i just cleaned the cupboard under the sink. wretchedly filthy it was. all we keep there is three buckets and a dishwashing container that holds gloves, scourers etc.

the buckets are -
- water from washing veges to be used in the garden
- compost – eggshells, coffee, citrus etc.
- chooks bucket – vege scraps.

the doors and sides of the cupboard get splashed with stuff and everything that misses the buckets ends up in the bottom of the cupboard. i was wondering what others do with their recyclables in the kitchen and if i could improve our system at all.

pepe said:

i just cleaned the cupboard under the sink. wretchedly filthy it was. all we keep there is three buckets and a dishwashing container that holds gloves, scourers etc.

the buckets are -
- water from washing veges to be used in the garden
- compost – eggshells, coffee, citrus etc.
- chooks bucket – vege scraps.

the doors and sides of the cupboard get splashed with stuff and everything that misses the buckets ends up in the bottom of the cupboard. i was wondering what others do with their recyclables in the kitchen and if i could improve our system at all.

Hi pepe. I have a double sink with one side containing a colander that compost scraps go into, and a bucket with a lid on the bench for worm scraps.

We have an ice cream container for chook scraps that sits on top of the indoor bins (we have four). The bins aren’t in a cupboard but we have the same issue. The wall behind the bins become horrid over time. If I had any space I’d have the bins all outdoors. But the back landing is just that – a landing – with no space for any bins. If you come up with a system that works – let me know.

The four indoor bins (‘cause someone’s bound to think “WHAT?”) – one for general rubbish; two for recycling ‘cause we just seem to have lots of it; and one for newspapers. We only get the freebie newspapers, and we use quite a bit to line the piggles cage. If we don’t save them we never have enough. I actually need another bin for shredded paper. At the moment it goes into a cardboard box, next to the bins, which works fine. Until the chook bucket falls into it :-((

When the kitchen is redone my plan is to line the bin area (floor, walls and all) with some sort of easy wipe material – possibly lino. If I could have a pull out lining that I can take downstairs and hose off, so much the better.

Hi pepe. I have a double sink with one side containing a colander that compost scraps go into, and a bucket with a lid on the bench for worm scraps.
———————————————————————
g’day crinkle
the colander is a thing that came with the sink or just a loose colander?
on top of the bench is good because you don’t have to bend and won’t miss as much, but could be deemed unsightly if you don’t empty it a lot.
i can see that you have a different setup – no worm farm here.

SueBk said:

We have an ice cream container for chook scraps that sits on top of the indoor bins (we have four). The bins aren’t in a cupboard but we have the same issue. The wall behind the bins become horrid over time. If I had any space I’d have the bins all outdoors. But the back landing is just that – a landing – with no space for any bins. If you come up with a system that works – let me know.

The four indoor bins (‘cause someone’s bound to think “WHAT?”) – one for general rubbish; two for recycling ‘cause we just seem to have lots of it; and one for newspapers. We only get the freebie newspapers, and we use quite a bit to line the piggles cage. If we don’t save them we never have enough. I actually need another bin for shredded paper. At the moment it goes into a cardboard box, next to the bins, which works fine. Until the chook bucket falls into it :-((

When the kitchen is redone my plan is to line the bin area (floor, walls and all) with some sort of easy wipe material – possibly lino. If I could have a pull out lining that I can take downstairs and hose off, so much the better.

we have a space over by the fridge that could house a four bin setup. that might improve things. one of our problems is the compost bin being behind the other two and so our aim is not always good.
our papers get stacked in the laundry and we have two other baskets in the kitchen that correspond to our two bin rubbish collection – i.e. waste & recyclables. in winter our papers and cardboard get burnt in the slow combustion.

Hi Peps, I just have an old large melamine mixing bowl on my benchtop for chook scraps. It was going to be thrown as it has a chink out of it near the pouring lip , but good for chook stuff. It gets emptied and rinsed a couple times a day.

The worm scraps go into a special lidded bin and gets emptied once or so a week, coffee grinds tea bags ect. It’s chrome ,about 3 lt , and has a inner plastic bin that lifts out, extravagant but looks at home on the bench , the lid fits well and keeps vinegar flies out. Can you open a large plastic bin liner to line the cupboard with , for bad aims ?

under our sink we have a double pull out bin for rubbish but the ants found it so I have the insert sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor instead. Food scraps go in the Bokashi Bin that sits on the bench. One of our cupboards fits two of those cube milk crate style boxes that I use for recyclables.

Happy Potter said:

Can you open a large plastic bin liner to line the cupboard with , for bad aims ?

maybe make some removable panels that fit against the sides and back of the cupboard. Then you can easily remove them for cleaning.

pepe said:

i just cleaned the cupboard under the sink. wretchedly filthy it was. all we keep there is three buckets and a dishwashing container that holds gloves, scourers etc.

the buckets are -
- water from washing veges to be used in the garden
- compost – eggshells, coffee, citrus etc.
- chooks bucket – vege scraps.

the doors and sides of the cupboard get splashed with stuff and everything that misses the buckets ends up in the bottom of the cupboard. i was wondering what others do with their recyclables in the kitchen and if i could improve our system at all.

Mine sit very tidy like on the cupboard. As I know if we did what you did……. the area wouldn’t get wiped down3 times a day at washing dishes time and a lazy one would bin her compost…..who is jet setting at the mo.

Also I don’t have as much room to do what you do, which I do like as it’s less clutter on the bench tops.

Happy Potter said:

Hi Peps, I just have an old large melamine mixing bowl on my benchtop for chook scraps. It was going to be thrown as it has a chink out of it near the pouring lip , but good for chook stuff. It gets emptied and rinsed a couple times a day.

The worm scraps go into a special lidded bin and gets emptied once or so a week, coffee grinds tea bags ect. It’s chrome ,about 3 lt , and has a inner plastic bin that lifts out, extravagant but looks at home on the bench , the lid fits well and keeps vinegar flies out. Can you open a large plastic bin liner to line the cupboard with , for bad aims ?

thanks HP – you must be an almost commercial kitchen too – which is interesting.
it sounds like i will be cleaning splashes and spills no matter what. i have laminate surfaces so cleaning them is probably easier than lining, but i’m beginning to see that undersink is not a good idea for chook scraps or compost.

bluegreen said:

under our sink we have a double pull out bin for rubbish but the ants found it so I have the insert sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor instead. Food scraps go in the Bokashi Bin that sits on the bench. One of our cupboards fits two of those cube milk crate style boxes that I use for recyclables.

so dry stuff in cupboards and wet stuff where you can see them. ta BG – its interesting to hear how others do it.

pepe said:

Happy Potter said:

Hi Peps, I just have an old large melamine mixing bowl on my benchtop for chook scraps. It was going to be thrown as it has a chink out of it near the pouring lip , but good for chook stuff. It gets emptied and rinsed a couple times a day.

The worm scraps go into a special lidded bin and gets emptied once or so a week, coffee grinds tea bags ect. It’s chrome ,about 3 lt , and has a inner plastic bin that lifts out, extravagant but looks at home on the bench , the lid fits well and keeps vinegar flies out. Can you open a large plastic bin liner to line the cupboard with , for bad aims ?

thanks HP – you must be an almost commercial kitchen too – which is interesting.
it sounds like i will be cleaning splashes and spills no matter what. i have laminate surfaces so cleaning them is probably easier than lining, but i’m beginning to see that undersink is not a good idea for chook scraps or compost.

What about just wiping it over say in the morning or with the eveing dishes, each day??

You’ll find it will become second nature to you.

thanks HP – you must be an almost commercial kitchen too – which is interesting.
it sounds like i will be cleaning splashes and spills no matter what. i have laminate surfaces so cleaning them is probably easier than lining, but i’m beginning to see that undersink is not a good idea for chook scraps or compost.

————————————————-
yeah atop bench is easier , where you have easier access. If you have to open a door or bend to put scraps in something there will be spashes , creating more work.
My kitchen has to be spotless all the time. Cooks hair net ect.

Mine sit very tidy like on the cupboard. As I know if we did what you did……. the area wouldn’t get wiped down3 times a day at washing dishes time and a lazy one would bin her compost…..who is jet setting at the mo. Also I don’t have as much room to do what you do, which I do like as it’s less clutter on the bench tops.
———————————————-
yeah yours is so tidy i didn’t notice it. i have got room – so i might try four bins on a stand over by the fridge and just keep the water bucket under the sink.

What about just wiping it over say in the morning or with the eveing dishes, each day?? You’ll find it will become second nature to you.
—————————————
as a last resort maybe – i’m a lazy soandso.

My kitchen has to be spotless all the time. Cooks hair net ect.
——————
i believe you.
i do keep a spotless, clear benchtop and have become accustomed to that.

pepe said:

Hi pepe. I have a double sink with one side containing a colander that compost scraps go into, and a bucket with a lid on the bench for worm scraps.
———————————————————————
g’day crinkle
the colander is a thing that came with the sink or just a loose colander?
on top of the bench is good because you don’t have to bend and won’t miss as much, but could be deemed unsightly if you don’t empty it a lot.
i can see that you have a different setup – no worm farm here.

Yes Peps the colander came with the sink, however, I’m thinking I need to find a new one as even though I bleach it, it is very discoloured and stained and unattractive. I have even tried windex!

Crinkle said:

pepe said:

Hi pepe. I have a double sink with one side containing a colander that compost scraps go into, and a bucket with a lid on the bench for worm scraps.
———————————————————————
g’day crinkle
the colander is a thing that came with the sink or just a loose colander?
on top of the bench is good because you don’t have to bend and won’t miss as much, but could be deemed unsightly if you don’t empty it a lot.
i can see that you have a different setup – no worm farm here.

Yes Peps the colander came with the sink, however, I’m thinking I need to find a new one as even though I bleach it, it is very discoloured and stained and unattractive. I have even tried windex!

Is it plastic Crinkle? Could you try lemon juice and sunlight? That’s what I do with my plastic cutting boards every now and then. Rub a cut lemon all over them and stick them in the sun for a hour or two. I don’t know if it works, but I feel better about using them :-))

I have a small bin with a swing lid on the bench. All the worm food and compost scraps go in it. If the worms don’t need it I store it in the garden in plastic bags till they do, or it goes in the compost when I build a new one. Household rubbish goes in a bigger swing bin on the bench (I would fall over it constantly if it as on the floor)

SueBk said:

Crinkle said:

pepe said:

Hi pepe. I have a double sink with one side containing a colander that compost scraps go into, and a bucket with a lid on the bench for worm scraps.
———————————————————————
g’day crinkle
the colander is a thing that came with the sink or just a loose colander?
on top of the bench is good because you don’t have to bend and won’t miss as much, but could be deemed unsightly if you don’t empty it a lot.
i can see that you have a different setup – no worm farm here.

Yes Peps the colander came with the sink, however, I’m thinking I need to find a new one as even though I bleach it, it is very discoloured and stained and unattractive. I have even tried windex!

Is it plastic Crinkle? Could you try lemon juice and sunlight? That’s what I do with my plastic cutting boards every now and then. Rub a cut lemon all over them and stick them in the sun for a hour or two. I don’t know if it works, but I feel better about using them :-))

Yes it is plastic SueBK. I’ll give that a go. Thanks.

Ours is much more simple as all food scraps just go into bokashi – no chooks etc. Our scraps go into takeaway containers (we eat a lot of thai, so always have plenty of these – when they’ve been used a few times they go into the recycling) and into the fridge, because I only open up the bokashi bucket every few days. We probably don’t generate as many food scraps as the average family though.

Recycling crate is in the bottom of the pantry, but I can daydream for hours about how to set everything up when we re-do the kitchen – probably number 15 or so on the Giant List.

pepe said:

i just cleaned the cupboard under the sink. wretchedly filthy it was. all we keep there is three buckets and a dishwashing container that holds gloves, scourers etc.

the buckets are -
- water from washing veges to be used in the garden
- compost – eggshells, coffee, citrus etc.
- chooks bucket – vege scraps.

the doors and sides of the cupboard get splashed with stuff and everything that misses the buckets ends up in the bottom of the cupboard. i was wondering what others do with their recyclables in the kitchen and if i could improve our system at all.

I use a big cheap stock pot from Kmart but it’s on the kitchen bench not under the sink. You can’t see inside with the lid so it’s not unsightly plus it doesn’t hold smells like plastic does.

i bought a
’30 ltr twin petal, stainless steel bin with 2× 15 ltr inner bins’.
looks pretty swish and seems to be well made with steel lock through handles on the bins, steel parts to the pedals and strong black bins. they sit on the floor.

if the missus approves i’ll buy another one so to have -
- compost/chook scraps in one double bin
- waste/recyclables in the other.
this cost $50 for a double lift out bin – heres hoping.

the recycling problem isn’t going away – i retrieve some cupboard space – and these look more acceptable than the pool chlorine buckets and cane baskets we’re using – so if we ever move house they come with us (which isn’t the case for fixed pullout and door hung models).

pepe said: ms pepe has approved the new bins.
BG said: brownie points for pepe :D
———————————
it wasn’t hard to sell a system as neat as this because the whole kitchen suddenly looks cleaner -
- no visible rubbish
- no undersink mess
- more storage space.
however the real test will be in 12 months time to see if these bins are still working and have been kept shining and clean.
if you are designing a new kitchen apparently a company called ‘Howard storage’ are the specialists. i never got that far and they are possibly expensive.

pepe said:

if you are designing a new kitchen apparently a company called ‘Howard storage’ are the specialists. i never got that far and they are possibly expensive.

they have got some great storage stuff there. Prices aren’t too bad.

my two new recycling bins

pepe said:

my two new recycling bins

they look very good pepe

pepe said:

my two new recycling bins

Pepe, how big in height are they??? I love it…….

Pepe, how big in height are they??? I love it…….
————————————
450mm (1’6”) high.
they are unbranded, made in china – so the real test is going to be how long they last.
so far so good – 1 week old.

Very smart, Peps :)

pepe said:

my two new recycling bins

an update – yes these are very good, cheap bins from B. at $25 each they are cheap compared to the alternatives – they work well last well and are mouse proof.
topic started in august last year – so this is an eight month trial update.
ps. going back that far under topics heading is interesting because there are a lot of interesting old topics.

pepe said:

pepe said:

my two new recycling bins

an update – yes these are very good, cheap bins from B. at $25 each they are cheap compared to the alternatives – they work well last well and are mouse proof.
topic started in august last year – so this is an eight month trial update.
ps. going back that far under topics heading is interesting because there are a lot of interesting old topics.

i remember this topic thats great that they are doing well.

That’s a good review, I need to get new bins for my daughter as she stored hers with us and we used them and wrecked them. They will make a good replacement.

orchid40 said:

That’s a good review, I need to get new bins for my daughter as she stored hers with us and we used them and wrecked them. They will make a good replacement.

the double bin units were $50 each maybe ? – you’d better check.
they were cheap at the time compared to others.