Flower Shops Walpole NH

Walpole NH Press

Trash Never Looked So Stylish

There are plastic units made by companies like Rubbermaid, Suncast and Keter, as well as wooden options from companies such as Walpole Outdoors and Leisure Season, but some of these products look only marginally better than trash bins themselves, while others raise questions about durability and protection from rodents. Liz Picarazzi, the creator of CitiBin, first encountered the issue when clients of her Brooklyn-based handyman company, Checklist Home Services, began asking her to help tidy up their trash. “I started researching what sorts of enclosures existed, and developed an obsession with it,” she said. “What I found was that there wasn’t really any good solution.” So she decided to come up with her own. She and her employees began by building trash enclosures in her Park Slope backyard in 2012. Over time, the design of CitiBin evolved and the operation grew into a larger enterprise that now has a dedicated production facility near the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The modular units are made with slats of a bamboo-and-plastic composite normally used for decking over an aluminum frame, and sit slightly off the ground on adjustable feet. They are enclosed on all sides, including floor and back, with small gaps between boards that allow ventilation but prevent rodents from getting in. “The rats cannot eat through the composite,” Ms. Picarazzi asserted. The product starts at $1,300 per unit capable of holding a standard 32- or 44-gallon trash bin, or $1,400 per unit for a larger 50-gallon bin, and discounts are provided for larger quantities. The optional planters for flowers are $200 per unit. So far, Ms. Picarazzi has sold about 100 units across the city, direct from her company, to individual homeowners and large apartment buildings. CitiBin isn’t the only option. Julio Lio designed a prefabricated trash enclosure with similar functionality in 2011, named MetroBox. “It was out of need more than anything else,” said Mr. Lio, who also makes mailboxes and other home goods under the brand name Ecco. “I own a property in Downtown Brooklyn, and was looking for something to put outside, and could not find anything.” MetroBox has a more traditional look, with black powder-coated aluminum grilles in front of perforated PVC panels. The unit’s curved lids are embossed with fleurs-de-lis. A double unit capable of holding two standard 32-gallon bins is $900. The design is not modular, but Mr. Lio plans to introduce a single-bin unit soon, for about half that price, and any number of units can be positioned beside one another. For townhouse owners with limited space, Mr. Lio pointed out that prefabricated products like MetroBox, which weighs about 110 pounds for the standard double unit, tend to be free-standing and fairly easy to move. “We often end up having to put one of the units on a hatch door that goes to a basement,” he said, “so the fact that it’s movable is an asset.” Mr. Lio said so far he has sold about 200, which are installed outside buildings in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. MetroBox, like CitiBin, is available only direct from the company. The design appealed to Chris Horrigan, an owner of Horrigan Development w... http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/20/realestate/trash-never-looked-so-stylish.html