Opinions requested - Trash compactor vs cupboard space

Muirgen Afloat said:

So we are debating on taking out the trash compactor on the boat and put in more cupboard space in the galley. We've never had a trash compactor before.. so don't really have any opinon on whether or not it's good.
We used it a couple times since we have been on the boat, but it doesn't seem to really compact all the well. Don't know if that is because it's not working right or because that's all it does.
We'd really like to have one more cupboard space in the galley, but not sure if we will regret taking out the trash compactor.

Opinions and personal experience would be appreciated.

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mvweebles said:

I have had one at my cabin for 30 years and like it (though I have plenty of cupboard space). Trash is a problem as are bears, so whatever we can do to reduce garbage is welcome (same as a boat....except for bears).

A couple tips. First, we don't put wet/fresh food in. We keep a small "compost bin" on the counter and empty it more frequently. Second, it doesn't really begin to compact that much until it's at least half full - it then compresses with enough force that it will often break a wine bottle. Finally, Costco has reasonably priced bags

If ours broke, we would replace it in a heartbeat. We go a full week of full time at-home on a single trash bag. While not thr same as a boat, I would think it pretty handy for cruising.

Good luck. Will be interested to know what you decide.

Peter.

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mvweebles said:

I have had one at my cabin for 30 years and like it (though I have plenty of cupboard space). Trash is a problem as are bears, so whatever we can do to reduce garbage is welcome (same as a boat....except for bears).

A couple tips. First, we don't put wet/fresh food in. We keep a small "compost bin" on the counter and empty it more frequently. Second, it doesn't really begin to compact that much until it's at least half full - it then compresses with enough force that it will often break a wine bottle. Finally, Costco has reasonably priced bags

If ours broke, we would replace it in a heartbeat. We go a full week of full time at-home on a single trash bag. While not thr same as a boat, I would think it pretty handy for cruising.

Good luck. Will be interested to know what you decide.

Peter.

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koliver said:

It depends greatly on how you use it. We had one at home for years. Learned to never put wet or compostable trash in it, as you can't get rid of the smell. Other trash can be made small with the push of a button.
BUT
If you get into the habit of crushing your empties, from milk, water, other drinks, vegetable containers, etc, you can do as good a job without using up valuable interior space. You will be storing the compacted trash in outside lockers no matter whether they come out of a compactor or not, so once crushed, there is no further space saving.
When we renovated our home kitchen the compactor went, and we didn't miss it.

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tiltrider1 said:

3/4 of my garbage is recycle. I pulled the trash compactor and replaced it with a pull out drawer that had separate garbage and recycle bins. This makes my life easier.

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O C Diver said:

I sort for recycling as things get used. My actual trash can is a 5 gallon bucket. Usually fills in about a week. If I'm out for several weeks, full trash bags go in the lazarette. Find that sorting recyclables allows for nesting of like materials. I would much rather have the space a trash compactor takes up, but then I've never had one.

Ted

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Simi 60 said:

We just take the tender ashore every couple of weeks and put a couple of bags in the nearest bins

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Spike said:

Two things that came with our boat that I thought we'd never use were the dishwasher and compactor.

The dishwasher came out early on, found that it doesn't work well with paper plates. The space was perfect for a drawer freezer instead.

I gave the compactor a chance and now I wouldn't be without one. As long as we keep out stuff that was once alive we can go for a week or more on one bag. As others have said, it really doesn't start compacting until it's about 1/2 full. It's kinda like a game now to see how long I can make it last.

We keep a separate can in the saloon for recycling...give the compactor a chance!!

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Porgy said:

It seems the smaller the boat, the higher percentage of galley storage it takes up. For that reason, we opted not to get one, much rather have the storage space. We have two small trash bins under the sink, one for recycle. As the other is filled with regular trash, it goes in a larger garbage bag in the laz until we get to shore. We also try to cut down on trash coming aboard by repackaging food.

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ksanders said:

I have a trash smasher on the boat and really like that it can compact the volume of trash stored to something way less than 50%.

I'm looking at it right now and thinking what if? What if i removed it, what to put there?

Then I think that I need a trash can anyway, and where the compactor is makes a logical choice.

The reality is that the compactor takes up almost zero more space than a regular kitchen trash can that takes "tall kitchen" size garbage bags

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Soo-Valley said:

I don't have a compactor. Oddly enough due to this thread I thought about where it could go and surmised that it would take the place of the waste catcher. Unless living on board I do not see the value in getting one. But if you already have one, keep it.

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ksanders said:

The reality is that the compactor takes up almost zero more space than a regular kitchen trash can that takes "tall kitchen" size garbage bags

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ksanders said:

I have a trash smasher on the boat and really like that it can compact the volume of trash stored to something way less than 50%.

I'm looking at it right now and thinking what if? What if i removed it, what to put there?

Then I think that I need a trash can anyway, and where the compactor is makes a logical choice.

The reality is that the compactor takes up almost zero more space than a regular kitchen trash can that takes "tall kitchen" size garbage bags

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ksanders said:

You are correct. In terms of value I would not modify a boat to put one in.

Conversely I would replace the one I have if/when it fails rather than modifying the cabinet space to account for it's removal.

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tiltrider1 said:

I only half agree with this. After pulling my compactor, I ended up with enough space for two tall kitchen bags. If we didn’t recycle I would probably have kept the compactor. With recycling I was forced to maximize my space. On the other hand if you don’t recycle then Kevin is correct.

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Soo-Valley said:

My wife is anal about recycling, me not so much.
You see here about 40% of recycled ends up in the landfill as recyclers cannot process fast enough. In addition the cost for recycle was supposed to be self supporting, NOT. The cost of getting rid of your waste has doubled in 6 years.
Boats are a different story, except for your home marina, many will limit you to one bag and some refuse to take your trash bag.
I applaud the efforts of many to faithfully recycle, it should work, and one day it will succeed.

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Stabi said:

Just as no 2 cruising areas are the same, most cruisers also have their own likes and dislikes. We took ours out, replaced it with a 2 compartment bin, one for burnables, the other for all else. Being on the boat for weeks at a time without going to port, there are, many times, places one can burn. In remote areas, once it is all mixed together and compacted, you are stuck with the total amount until going into port.

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Porgy said:

Depends where and the configuration of the space too. Where a compactor would go on ours would be a locker with storage space of over 8 cubic feet (33” x 18” x 24”.) Our two trash bins are 1.3 c.f. (12” x 12” x 8” each) and reside under the sink where we would not be storing food or dishes that would have to go somewhere.

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