My family and I have just overhauled our recycling habits. The good news is that our “trash” volume is significantly deplete. The bad news – man its messy! We have small bins into which we put plastics, metals and papers and they fill quickly and of course like everyone else, we’re lazy. You know what that means – overflow! So my new mission is to figure out a way to make the process of recycling a little less painful.

My first thought was to just go to Target and get more trash bins. My husband quickly put the kibosh on that idea reminding me that the whole point of Reduce, ReUse, Recycle is not to purchase MORE plastic containers that will at some point end up in someone’s land fill. I admit it, I pouted. I want to do what I can for the environment but I don’t need it to be at the cost of my neat nick sanity. Still, I relented because he really did have a good point. Plus, why spend more money when we might be able to come up with a better solution?

So we maintained the current status quo for a few weeks. We stacked more efficiently and were more careful with filling the bins and then emptying them. We also got to be pros at rinsing absolutely everything so at least even if there was a mess it was just mess and not completely gross.

But still, I was bothered. The extra clutter, the extra stuff spilling out when it wasn’t being maintained properly and the general messiness were just driving me crazy. So I did it, I snuck online. I figured instead of being “wasteful” and finding three or more new trash bins, I would be able to find something super efficient.

I thought to myself:

“Hey Self, there must be someone out there who has come up with the solution to this problem in a reasonable and cost effective way.”

So I did go online and I found a couple of good solutions but I was totally appalled at how much they cost.

My top two were both far more than I would be willing to spend on a trash can. Even at Target the costs were high.

The Smart Bin Waste / Recycling Bin

I liked this option a lot – there are two sizes (2 bin and 3 bin) and this was the only option I found with three bins. I liked the simple design and the price, still high for my tastes, was reasonable and not bad for the feature set. Of course, you can only order it online which is kind of a pain, but if you have the money, I think this could be the best bin out there – at least within easy clicking.

Residential and Home Recycling Systems

I liked this option. It is robust but I liked the feeling of the site and the way they designed their bins. I mean, hey, I like a hexagonal recycling bin! I also liked the frame to hold the bins together so they wouldn’t get knocked around too much by my resident 4 year old peace destroyer and her two canine cohorts. You can get a “system” of two bins and a frame for as little as $137.85 so considering the features and options for expansion, I think this system is very worth mentioning.

But of course, I proposed both of these to the man of the house and he goggled at me. He was unwilling to invest – and I can’t blame him. His response – “I’ll just build something.”

Yeah, I’ll keep you posted on that one!