In early January, we embarked on a ambitious project to remake an entire office into an environment conducive to collaboration, brain storming, and most importantly fun. Every aspect was considered and with a tiny budget, started planning with the one item often disregarded until the last minute. I’m talking the trash bin. Do you know how hard it is to find a good trash bin? In its simplest form, a trash bin is just a bucket in all shapes and sizes but we were looking for an engineered solution and who better than simplehuman.
simplehuman’s ethos is to create simple tools for efficient living. Every desk, every room, and every common area has a trash bin. For an object to occupy nearly every corner of the office, we needed a bin that could hide rubbish yet add to the overal architecture of the interior space. We looked at many bins but found they either veered too far on utilitarianism, or too deficient on utility, relying solely on marketing and big designer names.
We settled on the simplehuman 10 litre profile open can. At on $29.99 a piece, this compact stainless steel can is modern, sculptural, and minimalistic. The can itself is made up of three components – the shell, a lid, and a removeable/washable plastic liner bin. The liner bin is what you wrap your disposable bags around. The lid cleverly hides everything so the shell maintains its clean look.
Their appearance provides just enough contrast against the stark white walls accented by dark walnut shelves and doors. After months of use, the bins have held up well to the everyday rigors of office life. Every can still gleaming, lids neatly hiding liner bags, and not a single dent in any of them. Although most people don’t think of a trash bin as an integral part of decorating, I hope this a reminder that even the little things can add up to a more organized and efficient workspace. The less time you have to think about trash, the more you can spend on working and having fun.
I want to personally thank simplehuman, and David Lai for helping us procure these bins on such short notice.
Designer: simplehuman, $29.99
