Trash door from kitchen to outside
My current home has a trash compactor built into the cabinets. This gets the garbage can out of the way, where typically it is on the floor of the kitchen.
A trash compactor is great, mostly because it compacts trash. Even with our family of four, I typically only take the garbage out once or twice a week.
But it is disgusting. After a few years of use you have to try and clean it up a bit, and this is a horrible job. Plus, areas that you can’t clean begin to smell.
It’s garbage, it belongs outside, and if you ask me, the kitchen garbage can belongs outside two.
I think our future homes will be built with small trap doors above the counter, either in the wall, or in the counter top, that allow you to dump your garbage outside of your kitchen into a garbage can that is located outside of your home. Most kitchens are built with an exterior wall to allow for a window, so I think the layout will work well.
Now this door would have to be insulated, provide a good seal with something like weather stripping, and have a latch or lock to keep it closed.
The garbage can outside would have to have some enclosure to keep animals and others from digging through your trash. And while I agree this enclosed space would also become disgusting and smelly; two things: One, it’s not in your house, its outside, and Two, because it’s outside you can have a hose and a drain and quickly clean it with very little work.
I think this application would also promote recycling and composting as well, as you could have separate doors for those items. I don’t like leaving the recycling in the house, and so we don’t have a designated basket to put it before it gets taken out. Throughout the day, or sometimes two, it builds up on our countertop, until I get the motivation to clear it out and take it outside. How great would it be to throw it out of your kitchen through a small door and be done with it instantly.
If I get the opportunity to build or rebuild a home, this is going to be a necessary option.