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How to deal with kitchen recycling/trash ?

16 years ago

We are in the midst of designing the kitchen for our new house. It seems to me that one thing that ought to be designed into the cabinetry is a good solution for storing recyclables, compostable waste, and trash.

I was thinking that tilt-out cabinets near the sink hinging just above floor level might be a good way to solve the problem.

Has anyone found an ideal solution?

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Comments (6)

Jean Popowitz
16 years ago
We live in a very hilly area. Many folks in my neighborhood, including myself, have garages on the basement level with kitchens upstairs. My friend has a recycling solution that I'm stealing (with her blessing). She has a ductwork chute with a hinged door like a laundry chute so she can deposit her recycling directly into the bin in her garage. We have to separate paper from cans & bottles, so I will still have my paper bin in the bottom of the broom closet.
gizmonike
16 years ago
We have 2 trash pullouts in our kitchen, 1 next to the cleanup sink & dishwasher, the other on the opposite side of the island near the refrigerator & prep sink. Each has two plastic trash cans; we use the front one for trash & the rear one for recycling. Compost materials get collected in a bowl or small bucket & removed from the kitchen.
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Oh, wi-sailorgirl, do whatever you can to get a separate trash pull-out! I thought the same thing, that I couldn't spare any cab space in my 15 x 8 galley. But then, just a few weeks before construction was to start, DH nudged me away from the sink, as was his wont, so he could throw out something. I suddenly realized that a small trash pull-out next to the sink would be much cheaper than the cost of a defense attorney after I beaned him with the skillet I was washing. The new cabs provide so much more storage space that I don't miss the space in the 15" cab that houses the pull-out. It's possible that under the sink is your only option, but it's worth it to consider every possibility. I've told this story before, but there is now a postscript. I thought the pull-out would eliminate the nudging, but then DH nudged me when he needed to get a replacement garbage bag out from under the sink. It only took one time, and I moved the box of bags into the trash pull-out. I am happy that DH puts out the garbage when he finds it full and replaces the bag. But I also try to prevent situations where I am tempted to hit him over the head with a skillet.
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I may be in the minority here, but I vote for "just say no" to hiding the garbage can in a cabinet. Actually I was thinking about it last night: We have a built-in desk in our current kitchen -- so wisely placed smack dab in the middle of the kitchen. Why, oh why? But I digress: We keep our open trash can in the space under this desk. It's in a convenient spot, but the problem is that my family seems genetically unable to put garbage INTO the can, and every week I have to sweep out the wrappers, etc. that've fallen behind the can. They are also unable to recognize that the can has reached its limits, so they stack more, more, more on top of the can. As much a pain as this is, I was thinking to myself that it'd be even harder to retrieve lost garbage IF it were in a narrow kitchen cabinet and IF the gunk was occasionally getting stuck in a sliding track. I'm perfectly happy to keep my garbage "out". I'm going to have a little "extention" on the end of my island that'll hide the garbage from sight of the great room. Popular opinion? Probably not, but I feel sure it's the right choice for me.
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The little compost bins come in all styles - ceramic, metal, etc. Some people just use a large can with lid and park it under the sink (functional, but unattractive).You can get biodegradable bags from your grocery store, Amazon, etc - they hold about 1 gallon, which is about the size of the bin. Every day or two pick up the bag and toss it in your big compost bin that you have outside. The bag will rot in time. Don't put meat scraps in your compost. Egg shells are fine, but they don't decay as well. Coffee grounds are wonderful for your compost and garden - you can actually get them for free at many coffee shops! Anyway - toss dried stuff, like chopped up leaves, etc., in with your food scraps. Smaller stuff is better, of course. Stir the big compost bin once in a while. A good compost pile will NOT stink (contrary to popular belief). You can go crazy with composting - there are even classes that teach you how to do it really well - become a Master Composter!. Or you can take a simple approach, like I've described. This doesn't take much time, of course, but you won't get a fresh batch of really great dirt (finished compost) every 8 weeks, either.
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AnnKH - there are two versions - a partial overlay that has a rotating door (hence why you dont see it), and a full overlay door, which would be similar to on a super susan. Since we buy in bulk, we tend to get large quantities of recyclables at once, then nothing. So I could see myself filling those containers without too much trouble. Most of my kitchen gadgets (mixer, kettle, etc) will be in the 2nd corner cabinet, which will have a super susan, so it's more a question of do I need two fo the same, or will a bigger garbage be better for us? We currently have a 50L garbage can that's not under a cab and we empty it probably twice a week...so I like the larger size. ProSource Memphis - 'party kitchen', hrm...We are using our basement as our partying emptying space, so I don't think we'd need it for that, but a space for hubbies empties IS a good idea! In our current plan, the roundable garbage can would be just to the left of the sink, so pretty easy to use, as long as its sturdy and wouldn't break easy. As for our other 'stuff' - I don't own a kitchenaid, and getting a dedicated pantry will get most of our food goods out of cupboards, so I don't get the feeling that we'll need two super susans for much. Blender, handmixer, crock pot in one shelf (if they can even support that much weight?), and probably pyrex and stock pots in the other shelf (if tall enough). I admit though, I hate the idea of the super susans because in order to rotate them you get a bunch of dead space in the corners of the cab. A simple reach-in seems more useful for what I'd need to store.
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linda-z
16 years ago
I am pretty happy with what we've done. I am nutty about recycling:
-I have a pullout trash under my main sink.
-I have a little compost bin with a step on pedal to open it under my prep sink.
-And on the back side of our island, I have four tilt-outs. One for cans/bottles, one for mixed paper, one for newspaper, and one for dog food! It also has a shelf above the tilt out where I store paper bags to use in the recycling bins, and the newspaper bags, for the doggie "stuff!"

Here are 2 pictures of the island:

Closed bins:

Open bin:

HTH! Linda
duluthjeff
Original Author
16 years ago
Great ideas!

Thanks for the information (and pictures linda-z). I'll talk this over with our architect this afternoon.
owl_at_home
16 years ago
I am building a house, and this is something I was really concerned about, too, when designing our kitchen.

I found some slide-out trash containers (at Home Depot) that each have two cans, one behind the other. I bought two of them and put them right next to each other so there are four containers in total. They are going in an undercab, and I'm having fronts made for what will appear to be doors but will hook to the front of the sliders and pull the cans out two at a time. I'm planning to designate one for trash, one for cans, one for glass and plastic, and one for paper/burnables. The only thing I haven't figured out yet is what to do with large cardboard. I may be able to keep it, flattened, inside my pantry.

I'm sorry I can't post a picture, but we're still building and don't actually have this installed yet. I posted a similar question, "How do you organize your recycling," on the organization forum, and got several responses if you want to check that out.

Good luck!
quantumkitten
16 years ago
My kitchen is pretty short on space, so this was a challenge. What I ended up deciding upon is a trash compactor for regular trash, and a corner base cabinet with three revolving bins: one for paper recycling, one for container recycling, and one for perishable trash that shouldn't go into the compactor. It's not installed yet, but I think it will be a good use of that otherwise awkward corner space. It should look something like this:

{{!gwi}}

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