Unlikely Organizational Tool: Wastebaskets

Have you ever noticed that downtown streets that have trash baskets attached to the light poles are generally cleaner streets?  The same theory works in your home.  No you don’t need to attach wastebaskets to your table lamps but a wastebasket in every room will save you a lot of time and teach your children to be responsible citizens. (Can you tell I have issues with litterers?)

We wouldn’t think of not putting a trash can in our kitchen or bathroom, but we generate waste wherever we go.

The office is an obvious place for a recycle basket, but we often regress on the recycling because we don’t have any place to throw that plastic card or cellophane wrapping.  A small wastebasket next to the recycle bin will take care of that problem.

What about the family room?  Do you spend time picking up candy wrappers, Kleenex, plant droppings, broken toy parts?  Put a wastebasket in the room and help your family learn to take care of their own waste.
The same goes for your children’s bedrooms.  It’s more likely they will keep up with the trash if it’s an easy task. 

The idea that has made the biggest improvement in our house was to put a trash can in the garage.  I bought a plastic trash can with the swinging lid and put it near the car or the door.  It is so easy to keep our car and garage picked up.  When I get out of the car I look around and gather up any trash; coffee cups, fast food wrappers, receipts, Google maps and those self-multiplying straw wrappers!  It all gets scooped up and thrown in the trash on my way into the house.  I line the can with a trash bag and when it’s full out it goes with the rest of the trash.  It’s compact, clean, and easy to get into and easy to take out.  The trash from the car doesn’t fill up the indoor trash can, and I don’t put off cleaning up the car because my arms are full of other things to carry in.  It’s been the best idea yet.  So, take a look around. Where could you use a wastebasket?  It will simplify your life.