How do you manage trash?

[4000lbsOfGoat]

I would like to know how you good folks manage your trash while on the road...

I operate out of a Tacoma with a squaredrop camper. So far, I haven't come up with any better solution for trash than a standard trash bag balled up in the bed of the truck. When we're camped, and it isn't too windy, it comes out and gets hung from a relatively convenient spot on the outside of the camper. That sucks less than being in the back of the truck, but still kind of sucks.

A trasharoo is not an option as I have nowhere to hang it. Any type of receptacle inside the camper is not an option because the only thing "inside the camper" is my bed.

So, what do you do with your trash? Are there solutions out there?

Thanks!

 

[NatersXJ6]

When I camped out of a pickup frequently, I used a 5-gal bucket in the bed because it had a lid and wasn’t subject to spilling/tearing/blowing like a bag alone.

Now, I do the trasharoo thing, but still put a bucket in it to hold it open and keep it less likely to rip or leak.

 

[jadmt]

I have one of these and put a rock in it to keep it from blowing away. I only use it if I am going to be in one spot for a few days otherwise I just hang a bag from whatever is convenient. 5 gallon bucket works well too as was mentioned

 

[roving1]

I have a cheapo canvas army type duffel bag I use as a trasharoo sort of thing. I just put regular trash bags in it but because its in a canvas bag I can bungie it anywhere on my roof or on top of storage boxes or to the outside of the rear of the vehicle. I don't care if it gets wet since the garbage bags are waterproof but the canvas bag has super easy to use bungie points and doesn't flap in the wind and makes it impossible to puncture the garbage bags accidently.

I also try to keep as much organic material out of the garbage I can. I throw all my food waste and paper scraps into a little portable fire thingy I have along with everything that isn't plastic to burn it at the end of the day or stay at the site. I will also rinse out cans if I have a water source or throw the cans in the fire then throw them away after burning minus all the bio goop that would have rotted. Wet paper towels that are not super gross I will chuck in the corner of the truck bed and let them dry and then recycle them as firestarter.

I find separating out as much biomass as possible and burning it keeps the garbage way less gross and the volume down quite a bit.

Another cool tip is right at the market break down the meat and other groceries out of the packaging as much as possible and throw it away at the supermarket. It's way easier to wash a small plastic or silicone container out than throw away a blood soaked saranwrap and styrene blob to rot in a bag in the hot sun and carry around with you for days.

 

[dbhost]

I use an EZ Up type canopy with a 10x10 square leg frame, and Ozark Trail Sidewalls with pockets. The sidewalls have 2 "Trash Cans", 1 on each side of the sidewall toward the legs.
Walmart Link for Ozark Trail shade wall with organizer pockets

Quick, easy, effective, and not effected by minor winds. Obviously ANY trash collection outdoors is going to be problematic in a windstorm. Secure it down!

Oh, and it should go without saying but sadly many don't... but take every reasonable effort of minizing the amount of trash you generate.

Generally speaking, if I can chuck it in the fire pit and safely burn it, I will... If I can't, it gets separated into recycles and actual trash, Recycles on the right, trash on the left. This is because my stove shelf is on the right and I don't want trash, trash immediately next to it...

 

[4000lbsOfGoat]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Another cool tip is right at the market break down the meat and other groceries out of the packaging as much as possible and throw it away at the supermarket. It's way easier to wash a small plastic or silicone container out than throw away a blood soaked saranwrap and styrene blob to rot in a bag in the hot sun and carry around with you for days.

Excellent advice and we already do that. We carry a bunch of reusable zip-top bags and a few SS bento boxes. Pretty much everything comes out of the original packaging and into those before we leave the parking lot. Wine bottles get emptied into wine bags and liquor bottles get emptied into SS bottles!

Generally speaking, if I can chuck it in the fire pit and safely burn it, I will... If I can't, it gets separated into recycles and actual trash, Recycles on the right, trash on the left.

We rarely have fires so burning trash isn't an option. I would *love* to be able to recycle as much as I can but sadly there really aren't many recycling facilities in the areas we frequent (MT, ID, UT, AZ)...We're full-time on the road so we don't have a "home" to take the recycling back to...

It seems like there is a market gap around trash solutions, shocking that no one is offering any type of $400 "Overland Trash Container(TM)" yet!

 

[krick3tt]

I know you said not a Trasharoo thing but it is my way of a trash capture. It hangs off my spare tire and I use the very large bags that I get from Target from my shopping. They are just the size to fit in the bag. I just haul it out and toss it in the trash can when I stop for gas or in the larger bins that are conveniently located at almost any rest stop. The world really does want to accommodate us for our trash disposal rather than many I see stashed behind bushes or tossed out on the side of the road.
I do like the bucket with a top for the back of the pickup bed. I did use an Alice pack for awhile with a plastic bag inside it.
For really small items I have a rock climbing chalk bag from REI hanging in both my vehicles, easy to dispose of papers at almost any store that has a can outside the entrance.

 

[dbhost]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.


Excellent advice and we already do that. We carry a bunch of reusable zip-top bags and a few SS bento boxes. Pretty much everything comes out of the original packaging and into those before we leave the parking lot. Wine bottles get emptied into wine bags and liquor bottles get emptied into SS bottles!


We rarely have fires so burning trash isn't an option. I would *love* to be able to recycle as much as I can but sadly there really aren't many recycling facilities in the areas we frequent (MT, ID, UT, AZ)...We're full-time on the road so we don't have a "home" to take the recycling back to...

It seems like there is a market gap around trash solutions, shocking that no one is offering any type of $400 "Overland Trash Container(TM)" yet!

Seems like an opportunity for an app developer. Kind of like Gas Buddy, but instead, Recycle Buddy...

It's been 26 years since I have been there, so things may have changed, but when I was in Az in college, there were public recycle bins at grocery stores, and the large box stores. YMMV and again, it was decades ago...

Your method of reducing trash on the road is up there though. Good ideas!

 

[Utah KJ]

Burn it with fire.

 

[krick3tt]

Burn ban in place. Next step?

 

[pith helmet]

I use my SealLine dry bags lined with a plastic bag. Can stash on rack or even inside with no leaks or smells.

 

[4000lbsOfGoat]

I use my SealLine dry bags lined with a plastic bag. Can stash on rack or even inside with no leaks or smells.

Hmm. Dry bag. That's a good idea I hadn't thought of. Is that difficult to get into when you need to toss something? I feel like I'm accessing the trash every ten minutes (I smoke so I always have an ashtray to dump and I seem to go through millions of tissues every day) so I'm looking for something that's easy to access.

 

[ThePartyWagon]

Trasharoo with a 5gal Home Depot bucket inside. My bucket has a screw top lid and I use trash bags dropped into the bucket. Screw on the lid and hit the road.

You could store a similar bucket wherever you'd like if you don't use a Trasharoo.

 

[BritKLR]

Burn ban in place. Next step?

Plus, not a fan of burning an entire bag of trash in a fire pit.......ever seen what happens to diapers (child/adult) burned in your local hotdog/burger/marshmallow firepit?

As for trash management, a small trashcan from Walmart that holds Walmart plastic bags is perfect. It holds trash, it's not too big and the ever present Walmart/grocery store bags easily dispose in gas station trash cans next to the pumps while filling up.

 

[pith helmet]

Hmm. Dry bag. That's a good idea I hadn't thought of. Is that difficult to get into when you need to toss something? I feel like I'm accessing the trash every ten minutes (I smoke so I always have an ashtray to dump and I seem to go through millions of tissues every day) so I'm looking for something that's easy to access.

They aren’t that much trouble to get into, a quick buckle and a couple roll-downs. We use the ubiquitous grocery bag for quick access garbage, stashing in the dry bag when full or nasty.