostables as well, even though they pay out of their own pocket for garbage pick up from private firms.

 

What this generally means is that garbage cans are getting smaller, and that newspaper lined "compost" bins in the kitchen get emptied daily---smaller is generally better.  

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we're in PA.  and the rules vary by state, county, township and wind direction.

all ('approved') plastic, alum and glass and paper is collected in one recycle container.  I'm guessing they sort it mechanically at the recycle center.

 

everything else goes in the "trash" - but there are things we are directed not to put in the trash

batteries

hazardous mat'l - like florescence tubes

construction debris

the odd unneeded nuclear warhead . . .

probably other things ....

 

in our specific area, most of the trash goes to incineration/power production.  of course, the NIMBY crowd makes incineration a very difficult thing to implement (new) nowadays.

 

I garden, so I compost all our vegetable stuff and yard waste - I have a stainless bowl w/ lid on the counter; gets emptied when full.

except weeds - for those I have a special place in h3ll ....

 

what frosts me is the batteries bit.  stuff like dead computers/phones we can recycle through BestBuy and other locations.

but AA and kin type batteries have no convenient recycle collection.  I suggested to our local supermarket - "heh you're collecting used plastic bags, how about a bucket for batteries?"  zilch reaction...  I can drive 15-20 miles to BestBuy and they've got a bin....  went to Radio Shack for a new timer battery - bought it, handed the old one to the clerk with the "got a spot for these?" and he accepted the button battery, turned around and tossed it in the waster basket.  supercitizenship.

 

in Germany every other street corner had a recycle container - paper, corrugated, clear glass, colored glass - and welded onto the side:  a pocket for batteries.  in USA we have strict vehicle emission laws (ask VW, they're wondering about that.....) but very little to prevent consumer pollution.

Edited by AlaMoi (log)
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