Home rubbish cleanup goes hi-tech - about time, how to make money from your junk at home

n a world where a robot can do the vacuuming, and you can turn on the electric blanket with your phone while you drop off the babysitter, cleaning up has finally caught up.

When there’s good space at stake and it’s going to waste because of kids’ junk, there’s no time for regrets or remorse. Picture: istock

In a world where a robot can do the vacuuming, and you can turn on the electric blanket with your phone while you drop off the babysitter, how come rubbish is still, well, rubbish.

It seemed as modern as tomorrow when kitchen designers put in slide-out bins under counter tops.

However, those pull-out bins – one for recycling and one for trash, hold a miniscule amount of rubbish, and it still smells, and always gets snagged by the milk cartons.

Is it time to think retro about rubbish?

Or can we skip the whole thing?

Q. Is there a secret to making slide out bins hassle free?

A. Yep, don’t use them.

Make life easier and get a freestanding bin. When you think of the peddle bin, your mind may immediately offer you a memory of the ‘clang’ each time it closed when you were a kid. Forget that.

Today’s peddle bins come with soft close options and concealed pedals. A freestanding bin can stand away from your actual cooking bench – so no opening and closing of the foul-smelling bin at the actual counter where you are preparing food.

Even a single person, with the best recycling habits in the business, will find a three-litre bin pretty useless in the kitchen, a thirty litre is far more practical. Round, square, oblong – Kmart has a chic matte grey for $45, and even better, they can be found in some great colours, so a new bin can offer a very handy pop of colour to the décor – check out the Tiffany green ones from Catch.com.au, or the Ona range at Temple & Webster.

Updating everyday items, like the kitchen bin, can lift the spirits.

It seemed as modern as tomorrow when kitchen designers put in slide-out bins under counter tops.

Q. Is it worth the money for a sensor bin?

A. Again, if there is a fun way to do a dirty job, take it every time.

Plus, it encourages other members of the family to tidy up after themselves, which has to be a good thing, right? A sensor bin will automatically open its lid as you approach, then after five seconds it will purr itself shut.

Many of the sensor bins come in much larger sizes, such as the 50-70 litre giants, and cost upward of $100. ‘Big’ equals fewer trips to the bins outside – but you have to be smart about how much weight is in the bag.

The cheaper versions can be quite flimsy – so be careful when setting it up on day one. They are big, so if you have Amazon Prime, consider selecting one of theirs and having it delivered.

The sensor is a battery-operated device – but what price fun?

Top of the line models also offer built-in scent fresheners.

Handy hint here; no matter what bin you have, a great way to control odour is to slip a dryer sheet or two into the bin, under the bags, or a couple of handfuls of kitty litter can make all the difference.

Confession here, I don’t like swing top bins – I am mentally scarred by the memory of my dear mum, who’s ring had fallen off into the depths of the bin, getting her hand snagged in the razor-sharp jaws of the swing top.

Like a skinned rabbit it was. I still shudder.

Kmart’s chic bin in matte grey, $45. Kmart.com.au

Is there a chute system like the ones in blocks of units?

A. A rubbish ‘chute’ – an express way to send your rubbish from your kitchen straight to the street bins does exist.

Recyclit is an Australian invention and company and has been taking out the rubbish for 20 years. I can’t believe I have only just found this.

Each unit consists of just three parts, and you can have as many chutes as you like, that will direct waste to whatever bin you want, outside. It can be used on single level as well as multi storey homes.

One customer has a chute that directly sends veggie scraps straight into her worm farm bin! The simplest single chute costs about $925, and is so simple it can be installed by a home handyman, or of course, a builder.

Importantly this is a great system for senior citizens, who find rubbish removal physically difficult and risky, and for those in wheel chairs for whom a low access system is ideal. Kids – needless to say, will love this too. No rubbish, no mess, and no smells. Another plus? This makes sorting and recycling so easy, there’s no excuse not to sort your garbage.

The Recyclit website has a very helpful quote estimator and good videos.

HOW TO MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR JUNK AT HOME

When there’s good space at stake and it’s going to waste because of kids’ junk, there’s no time for regrets or remorse

Feeling a bit like crowded house – but not in a good way?

Finding space in a home is a bit like attempting a Rubik’s cube – you move this here, but you have to move that there to fit it – then that whole cupboard/closet/bookcase is in play and where do you put all of that?

Enter the garage or storage cage or whatever you use as a last ditch dumping ground. If you have a clinical look around this black hole and take honest stock of what’s lurking there, you may discover a way to win the space war.

Junk/treasure.

This isn’t so much my garage as my adult kids’ storage space. How can I get them to take their stuff away once and for all?

Ah, kids. The gift that keeps on giving, and giving and, well, dumping. Unless you have limitless patience and enough space to preserve your adult kids’ room as a museum to adolescence past, it’s time to get serious, and reclaim territory. Tell them it’s time.

If the ‘kids’ can’t come and inspect what’s there, they will likely counter attack “I don’t even know what I’ve got there – DO NOT touch anything ‘til I get a chance to go through it.” Be smart, have a list and phone snaps and send both with a convenient cut off time, say the next time there is council pick up.

Fun to play with, not to live like. Picture: Mark Stewart

Watch yourself from becoming a memory hoarder yourself; when you look at that commemorative Halo helmet that you got with their first X-Box, your heart softens a bit. OK, you can keep the game, but not the helmet. Another tactic is the never -never game. “You can’t throw that out, I’ll need that when I get back,” cries the globetrotter, who has no return date, and an unfounded attachment to a five-year-old Billy bookcase. Counter attack with ‘How about I help you find a new one when you get back?” Which is more of a suggestion than an actual promise, and no struggling adult child can refuse possible free stuff.

Green sofa, lounge, chaise, antiques, istock.

What about inherited stuff?

Inheritance guilt is what I call it, and it’s a toughie. So, swapping from practical to emotional support here, I say to you; they loved it, they had it, they’re gone now. It doesn’t lessen their experience of the couch/dresser/lamp/picture. This is your time now, when you have every right to be surrounded by things YOU love. It is not disrespectful, it is not unreasonable even, to want to have your space.

So, try a couple of things here. If it’s furniture of some kind, or anything with a fabric take just a swatch from it, maybe match it with a picture of your parent and have it framed professionally, and in your own style. If there is a dinner set or coffee set (remember those?) try and keep just one piece and grow a couple of daffodils in it every year – (you know you can do that in water and gravel – no drainage holes required) and it can look so cool when the blooms come into being. Sadly, antiques are not really in high demand, but you can up cycle them. I once covered a Queen Anne chair, formerly in green velvet, in a wild Marrimekko fabric and painted the once varnished wood in a contrasting colour.

Divine.

The chance to make some extra coin. Picture: iStock.

How to offload gear and get paid?

Yes, it is a pain – no, hang on. It couldn’t be easier.

Come on, you can list stuff on your phone on the way to work, it’s that easy. Don’t worry about the perfect picture, you’ll just procrastinate.

Make no bones about how old, scratched or indeed how faultless the piece is, that way you won’t be stressed about people’s reaction when they come to buy it. Put it on one platform, say Facebook Marketplace first as local buyers are more likely to pop over and take something. Then if you are still searching for a sale, expand to all the platforms for one week. Just one week.

Prue Miller is The Fixer.

Then it’s all over for online.

It can be stressful to have ads lurking, so take them down and make a new plan.

If you renovated/recycled it would it get a better response? Give it a go – there’s not much on this earth that isn’t improved with a coat of paint or a hot glue gun. If it’s a specialist item, such as wine or books, spend the time to find groups that have an interest and email pics. Narrowing the target audience can do the trick.

Prue Miller is The Fixer, contact her about any and all of your home needs at: [e-mail]

Originally published as Home rubbish cleanup goes hi-tech - about time, how to make money from your junk at home