Look!: 1 Can, 2 Can, Red Can, Blue Can

While digging through some old photos, I came across one from last Spring. While out walking the dog, I found myself headed back home through the alleyway behind our house. Always having my camera on hand, I had snapped a quick photo of the trashcans that lined the pavement (they are oh so photogenic you know). Click through to see why they caught my eye....

Trashcans are obviously a way of life. And sure, there are lots of ways to go about hiding them so they aren't such a prominent feature of your home. But what happens when you don't keep your trash next to your house, and keeping it on the alleyway is just how it has to be? Do you build a stand alone "trash hut" to hold them all? Or do you ignore them and assume they are something you will always have.
I couldn't help but be reminded of Penn and Teller's BS episode on Recycling (this link does contain profanity). In this episode they have a test to see how far they can push the average homeowner. The goal was to see how many trashcans they would accept on the street before enough was enough (which was a surprising amount)
And although the premise of that show is slightly different then what's in this alley (obviously this alleyway contains one type of recycling can which is greatly needed and then regular cans), I can't help but wonder if there will be some fantastic break through in the world of trash recycling/collection soon.

Would you rather walk a few extra feet to toss your trash into a giant "block trash and recycling can" in the name of beauty? Or keep on adding new cans to the pile in order to get the recycling job done as well as the regular trash removal?

Comments (6)

I LOOOOVE Denver's dumpster system. In the older parts of the city each block has 4 dumpsters in the alley. The recycling wheely bins live out there too. No more worrying about putting the cans out on the correct day, or worse forgetting and having a back log of garbage and recycling!

All the alleys look like crap anyway, so what's a few extra trash bins?

This past year my cleaning lady got me interested in recycling. I had tried it numerous times but always caved. I had a small kitchen trash can sitting in the garage. I brought it into the house and started dumping everything that was reclyclable into it. I found a dump site on the way to church every week (everything together - no separating). No extra gas and my garbage that goes to our condo dumpster is way less than half of what I had been dumping in there. I dare say that if everyone in our complex would do the same our monthly fee would go down. If they (condo board) would just give us a place to recycle right here it would be great, but somehow not enough people will apply pressure.

When I was an exchange student living in Sweden, we actually did have a "trash hut" - called a Miljöstuga, which translates roughly to Environment Cottage. The two apartment buildings on our block shared a small garage-type building, which contained the six (!!!) different refuse containers: compostables, plastics, metal, paper, glossy magazine-style paper and trash. Virtually everything was recycled and it breaks my heart to have only one recycling bin back here at home. I don't think they even separate it, it's just a false sense of responsibility by giving residents a differently-colored "recycling" trash can. Le sigh.

I'd much rather have the eyesore of extra bins over trash on the street or overflowing bins, which attract rodents.

Recycling is important but not an obsession. Luckily I have space in my garage and laundry room to place sorted goods. Water jugs, water bottles, cans, glass, magazines/catalogs and newspaper. I try to reuse items as much as possible: newspaper=mulch in the flower beds, glossy mags = donation to the art program etc.