Like most households, we generate some amount of rubbish. (Not to be confused with compost, which goes in the compost bin my daughter and I built, or recyclable glass, aluminum cans, tin cans, corrugated cardboard, and various papers, which go to the recycling drop-off.) Some time back I got some Sterilite (think Rubbermaid, only cheaper) tubs to lug rubbish to the solid waste transfer station - two of them fit in the car's trunk. Unfortunately, the lids cracked easily, flies were able to get in, and maggots atop one's trash containers are no fun. Plus, they were broader than they were deep, and thus a pain to handle for dumping into a compactor chute. So today, they got ditched. After which I went shopping, and determined that the largest cylindrical, stainless steel rubbish can available in consumer-oriented stores locally (Sears, Macy's, Wal-Mart, Long's Drugs, Ace Hardware) was about 1.25 gallons. Hooray! We'll only need, uh... twenty or so.
A bit of Googling confirmed my belief that there are plenty of stainless cans out there in larger sizes. Some of them are even step-on or pedal cans, with nice tight-fitting lids, and so on. Unfortunately, they're quite pricey; one of reasonable size is typically around $100 or more. (On the plus side, some of them come with spiffy stickers that say things like "Biohazard" and "Infectious Waste." Just the thing to catch the attention of the security guy at the dump. Yes, I said "security guy at the dump." Heaven knows our trash needs to be protected from terrorism. Oy!)
So... I'll check some office supply stores soon. In the meantime, when someone says, "the bathroom trash needs to go out," I just reply, "out to what?"
