Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with bins

Can you use airport amnesty bins to erase certain crimes?

Damn That Television — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:07:50 -0800

Where can I find the written laws that regulate amnesty bins at airports? (Amnesty bins are the bins right before the metal detectors in some airports where you can, according to signs, throw away anything that you can't take through security without penalty.) And, related, are these actually legally binding, or just a gentlemen's agreement? Could someone hypothetically put a stolen painting in the bin, and be free of legal consequence of having stolen it?

Really, I've culled a lot out already.

Medieval Maven — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:58:37 -0800

Organization Filter: How do you organize a bunch of definitely weird and sometimes incredibly disparate STUFF? Or, theater filter. I have at this point a few bins of stuff from the theater that I'm trying to store/sort/use-reuse-recycle better than currently. Our biggest problem is that we are all the time losing things and rebuying them and then finding them. We are gypsies, essentially- we pack into our rehearsal/staging space 2x/year and then we pack out. Everything is stored in our garage. Here are our categories so far:

Kitchen & Concessions - coffee urn, tea, chips, nonperishable foodstuffs, signs, baskets, paper plates, etc.

Craft - hot glue, spray paint, that sort of stuff

Set and Tech - electrical stored separately, tools, fasteners, odds and ends from construction

Makeup & Costume - make up that is reusable, hairspray, curlers, shoes, wigs, and so far five Shakespeare casts' worth of costumes

We are making a costume closet in a storage space in the house, so the clothes are covered and the wigs all have wig boxes. Our biggest issue is losing track of the small items in the bigger bins. We need a system wherein we lose much less of those small things but also store stuff in a very portable way. That's why we have the bins going. We are open to non-bin solutions. Ziplock bags of stuff in the larger bins tend to get lost under bigger stuff (hammers, rope, hair dryer, etc) - I am not sure if better control of the bigger items is really the solution or not. We have thought of posting lists on the outside of the bins, but I am afraid of bin-list upkeep. Ideas?

No more roast worms! Or worm-icicles, for that matter.

jujube — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:45:13 -0800

My amazing awesome husband got me a composter! Yeah! Now what do I do with it? I've only vermicomposted before, so the regular composting is new to me. I've looked at this and this, but have some questions specific to my zone/current weather. FYI, I live in central Jersey, which is zone 6b, avg. min. temp. range is 0 to -5 F.

1. Can I start composting in the winter? I have some leaves/vines/branches/newspapers/cardboard/kitchen scraps as the occur. Is this enough to get it started? What else should I throw in there?

2. If winter's not a good time to start regular composting, how about vermicomposting? Anyone have success vermicomposting using a regular composting bin?

3. Also, along that vein, any one have success keeping the worms warm enough outdoors during the winter in zone 6b or colder? Last time I vermicomposted, I was in Illinois, which was zone 5, and I had to bring my worms indoor in the winter. This really really freaks my husband out, and I prefer to keep the worms outside the house, since he was such a sweetheart to get me the composter in the first place.

4. If I go the vermicompost over winter route, how do I combine that with the "regular" composting I hope to start once the weather warms up? Will my poor worms die from being getting too hot? The type of composter I have has separate "bins". Can I reserve one the bins for the worms and the rest for regular compost?

5. Last question! If you've vermicomposted as well as regular composted, which would you say did a better job of creating compost? By better, I mean getting rid of kitchen scraps in the quickest amount of time, and quality of compost created.

Thanks!!!

Redoing the games closet...plastic bins?

riverjack — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:13:33 -0800

Where can I find inexpensive plastic bins that I can keep my board games in that fit the game boards and all the pieces? I've been googling for over an hour and I can't find any 16 x 11 x 2 bins anywhere other than The Container Store. Call me cheap, but I don't want to spend more for a container than I spent on the game in the first place, and at $15.00 each, the Container Store is out. Any advice or recommendations on how you've stored your board games in plastic containers would be appreciated. Is there a website where I can find containers by size? Currently, from measuring game boxes, I think I would need containers in three sizes: 16x11x2, 8x5x3, and 7.5x10.5x3. I also have no idea what are some good solutions for card decks, both regular and for games like Uno, Phase 10, etc.

Thank you!

Berlin Bin Botherers

spyke23 — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 03:29:16 -0800

Whilst at Berlin Tegel Airport, my significant other noticed that while you had the usual disheveled people scavenging around the separate recycle bins in the airport, you had perfectly ordinary looking people poking around inside the bins also. Anyone know why this is so?

Elegant trash/recycling bins?

Manhasset — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 08:29:53 -0800

I have little under-cabinet space and and am looking for a somewhat elegant solution to trash/food waste/recycling. Because of the lack of under-counter space, I need something free-standing and preferably with a small footprint. Suggestions? Requirements:

- lid is a must
- small footprint (tall is much better than wide though short and not wide is fine, too)
- way of latching a bag of some kind on
- one can that solves two issues (ie, trash and food) is good. one that solves all three is grand.

I quite like this two in one can but: a) it's very pricey and b) it's meant for recycling, which means there's no easy way to attach a bag. Anyone make anything similar that's for garbage and food waste?

And... anyone know of an online retailer for Simple Human products that's super cheap? The cans are cheaper in stores than on the site so I assume there are places online that are even cheaper than brick and mortar.

Looking for an attractive recycling bin/station

nitsuj — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 12:16:40 -0800

Looking for attractive, cheap recycling bin options. Open the lid, because there's I'd like to be better about recycling cans, bottles, glass, paper, etc., but I have yet to find any somewhat attractive recycling bins that I wouldn't mind having in my small apartment. I have relatively no money to spend on this project to boot, so I'm asking you guys.

Ideally I'd like something that's three compartments (glass, plastic, aluminum) and possibly a drawer for papers. The footprint would need to be no bigger than, say, 3 kitchen sized trashcans. Something I can put trash bags in to hold the stuff, and easily remove when I'm ready to take the load to the recycling center.

Something prefab or homebrew - doesn't really matter which. I found this at Target - but it seems a like a bit too much. I invision mine being made of sturdy plastic.

What do you guys suggest?

Can I recycle and have an uncluttered kitchen?

Alison — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 06:12:49 -0800

Does anyone know any good recycling storage options? My boyfriend is a recycling fanatic. Before he moved in I only recycled cans and glass. Now we also have piles of newspaper, cardboard containers and plastic in the kitchen awaiting a trip to the recycling center. The basement is a bit too inconvenient for recycling storage, so we would prefer to keep everything in our small kitchen. However, brightly colored plastic bins are not our style.

Does anyone know of any stylish storage containers big enough to hold newspaper? Bonus points for something simple made of wood or white in color. We are considering making our own, but that time could be better spent on something else.

Also, if you have a great recycling system or any other ideas I would love to hear them.