Trash Day Schedule: How Often Should You Take Out the Trash?

Trash day is today, tomorrow, and yesterday! The average American made 4.9 pounds of waste every day in 2018. 

Yet you can’t be spending all of your time moving trash bags around. Adopting a trash day schedule will let you take care of your trash and clean your house when you need to. Unfortunately, you need to do more than bring your bins out every Tuesday.

How often should you take out the trash? What should you do to reduce the number of times you take the trash out? How can you keep your trash cans clean? 

Answer these questions and you can have a healthier and happier home in no time. Here is your quick guide.

Figure Out When Garbage Collection Occurs

When your city picks up your trash may be your most significant determinant for when you empty your trash. Do your research to figure out when and how your city is coming by to pick up your garbage. 

The city of Peoria offers trash pick-up services on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. If you have large items that do not fit in your trash bins, you can request the city to come and pick those items up. You cannot ask the city to throw away your hazardous chemicals or glass for you. 

Try to adopt a trash day routine. Go through your home and collect each bag, then put the bags in your bins. Bring them out to the curb early in the morning so the city staffers can come by as soon as possible.

Assess Your Garbage Use

You may need to request additional pick-ups depending on a few factors. If you live in a home with a lot of people, you will need to take the trash out more often.

The only exception is if you live in an apartment building with shared garbage facilities. The responsibility to take the trash out lies with your landlord, not you. 

As soon as your garbage bag fills up, you should take it out. You may fill a bag with kitchen trash in less than a week. In an office space or a bathroom, it may take a few weeks to fill a large bag.

The bigger your bags and bins are, the less often you have to take out the trash. If you have a busy schedule, you should get large bins and put them everywhere in your house.

Get Rid of Old Food Regularly

Old food should be your first target when sorting through your kitchen trash. Leaving food out can attract pests and spread pathogens through your house. 

You can keep most vegetables and fruits in your fridge for a week. Meat can go bad in just a few days unless you freeze it or wrap it in airtight packaging. Processed foods can last for months and canned goods can last for years, and you can still eat them even after their expiration dates.

Put moldy or unusable foods into your trash can, then take the can outside your house. Move it a few feet away from your doors and windows so pests don’t go to your can and then sneak inside your house.

Make Some Compost

Making compost lets you take some of your waste and turn it into organic material for plants. It also reduces the amount of trash you need to throw away on garbage day. You can make compost whenever you want, though it’s a good idea to make it a few times a week. 

You can compost fruits, vegetables, paper, and sawdust. You should never compost meat, dairy products, or fats, as they can attract pests. 

To make compost, you should put your produce in a dry and shady area away from your house. If you don’t have an exterior yard, you can make your compost in a bin. Break your trash down into small bits, mixing brown and green materials together. 

Clean Your Trash Areas

Trash can cleaning is the most underrated part of trash day. Dripping meat or rotting vegetables can leave pathogens on your trash cans, which can then make you sick. You should clean your trash cans and kitchen every time you take out the trash. 

Spray a disinfectant on all surfaces of the trash can, including the exterior. Let the disinfectant sit for a few minutes so it kills the pathogens. You can then use a paper towel to soak the spray up before putting the towel in your trash bag. 

You should also clean the area around your trash bins. Use a vacuum cleaner or a broom to pick up trash and throw it in the bin. If you’ve dropped trash on the floor, you should use a disinfectant to kill any harmful bacteria or viruses. 

If you have a problem with foul odors, you can use baking soda to cut down on the smell. Sprinkle some baking soda on the bottom of your trash cans and around your cans. You can take advantage of the opportunity and deep clean your whole kitchen to remove odors and bacteria.

Adopt a Trash Day Schedule

A trash day schedule can be a great tool to cut your clutter down. You should bring out your trash bins when your city collects them. 

However, if you eat a lot of meat or produce, you need to take out the trash multiple times a week. You must spend time cleaning your bins because they can be home to bacteria and viruses. To save some time, you should buy large trash bins and make some compost.

Call in the professionals when your trash becomes too much. Dirt Busters serves the Greater Phoenix area. Get your cleaning quote today.