When I was a bride, I received a plastic trash container filled with kitchen and household items, along with this tip - use the trash container for a mop/cleaning bucket! It's a simple habit to get into, the trash container is right there in the kitchen anyway. Just pull the trash, add your hot water and cleaner.
After your cleaning job is done, swish the mop or sponge around the inside of the container to clean it. Next, dampen a paper towel and wipe the exterior if needed, then empty, rinse, and wipe the container with the paper towel before setting in the sun to dry. Bonus tip - the bottom of the clean trash container is the best place to store your stash of plastic bags, making pulling and replacing the trash bag a snap every time.
By nhe from Denton, TX
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have collected oodles of plastic trash bins, bathroom, kitchen, some with lids, that people throw out on our base. It slays me to see these perfectly good items thrown away, not to mention the petroleum used to make them. Any ideas on how to create something from them? I have used them as planters, but my husband thinks our garden looks like the front yard of "Sanford and Son". You folks are so brilliant when it comes to ideas; I had to ask.
Sharon,
I use washed-out 5 gallon buckets for planters (kitty litter) and to keep things looking neater, my husband is building a "planter box" with a screen bottom, and flat wood sides. The buckets, with holes drilled for drainage, will sit down in the box side by side -and you will see just the wood sides, not my buckets. You could probably do something similar for your trash buckets.
You could use them for sorting laundry.
If you have kids/grandkids, they could be decorated with stickers or something and used to hold toys.
They can be used to store yarn - my MIL puts her yarn in one with a lid and just pulls the yarn out through the lid so the cats cannot get at it.
Another option is to donate them through freecycle or goodwill or something - people just starting out in a new home might be able to put them to good use.
Hope this helps.
I use Krylon Fusion (paint for plastic) get them the color you want, or leave them as is, then...paint designs on them or find neat fabric to cut pieces from and decopoge them on...they can then be used for trash of course, planters, scrub them good first and they can be used as "gift" baskets. great for holding garden supplies..look at my photo album at photobucket.com/
I buy cat litter in these buckets, and I use them to store items such as: handbags, toys, out-of-season beddings and clothing (make sure you use moth balls or cedar chips)
For smaller cans, you can use them as buckets, leave cleaning solutions in them so you can carry all your cleaning supplies. For the square/oblong ones, you can use them to hold magazines, papers. You can paint or decorate them so they just look like regular storage bins, then you can just put them on any shelf
Anna, NYC
I use plastic trash cans to hold up plywood shelves. My shelves are about a foot wide and 4 feet long.
Just be sure they have no water--even 2"--as a child can drown if they fall in headfirst.
Do any of them clean up to look like new? If so, I'd use them to put items in for Wedding Showers: kitchen towels, pot holders, can openers, hot plates, and such, rather than a clothes basket; or Baby Showers: diapers, pins, powder, lotions, etc; House Warmings: furniture polish, glass cleaner, spray bottles, dish detergent, etc; or for anything you might use a gift basket for. Just tie a ribbon around it and top with a bow. But make sure they are well cleaned and disinfected, and in good shape.
I love these ideas! Thank you so much for responding to my request. I love this website for the really terrific folks and their brilliant ideas.
I use them to hold garden tools and also one for brooms and mops. You can use one to store wrapping paper in too. I love to recycle and find different uses for ordinary things.
Thank you! suzi-homemaker01! for the idea to put wrapping paper in a bucket/trash bin/whatever! I have been wondering what to do with the rolls of paper I have accumulated. This is such a brilliant idea!!
My sister uses the "Big" trash container in her laundry room for a dirty clothes hamper. Works great! I use the wheeled kind for storing 'out of season' blankets and clothes. They take up less space and store quite a large amount. Very handy!
Clean them up, recover them with wallpaper or wallpaper remnats and use them as gift baskets. Wallpaper is not ugly anymore, you can get some very pretty wallpaper, vintage-ish styles on ebay and at Lowes... I made one for my bathroom, and several people have asked where I bought it. It looks like it came from a boutique, not a chainstore.
We farm, and use them for rodent and bird proof storage. We store ice melt, rabbit feed, horse feed, corn, chicken feed in them. They also hold items you want to keep clean but are storing in a duty place--one has tarps in it, and another has the tent in it.
Thanks again everyone; you're brilliant! Peace, Sharon
Plastic trash bins are great for storing clothing in. I store out out of season clothes in them and the childrens clothes that are too big and they will be growing into soon. Trash bins are great for storing blankets in during the summer when you don't need them or extra blankets for company. This keeps things clean and organized.
I use the large trash ones to put my winter kindling in. It has a lid that fastens on so rodents and squirrels cannot get in it , and it stays dry for use.
When I moved from my old house to this house, I did not want to bring the dirty smelly trash can with me. I had a big one with wheels to make it easy to go to the road. So before I moved I bought a couple of new trash cans for the road, and made sure they had wheels. (I also used zip ties to attach the removable top to the trash can so I did not loose it.). So when moving day came, I put all my can foods and box foods and canisters into the nice new clean trash can. It weighed a great deal, but thanks to the wheels I rolled all my food right onto the moving truck. Problem Solved.
This is a page about making a trash can composter. You don't have to spend a lot of money to purchase a composter. Make an inexpensive one from a trash can.
