jiminy, why are nice, big trash cans so expensive? (p.s. I FINALLY found an affordable option!)
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Alex Hillman
Mar 4, 2017, 7:30:52 PM3/4/17
to cowo...@googlegroups.com
On the list of questions I never thought I'd be asking, "why are trash cans so expensive?" is probably near the top of the list right next to "where did all of the forks go?" and "why are so many landlords total psychos?" ;)
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I'm not talking about the kinds of trash cans you can buy at Target, or even on Amazon. Consumer-grade trash cans on the scale of nice looking and reasonably priced are pretty easy to find.
But when you start looking at a trash can that doesn't fill up 2-3 times a day when it's shared by 100+ people...your options start to shrink.
And really, it's not that there aren't options...it that with trash cans over 20 gallons everything is either bizarrely expensive, ugly as sin, or both.
Every option I found that was even slightly attractive came in at $700+ and I just couldn't couldn't couldn't bring myself to drop that much money on a SINGLE TRASH CAN. It's not like the can took the trash out, or put a new bag in itself...sheesh.
So we settled on trash can enclosures to cover large construction cans like the ones you can find at home depot...but the enclosures always took up a lot of space, got dirty (nothing quite like scrubbing out a trash enclosure).
After a couple of years of on-again-off-again research, I finally found a few kinda-nice-looking can options and shared the latest findings with our community. While discussing the options, one member shared a link she found (I still don't know how she found them before me) for these: http://kolorcans.com
Some of the colors were pretty ugly, but there were a few decent ones and the physcial design was rather nice looking for a workspace.
But most importantly, their BIGGEST options (55 gallons!!) came in around $250...literally a third what I'd found for 32 gallon (or smaller!) cans.
With that said, 55 gallons is much bigger than we needed for daily use. 32 gallons is really plenty for us and only needs to be emptied once at the end of the day. We ended up going with this option in "dark granite."
Before completing an order direct through kolorcans.com, we found this website (yes, trashcans unlimited is a real website) that sells the same Kolorcans product but allows you to mix and match colors between the base and the lid, which allowed us to get one of the two cans with a blue lid to indicate recycling. Boom!
Two cans, with two different color of lids, with 32 gallon liner bins each, came to under $500 including shipping. Which is still 30% less than a single trash can from nearly any other vendor I found!
So that's my nearly 400 words missive on the terribleness that is the trashcan industry, and a great option for ~$200 each that only took me 5 years to find. May you all confidently upgrade your trash cans...as I know you've been wanting to.
:)
-Alex
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The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.
Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com
My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten
Scott Tillitt / BEAHIVE
Mar 5, 2017, 12:56:59 PM3/5/17
to Coworking group
The struggle is real!
Alex Hillman <dangerous...@gmail.com>: Mar 04 07:30PM -0500
On the list of questions I never thought I'd be asking, *"why are trash
cans so expensive?"* is probably near the top of the list right next to *"where
did all of the forks go?"* and *"why are so many landlords total psychos?" *
;)
I'm not talking about the kinds of trash cans you can buy at Target, or
even on Amazon. Consumer-grade trash cans on the scale of nice looking and
reasonably priced are pretty easy to find.
*But when you start looking at a trash can that doesn't fill up 2-3 times a
day when it's shared by 100+ people...your options start to shrink. *
And really, it's not that there aren't options...it that with trash cans
over 20 gallons everything is either bizarrely expensive, ugly as sin, *or
both. *
*Every option I found that was even slightly attractive came in at $700+*
and I just couldn't couldn't couldn't bring myself to drop that much money
on a SINGLE TRASH CAN. It's not like the can took the trash out, or put a
new bag in itself...sheesh.
So we settled on trash can enclosures to cover large construction cans like
the ones you can find at home depot...but the enclosures always took up a
lot of space, got dirty (nothing quite like scrubbing out a trash
enclosure).
After a couple of years of on-again-off-again research, I finally found a
few kinda-nice-looking can options and shared the latest findings with our
community. While discussing the options, one member shared a link she found
(I still don't know how she found them before me) for these:
http://kolorcans.com
Some of the colors were pretty ugly, but there were a few decent ones and
the physcial design was rather nice looking for a workspace.
But most importantly, their BIGGEST options (55 gallons
<http://kolorcans.com/t/55-gallon-receptacles>!!) came in around
$250...literally a third what I'd found for 32 gallon (or smaller!) cans.
With that said, 55 gallons is *much* bigger than we needed for daily use.
32 gallons is really plenty for us and only needs to be emptied once at the
end of the day. We ended up going with this option
granite."
Before completing an order direct through kolorcans.com, we found this
website
(yes,
trashcans unlimited is a real website) that sells the same Kolorcans
product but allows you to mix and match colors between the base and the
lid, which allowed us to get one of the two cans with a blue lid to
indicate recycling. Boom!
Two cans, with two different color of lids, with 32 gallon liner bins each,
came to under $500 including shipping. *Which is still 30% less than a
single trash can from nearly any other vendor I found!*
So that's my nearly 400 words missive on the terribleness that is the
trashcan industry, and a great option for ~$200 each that only took me 5
years to find. May you all confidently upgrade your trash cans...as I know
you've been wanting to.
:)
-Alex
------------------
*The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.*
Better Coworkers: http://indyhall.org
Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com
My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten
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SCOTT TILLITT
PR yogi + social entrepreneur + community catalyst + meditator
BEAHIVE // spaces for work + community collaboration
ANTIDOTE COLLECTIVE // communications + projects for a better world
RE>THINK LOCAL // co-creating a better Hudson Valley
- -- - t h i n k / f e e l - -- -
"...an idea or product that deserves the label 'creative' arises from the synergy of many sources and not only from the mind of a single person." — Mihaly Csikszentmihaly
Jeannine van der Linden
Mar 8, 2017, 4:24:11 AM3/8/17
to Coworking
I have a similar tale about mail boxes, specificallly package boxes/. We have a couple of members in internet retail and they get theiir returns here. So many, many packages.
Stateside I had a mailbox dedicated to packages for this reason,when I made custom perfumes and scented products, so I didn't have to wait for the UPS guy. (There is probably a name for this but I cannot think of it now).
I looked everywhere and every option was hugely expensive.
At the end of the day I got a... wait for it....garbage can, cut a hole in the lid, threw a chain around the lid and called it industrial art.
At the end of the day I got a... wait for it....garbage can, cut a hole in the lid, threw a chain around the lid and called it industrial art.
If it's for busi8ness or industrial use it costs three times as much as far as I can tell, that seems to be the rule.
Well done for solving the problem.
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