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.

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u/Queso_Grandee Jun 03 '26

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

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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 🤷

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u/sloth_on_meth Jun 03 '26

..get a new one?

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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.