The Future Trash

We recently purchased a kitchen trash can from Costco that I just love! I know it sounds funny to say that I love a trash can, but I assure you it is no ordinary can. It has an infrared sensor that opens the lid when anything comes within about 6 inches of it, and gently closes the lid on a time delay once you are finished.

A little background: for some time, I had been wanting to find a kitchen trash can with a foot pedal that would allow me to dispose of my trash without having to touch the lid with my germy raw-chicken-juice covered hands (or whatever the case may be). There were two problems, however: 1)trash cans with foot pedals are way over-priced, for what you are getting, and 2) foot-pedal trash cans give you a big windy whiff-in-the-face of your garbage once you let your foot off of the pedal and the lid falls closed, unless you are really talented and can sprint to the other end of your kitchen before that happens. Anyhow, the Costco trash can solves both problems; it was less than a third of the price of the foot pedal trash cans I had found, and since the lid closes on a time delay once there is nothing in the sensor range, one has ample time to move elsewhere before it closes. But this isn't even a problem anyway, since the lid closes slowly and gently, and there is no breeze involved.

Joshua loves this trash can, and in fact gave it its name. He started calling it the Future Trash while we were still at Costco even, which is interesting because I had no idea that he had a concept of the "future" or that this trash can is "futuristic" (which it really kind of is). Anyway, it is really cute to see him use it because he will set his hand in sensor range and then raise his arm with the lid, as if raising his arm is the force that causes the lid to open. He darts his hand in and out very quickly (and nervously), lest the lid close on his wrist and sever his hand completely. Daniel still fears the Future Trash altogether. He gets definite points for bravery though. He will approach the can with his intended waste, inch it slowly into sensor range, and then drop the trash on the floor and run once the lid actually opens.