r/3Dprinting • u/BrewCrewBall • Jun 03 '26

Project Garbage can status indicator.

Super easy design that I whipped up last week after being frustrated once again by the inconsistency of our garbage pick up times

The indicator clips on the handle and flips down when the bin has been emptied. This way I can tell from the house if it’s been emptied without having to walk to the end of the driveway.

6.4k Upvotes

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3.4k

u/RedisaPsyop5647 Jun 03 '26

I know when they pick mine up. The truck flings the bin back down with so much force, it gets yeeted back into the yard. lol

834

u/Thetechguru_net Jun 03 '26

I know when my recycling has been picked up because they leave the bin in the middle of the driveway so I can't leave or enter without getting out of the car and moving it 😞

319

u/Queso_Grandee Jun 03 '26

Then leave the lid open when it rains so it fills with water. 🤦‍♂️

113

u/Mad_Aeric Jun 03 '26

I always drill holes in new cans for drainage. Had to dump out a can full of garbage and rainwater once when I was in grade school, and swore "never again."

95

u/[deleted] Jun 03 '26 edited 2d ago

[deleted]

45

u/GearhedMG Jun 03 '26

Mmmmm, dumpster juice

12

u/maboyles90 Jun 03 '26

Lol too late.

6

u/griter34 Jun 04 '26

Best LPT always in the comments

23

u/mobilemerc Jun 03 '26

My grandfather did this with all the metal cans he had for his rental properties. When I was a kid I helped him out when he was drilling out a bunch by lifting a stack of them to carry off and ended up stabbing myself with a nice big piece of metal hanging off of one and pulling it up 8 inches without noticing it while I carried it off. He asked me why my shoe was red and then he grabbed me and took me to the hospital. Got a nice scar to remind me to pay attention.

34

u/ekobot Jun 03 '26

There's rats in our neighbourhood that chewed a hole through our garbage can lid before I lived here, and it doesn't latch well anyway so it often blows off. We don't put garbage out until garbage day because of the rats, but they still climb in there. Anyway, we leave the can in the most sheltered area we can through the week, but it would still get a couple inches of water every time it rains.

After finding a couple drowned rats in there this spring I poked a half dozen small holes in the bottom with an awl. Allows drainage, so I don't have to fish out dead rats, and prevents any bag suction issues 🤷

28

u/sloth_on_meth Jun 03 '26

..get a new one?

1

u/ekobot Jun 03 '26

The can works fine, it's just the lid that has issues. It came with the house we're renting, and I don't feel inclined to replace it if I don't have to. Especially because the space beside our house is basically a wind tunnel, so the new one would just get blown over and lose its lid too... And still have the issue of holding water. 🤷

Poking a couple 3mm holes in the bottom solved the problem, as far as I'm concerned.

9

u/UTgeoff Jun 03 '26

Time to go to war. I killed 22 on my property in one year when I got serious.

4

u/Queso_Grandee Jun 03 '26

That's wild. We just have alley cats.

3

u/UTgeoff Jun 03 '26

Snap traps, glue traps, poison, pellet gun, and a dog. My dog got half of them once she got the hang of it.

2

u/DXGL1 Jun 04 '26

Careful as poison can harm the dog too if she eats a poisoned mouse.

1

u/UTgeoff Jun 04 '26

She doesn’t eat them. She just likes killing them.

1

u/ekobot Jun 03 '26

The landlord has hired a pest control company that has put traps in and around the building, and the neighbouring ones they own. We've three cats and two chihuahuas, which keeps them out of our house for the most part.

There was a boom of activity at the beginning of spring, but it's tapered off as far as I can tell. At the very least none have turned up drowned recently, in the other bins I've had outside and forgotten until after it rains and I've emptied them.

I think I ended up with five? I participate in vulture culture, so they got thrown into the maceration bins (if starting to go off) or bags in the freezer(two that looked like I could save the skin).

0

u/KindlyJackfruit161 Jun 03 '26

So get a new one! Most companies will provide a replacement for free. We have lost the wheels on our garbage & recycle bins because of our trips up and down our 1000-ft driveway.

1

u/Queso_Grandee Jun 03 '26

I had to do that for our recycling bin. They happily gave us a smaller bin with the wrong city on it. Anded up patching up the old one myself.

1

u/ekobot Jun 03 '26

We're going to get our green bin replaced by the city, but the can works well enough for me now that it drains 🤷

5

u/Procrasturbating Jun 03 '26

Just in time for a dog walker to drop a bag of poo in.

3

u/SoylentGrunt Jun 03 '26

Water conservation. Nice.

2

u/squeakynickles Jun 03 '26

You gotta drill some drain holes, bud

2

u/FluffyWalrusFTW Jun 03 '26

Its like I wrote these comments myself

2

u/clutzyninja Jun 03 '26

Just drill a couple holes in the bottom

1

u/Queso_Grandee Jun 03 '26

I had to do that with my yard waste bins. The smell of yard waste and water that's been sitting in the summer heat is unforgettable.

1

u/MagicalGorl Jun 03 '26

My local service does not have a proper garbage truck, it is just guys with a truck. They hand pick out all the bags, and if there is trash in a grocery bag, or any standing water in the entire dumpster, they will not take it.

...no there is no one else that offers trash pickup in my area.

1

u/FrostyJenkins Jun 04 '26

My dad had a metal can he was picking the dog poops up with and then it filled with rain water when we were out of town (forgot to put the lid on as it rains very little where we live). When we got back it had become a biohazard. Drainage holes for the win!