There is no truer statement than “necessity is the mother of invention.”
I’ve worn a lot of hats in my life, daughter, sister, wife, mother, teacher, friend, principal, and counselor.
But now, I can add a couple of more hats.
Inventor. Engineer.
If anyone has been in my kitchen and has had the misfortune of having to throw something in the trash or to recycle anything, they are forced to make the agonizing decision of which of the containers the item goes into. This is because they both seem to shmoosh and glide into one.
About a year and a half ago, we changed the kitchen cabinets and made a pull-out drawer for trash. The trash drawer was too small for the waste baskets that came with a normal pull out trash drawer.
In keeping with wanting to save the environment for my grandchildren and great, great, great grandchildren, I wanted two containers in the drawer.
You may think that finding two containers to fit in a drawer is easy, but it is not. I checked Amazon, the Container Store, Target, Walmart, K-mart, restaurant supply stores and even garage sales. NOTHING!!!
Finally, I did manage to find two containers that would fit.
If you notice, they are very short containers. They do not even come half-way up the drawer!
They are so short that within four hours they are full–remember there are only three people living in the house. Of course, no one wants to take the trash out, so they try to push and shove the trash into the appropriate container. The one is the back is for recycling, the one in the front is for trash.
I think the people in our recycling garbage truck are swearing at us every Tuesday because the containers usually become so co-mingled that there is a little bit of everything in each one. I feel bad because there may be several cans that were never recycled because the recycle basket was always full.
We illegally co-mingled for about two years!
I had an idea, for over a year, that I tried to get Number One to try. He kept telling me that it wouldn’t work, that it would be ugly or whatever kind of excuse he could come up with.
Finally, I had had enough! I guess this is the year of the women who think they can so…. I did it!
I got this shirt from Jazz for my birthday as incentive to help me exercise. It didn’t help with the exercise, but it did encourage me with my invention.
I had an idea to use PVC piping, but when I went into Home Depot to ask for help with it, I said PCP piping. (He laughed and corrected me and told me it was PVC. I guess he thought I was going to pipeline an hallucinogenic drug.) Also, I was carrying the wastebasket that I wanted to use–maybe he thought I was going to fill the wastebasket with PCP.
I needed 16 three-way-tee fittings and piping. He suggested 2 pipes, I got three for good measure. And, I am glad I did. Oh, I also asked about cutting the PVC piping. He showed me tool that was not too expensive and would make my life very easy, and it did!
I came home, showed Number One what I wanted to do with the piping and he was intrigued.
The next morning we started “our” project. You know to keep peace, I can’t take all the credit.
Side View
Top View
Completed Project
The finished product!
We now have two distinct baskets. Each one is big enough to hold two days worth of garbage–not four hours–and I am patenting it!
I can hardly wait to see the faces of our garbage people.
SHE CAN DO IT!!!!!