I used to have he Simple Human trash can. But I have also had the regular, cheap plastic kind. I clean the can inside and out with a general purpose spray, every time I change he bag, inside and out. Anything that may be smelly gets wrapped up in a small plastic bag of its own, the kind of bag you use to line a wastebasket. Maybe you could line a bowl with a small bag for your food scraps and the toss them at the end of the day. If anything smells bad it means there is dirt that needs to be cleaned or the bag should be put outside, in my experience.

We empty ours every day and never have lingering smells.

I rinse off the wrapping from potentially smelly food items before the wrapping goes in the garbage.

I rinse off any packaging that had meat or seafood products in it to remove any blood or residual juices before putting it in the trash. The spongy absorbent material in the packaging goes into a gallon zip lock bag that I keep in the freezer until it is full and it then goes out with the last bag on trash pickup day.

All organic waste goes into the compost bucket which can get pretty bad after a few days if I forget to dump it in the pile.

We do what hounds does. If I prep chicken, that garbage goes directly to the freezer And into the bag on trash day. It can stink up the whole garage otherwise!

I empty my trash every day as well.

Our garbage/trash gets picked up every 2 weeks, with the recycling and green bin getting picked up every week. This is to encourage people from putting organics in the trash and using the green bin program.

There are 3 people who live in my building, and 2 of use the green bins all the time. The 3rd won't.

I confronted her 2 weeks ago when I went to take the garbage bins to the curb and they could have crawled to the curb themselves........they were teeming/alive with maggots. She will not take any recycling, garbage etc to the street, she left me a note saying she was 'unable to help me'. Even bringing the empty ones in, is below her apparently.

I asked if she could use the green bin for her food as that's what they are for. She said she would 'think about it' and shut the door in my face.

I laughed out loud and went upstairs. I know she heard me.

She knocked on my door awhile later and said that she doesn't care about using the green bin. I mentioned that she uses the local Car-share program and often has an electric vehicle which she uses, but she won't save the landfill?? She said that she didn't care.

Can you tell that I have absolutely no use for her? LOL

I do the same as others here I freeze my potential stinkies until garbage day. I do compost. I do rinse off styrofoam or hard plastic packaging but usually just ball up the Saran wrap kind of plastics and put them in a bag in the freezer.

Our amount of garbage has dwindled to very small amounts because of diligently recycling and composting. I'm so glad to be done with the stinky garbage can days.

I don't think being supportive of environmentalism efforts is needed to have enough common sense to know that whatever the destination or use is, it's better for food waste to be removed weekly as every two weeks. Why not complain to the owner, this tenant is creating a health hazard. Drop the environmentalism part, that doesn't resonate with her.

Our pickup is two stream, recycling and everything else trash. The first is free, the second you pay for by the size of can you need to use. It encourages customers to maximize what goes into the recycling bin. (Yes, we all know much of it is not currently being recycled). Our kitchen waste bins are lined with plastic bags and the closed plastic bags are put into the bins. It keeps them clean but a periodic wash with water and detergent is needed. I use a broom not used indoors for a scrubber.

I wouldn't consider putting garbage in the freezer. Yuck.

I take out my kitchen trash which also contains the daily cat litter scooping, daily. In a 700 sf apt one just can't go too long without doing that.

My trash doesn't smell, I do the same as my family and friends - all meat wrappings or anything that can smell are put in a bag and stuffed in the freezer. Just pull them out on trash day, no smelly cans.

We don't have room for edible food, plus garbage in our freezer, not does it sound appealing.

Liners and cleanliness are the best solutions for us.

It would be so convenient to use a plastic bag liner for the can, but my conscience won't let me. We put everything in the Rubbermaid-style can and carry it out to the big cans daily. I avoid putting a lot of food waste there but also avoid using the garbage disposal too much because it uses a lot of water (California). I save plastic bread bags which are going in the trash anyway and put in kitchen scraps, chicken bones, etc., and freeze until trash day. I also bury larger amounts of kit. scraps like melon rinds in the garden or a small composting bin.

We put cat litter scoopings into brown lunch bags and twist shut to keep too much litter flying around for our dear trash men. Not sure how effective this is but I don't want to use plastic bags to put the litter.

I rarely use Saran wrap. I use containers with lids, occasionally foil or waxed paper. I also have some flat silicone pads made to sit on top of bowls instead of saran.

Trying really hard to use less plastic.

I think many of us (not all) try to make careful choices. There are SO MANY contradictory things people do that negate positive efforts they may make but few seem to look at the big picture.

How many drive a newish car that's not too big for their needs and gets good mileage? Minimize unnecessary trips? Take public transportation and ride-share when they can? Use LED bulbs? Have HVAC settings to minimize energy use? Many "thoughtful" people don't, but point to other things they do that they think keeps the balance level. When it often doesn't.

I've never understood the aversion to things like plastic wrap or ziplock bags to keep foods fresh. We use obviously reusable glass storage containers, never the plastic ones. But often topped with Saran Wrap. I lose no sleep over it and it keeps the food fresh and the fridge clean smelling.

(PS - in my neighborhood, burying food waste is a very bad idea. Doing so will attract animals and creatures (like ants) that you don't want to share your backyard and home with)

I no longer use trash cans, I use waste baskets in the house and I have a big dumpster that is emptied each week. My trash is taken out each day. Can not use trash cans outside, the raccoons empty them, even with trying to secure the lids very well.

Sue

Wow, not bagging waste is a huge no-no in my NorCal municipality.

I do bury food scraps. I'm sure some garbage does get put in the can sometimes though. The main culprit may be the cat food tins, which are washed out, er rinsed out, and then wrapped in newspaper. I keep meaning to see if cat food tins can be recycled. For some reason, I always think the smelliness would be a deterrent. Salmon and white fish is a combo that would be beyond the senses esp. in a recycle bin. Do you all rinse out your canned food tins? I admit I don't (except the cat food).

Maybe I'm overly sensitive to the garbage smell. I don't remember any trauma in my childhood, but I know I just can't stand it.

ETA: I rinsed out the can from the soup I just heated up for supper. : ) Let's see if I can make a habit of this and other cans.

Have you checked as to how many of those plastic goods that you're using to contain your garbage would be recyclable ... were they not going into garbage, from your house? How about using more plastic bags without recycling numbers, or reusable containers, with lids, and cleaning them after use?

Best plan: get old, like me, as I don't/can't smell too ... good ... well ... (very much at all)!

While I live within a couple of miles of our largest city, Toronto's recently acquired "landfill" (garbage dump), about whose smell some of the neighbours (even more distant ones) complain - I don't notice.

By the way, it's beside the Detroit - Toronto expressway, so better hold your breath for a ways just west of the Col. Talbot Rd. interchange, south-west of London.

My compostable waste goes into a plastic bucket with a sheet of heavy plastic on the bottom, both of which get rinsed after use, with the kitchen waste going to the compost pile in the corner of the garden. It sits in the basement, on the basement landing by the back door, or in the back porch, depending on insect or smell conditions, season, etc.

We were provided a couple of years ago with a large wheeled plastic tub as high as my waist for material to be recycled, that an arm on the side of the truck comes out to lift to dump into the box. The waste company has quite detailed rules about what is recyclable.

A similar bin was provided for garbage and we pay a fee, $100.00 and up annually, depending on the size of container that we chose, the smallest size.

My landlord has various kinds of burnable waste that accumulates and is burned from time to time and much of my non-compostable and non-recyclable stuff goes there.

I'm feeling rather troubled about putting materials with complicated constituents, including the plastics lacking recycling numbers (which includes the frequently-changed bags that attach to my catheter) into the pile for burning, being concerned about increasing pollutants in the atmosphere.

Next time you visit a hospital emergency room, take note of how much of the materials that they use must go into the garbage.

ole joyful

Meat wrappings and such only take up a tiny amount of space in the freezer. I have a garbage disposal so any plate scrapings (rarely) go that way. Recycling cuts us down to a full garbage bag every 1 - 2 weeks.

I only used dry food on the veterinarians recommendation.

Most hospital waste was incinerated on-site back when I worked on the hospitals. Left an occasional layer of ash on the cars near it. The only things there that are usually reused are items that can be autoclaved.

Schoolhouse, it all depends on your local waste/recycling management authority, but I think metal food cans of any sort are pretty universally accepted. I don't rinse or remove labels - we are told that is not needed for our facility -- unless the container is drippy with sauce etc (to keep the bin fairly clean). I have my kitchen recycling bin lined with a plastic bag that doesn't get changed until torn or too splattered.

I also rinse meat packaging before putting it into the trash can (a small one which I line with grocery bags) to control odor, but I do not wait for days to get that outside to the big can. A half cup of household ammonia in the bottom of the outside cans keeps the raccoons out. So no freezing garbage (wouldn't have the space to anyway) for me.

I keep a layer of shredded paper in my compost bin, adding more to cover the food waste as needed -- also keep a few sheets of newspaper at the bottom of the trash bin. I don't notice odor from it. It gets emptied about 3 times/week. When I dump it into the compost pile, it gets a rinse with a brush that I keep outside for it.

You might try sealing your crack in the bin with some hot glue, if you have it.

Jasdip, I had a relative who refused to recycle, even though the city provides bins at no charge (all of our collection is free, paid via local taxes) and she was a SAHM with middle & high school students. She said it was too much trouble. They managed to take their trash out, though, so I never understood, except I think she was one of those who believed that "recycling" was all a sham.

I also freeze, fish waste, shrimps and crab shells, that sort of thing which would get really smelly. It doesn't take up much space. I also freeze fat and meat trimmings for suet balls in the winter, also not a lot of space. I have a stainless steel compost bucket for vegetable matter that gets emptied, when it is full, into the compost pile, all the rest into the trash but we don't have much garbage as I cook from basics, very little in packaging or cans. Cat food cans get washed as I wash other things along with the occasional other cans like beans or what ever. We have a small recycling center we pass on the way to town. Cans are mixed metals, and we recycle glass and paper. We have to take plastic bags to the grocery store when we have some we don't use. I have reusable shopping bags and any store bags get used for cat scooping. We don't come close to filling a garbage can every week but our garbage people can be erratic about picking up if you go every two weeks. No matter how carefully you make your schedule it is the wrong week according to them. It is just simpler to put it out when the can is full and pay for weekly.

Only occasionally does burying food scraps attract animals. Dig a good hole, drop it in and chop it up with the shovel. Never meat or bones, just vegetable/fruit peelings.

I've never understood the aversion to things like plastic wrap or ziplock bags to keep

foods fresh. Really? I guess you don't pay attention to environmental and marine news. Ever heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

" Ever heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? "

Yes. Do you read more than headlines? If you do, you know where it comes from.

I hope you're not suggesting that what I use and dispose of properly winds up in the middle of the Pacific. I think that's so very highly unlikely as to be impossible.

Real information, Pacific Garbage Patch

I use one of the plastic grocery bags that I seem to have so many of, as a sort of garbage bowl while cooking. I put all the veggie peelings in, for instance, and roll it shut before putting it in the kitchen trash. I empty it every day and occasionally give the container a good scrubbing and lay it on it's side outdoors to dry in direct sunshine.

I roll garbage that I don't bury in newspaper and put it in the kitchen trash can. I always have a big bag of newspapers for recycling. The trash bag inside gets taken to the large trash can in the garage whenever full, which is probably every two days - or sooner if it starts to smell.

I hope you're not suggesting that what I use and dispose of properly winds up in the middle of the Pacific.

And if it did, it would not in any way be your fault. It is one thing to do as some of the huge industrial companies do and dispose of harmful toxic waste directly into the air and local waterways again and again even after being caught because many times they get a little slap on the wrist. That is a horrendous situation but apparently business profits pave the way to government entities looking the other way.

It is quite another to dispose of small amounts of ordinary household waste that then through no fault of the ordinary homeowner might find their way into harmful situations. We pay for products, if the government wanted to they could require more earth friendly products but they do not. THEN we pay for waste collection and processing. If the processors screw up then by all means get on them, but it is not Elmer's fault that some little piece of handy wrap might end up where it shouldn't. And another thing, have you ever looked at a package of handy wrap that you have to pay 4 or 5 dollars for? You could probably roll the entire package into the size of a baseball. The big industrial guys probably belch a baseball field's worth of pollution every ten minutes.

Exactly Lucille, thanks for your thoughtful comments. I don't necessarily subscribe to the big guys as bad guys ideas but the the article I linked says " Overall, worldwide, most of the plastic trash in the ocean comes from Asia. In fact, the top six countries for ocean garbage are China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Thailand ". China is a developing country but all are very much third world places with lax laws and laxer enforcement.

California has strict environmental laws. Nothing and no one are perfect, there are offenders and gaps in compliance. I'm confident that nothing I dispose of winds up in the ocean. And I try to make as many environmentally positive choices as possible, including having driven newer and smaller cars that get better mileage for decades.

Our pick up is once a week now and the county supplies giant trash and recycling wheeled trash cans. Living in FL, meat scraps and pkgs cannot sit in the cans in the garage (HOA) in hot weather for up to a week. It’s goes into the freezer immediately (not sitting out all day) so I don’t know why that would be an issue for some people . It works well for us. There are quite a few people in the neighborhood who don’t recycle. I don’t understand why. Paper, glass, cans all go in together.

" I'm the one who flagged another unpleasant reply you made. "

Really? Is that how you advance your opinions, by quashing and demeaning those who disagree? The current White House occupant does that too. Free speech is only for people who agree with you?

My kitchen garbage can is actually a bathroom wastebasket. A 3-gallon bag is a tad large for it. A grocery store produce bag fits just right. It's under the sink. I'm a lousy housekeeper but that can gets emptied at least once a day, sometimes twice or even three times. I don't like garbage in the kitchen.

Earlier this summer we signed up for a dumpster which is picked up by the trash company every two weeks. Prior to that my wife would either take the trash with her when she went to a friends barn and (with permission) put the trash and recycling in the respective bins there, or take the trash directly to the "Materials Utilization Center"

A couple of weeks after the dumpster was first delivered, I pulled a dead snapping turtle out of our pond, and my wife decided to throw the carcass into the dumpster, on a hot, sunny 90+ degree day. The next morning a friend of a friend opened the lid to throw something in, and nearly threw up because of the smell. The stench was palpable from 30 feet away. The worst problem was that the dumpster had been emptied just three days earlier, so it wasn't scheduled to be emptied again from 11 days.

Amazingly my wife donned a mask, and managed to lift the bag containing the ~30 lb turtle out of the dumpster and drove it on the golf cart to a remote part of out 55 acre and dumped it out there.

That was smelly.

We have two "trash" cans under the sink. The City of Calgary has an excellent recycling program, so we don't put food items in the garbage. The garbage is strictly for items that cannot be recycled or composted. All food goes into our little compost bucket and that gets emptied pretty much daily. We use compostable bags so the bucket never (rarely) gets dirty. If it does get dirty, it's cleaned with soap and water right away. The larger can is lined with a garbage bag. We use the white ones with the orange draw string made by Kirkland (Costco). I love those bags! And any plastic, cans, jars and cardboard/paper, goes into a large plastic bag and emptied into our big blue bin once a week. We wash out all jars and cans first: the recycling plant is indoors so cleaning your "garbage" is welcome to the employees there. Imagine working inside a building full of rotting food containers as your sort the various items.... ew. If and when our garbage cans do start to smell, I was them with Pinesol and spray with Lysol spray.

I make my newspaper into pirate-hat pouches which fit my little garbage container under my sink perfectly. That's for my food and compostables which I take down to the green bin. Sometimes every two days, sometimes twice/day, depending on what I'm making.

I have a kitty litter pail under the sink as well for garbage, which gets styrofoam which is not recyclable, plastic wrap, twist ties, plastic that can't be recycled such as the krinkly pasta bags. Nothing smelly, ever.

I have a plastic garbage pail in my kitchen and it doesn't smell. I use the Walmart scented bags with the Mint scent that deters animals getting into it when you put them outside. I like the scent. no problems. I rarely have to wash the pail out.

A comment or two of mine above were orphaned and now make no sense because they were in response to a comment or two by socks that appear to have been deleted. Whether if done by socks or by a moderator, no matter.

There’s nothing wrong with putting garbage in the freezer. I am sure most people place that garbage in a bag or other container before freezing it. Most of my frozen garbage consists of chicken parts that we don’t cook, or fish guts and bones. All securely bagged before placing in the freezer.

I don’t understand flagging comments, is it a power thing?

I don’t understand flagging comments, is it a power thing?

Pretty much IMO. At least on this forum.

At political sites like Hot Topics it sometimes becomes a way to make the issues look like everyone is in agreement with a certain side.
Just another sleazy attempt to squelch the opinions of others and the dissenters.

As to the topic since we can no longer get the little plastic t bags where I live I just buy a case online. I use them for purchases and then reuse them for all the other purposes I previously used them for including my kitchen trash. I have a holder for them and it gets taken out once a day so no smell. Food items that can't go down the disposal like rib or chicken bones get frozen until the weekly pickup day.

We are required to bag our trash that goes into the outdoor trash pickup. We empty our trash cans daily... sometimes two times a day because we still have a house full of people. Our trash doesn't get overly smelly inside the house. Sometimes the outside trash will stink. We get twice a week pickup and once a week recycling. I'm not convinced my recycle can really gets recycled, but I use it as a way of organizing the bigger items like boxes and plastic jugs that would take up too much room in the regular can.

Very glad I compost too. And I do not allow any potentially smelly wrappers or bones, meat packaging to go in the kitchen trash. It goes straight outside into the city bin.

It's so hot here most of the time that even things inside get smelly within a few hours.

Our city is now giving away free compost bins to residents. We have a compost pile, but I applied for one because they're rodent/wildlife proof and our pile is not. The demand has been so high there's a delay for delivery.

We have a trashcan that gets particularly smelly. It sounds very similar to the one you described, OP. Stainless look with black plastic liner and a lid w/foot pedal. Wow, that thing gets stinky no matter what goes into it.

My solution is to wash well- baking soda and/or vinegar and/or bleach. Set open in the sun to dry. Sprinkle baking soda liberally in the bottom of the can before inserting the bag. Recently a friend gave us a couple of auto air fresheners- the little cardboard cut outs- and the scent was strong, so I dropped that in the bottom under the bag as well. It's done a great job and has been there for weeks. I will probably end up buying more car air fresheners in the future.

Thanks for the tip, I was trying to come up with an air freshener idea. They have the sticky ones, which I used for awhile but the adhesive was a bear to get off whenever you changed them. I think the car fresheners are a good idea.

If it smells dirty, it is dirty. Covering up an odor is not a solution.

I agree with zalco, but I'm missing something.

If you line your garbage bin with a plastic bag of whatever source, and you close the bag tightly and take it out when full or an odor begins, why is there a smell or a bin to clean?

It crossed my mind that some smelly liquid is leaking. Is the brand of trash bag splitting? Overflowing? Deodorizing it is not really a solution. Thicker garbage bags? Maybe. I use beach in a final rinse when cleaning mine and dry it on it's side outdoors. Zero odor.

Over in the kitchen forum, when redoing their kitchens, lots of people think it is a must to have a trash pullout that can hold 13 gallon bins - one for garbage, one for recycling. And if you are going to have a 13-gallon garbage you likely won't think it needs to be emptied until it is full. Really? Why would anyone want 13 gallons of garbage in their kitchen? I doubt most people can fill a 13-gallon bin in one day, so of course it's going to stink.

Why would the garbage stink if there is nothing in there that could create odor? I've used my plastic cans for years and they don't have any smell and I have a very sensitive sniffer.

Most of my garbage is Kleenex, rinsed out yogurt containers (non-recyclable in my area) and the napkins from under my coffee cup. Those items don't produce any smells.

The only time my garbage smells, and it's under the sink, is when I didn't rinse the plastic saran or styrofoam container or the little spongy thing that meat comes on, and it's in the dead heat of summer. I'll smell it the next and if it has even a hint of odor even if there's nothing else in there, out it goes. But normally nothing I have that's garbage has any smell.

I had wondered the same thing about my trashcan mentioned above being clean, but yet still smelling even after being cleaned. The can I bought was inexpensive and I suspect the plastic is absorbing and holding odors- perhaps accumulating them? Mine is not a kitchen trashcan, but rather a bathroom. There isn't much that goes into it that should cause a stink, though it is exposed to humidity, but it still develops a smell. Can't explain it, but the deodorizer that's being used seems to stop the problem. I wouldn't buy this particular can again.