Trash compactors were originally created back in 1941, as a means to crush and collect oil cans. They were then fed into mainstream households soon after, in an attempt to aid people in getting rid of their trash quickly and easily. However, the love affair that many first had with the trash compactor was short lived, and since 2009, it’s estimated that only 3.5% of American households still use one in their home.
Why? And are they actually a good fit for anyone’s home?
The Advantages of a Trash Compactor
There are a few advantages that would make a trash compactor the perfect addition to your home, which is why they became so popular in their first few years. Let’s take a look at them.
Firstly, they’re great at reducing the amount of waste you physically have in your home. Once the trash compactor’s hydraulics have worked their magic and crushed your trash into a cube, you’re left with way more space than you had originally.
Furthermore, with your trash fully compacted there’s no need for plastic trash bags, which means you’re being much more environmentally friendly if you choose to go down this route.
The Disadvantages of a Trash Compactor
Naturally, there are a few disadvantages to installing a trash compactor in your home, and some say they’d outweigh the advantages. Take a look to see why trash compactors became less popular as the years went by:
Firstly, people found that the neat cube they’d turned their waste into was actually the wrong shape for their trash cans. Because the waste was compacted so tightly too, it was near impossible to change their shape at all. Cubed trash in a circular trash can didn’t work quite as well as first anticipated.
Secondly, and again due to how tightly compacted the trash ended up being, it actually proved more difficult for the waste to break down once it was taken to the landfills. That means that trying to be more environmentally friendly by using less trash bags wasn’t actually working as well as hoped. The compacted trash lasted way longer in landfills than regular trash – making all the work to be sustainable null and void.
That’s not all. At one point in the trash compactor’s history, people were even complaining that the smell coming from their unit became worse the longer it was left. By crushing food cans and containers that still had pieces of food or other debris inside, it was impossible to stop it becoming moldy and odorous.
Finally, having a trash compactor isn’t a cheap option. In fact, you could end up paying up to $1,000 for the compactor itself and the installation process. Whilst the advantages are there, the disadvantages certainly outweigh them.
Conclusion
So are trash compactors worth it? Not really. As you can see, they seem to have more disadvantages than advantages, making them a complete waste of your money.
Trash Compactor | Recommended
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Last Update: 2024-04-17 | Affiliate links/Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
