Trash and recycling sign

When to use

Post the trash sign under the sink and a second copy on the inside of the bin closet if the bins are easy to mix up. {trash_bin} and {recycle_bin} should name color, lid shape, or a word printed on the cart: “the green cart with the black lid” is better than “recycling” in a city that uses three carts. {do_not_bag} is the local list that actually causes contamination fines or animals: pizza boxes, batteries, loose plastic bags, cooking oil. Keep it short. {pickup_line} says the day and whether carts go to the curb or stay in a room. {bag_spot} is where a full bag waits, which might be the same as the cart or a cage behind the building.

{property_name} matters in a duplex where the carts are assigned and a guest uses the neighbor’s. If the association has its own sheet, do not contradict it. Copy the association’s colors onto this sign so there is one set of words at the door.

This sign supports the checkout sign. {bag_spot} here and the trash task on the checkout sign should be the same place. If they differ, the guest will choose the easier one.

Timing tip

Rewrite {pickup_line} when the hauler changes the weekday, which happens on holidays more than hosts remember. A sign that says Tuesday in a week where Tuesday pickup moved to Wednesday produces a cart at the curb overnight and a note from the city. Check the hauler the week of a holiday if you are picky about this, or tell guests in {pickup_line} to leave carts at {bag_spot} and that you will roll them. That second approach is better if guests consistently get the day wrong.

Walk to the carts before you print. Lid colors fade and get replaced. {recycle_bin} that says “blue lid” is wrong the day the hauler delivers a gray cart. Fix the noun.

Replace a sign that has grease on it. Nobody reads a stained list, and they will guess.

Common mistakes

A moral essay about the ocean is the first one. Guests who are leaving in twenty minutes need the cart and the exception list. {do_not_bag} can be five items. A paragraph about why recycling matters will not change a decision over a sticky container. The last line of the template, “when unsure, use the trash,” prevents the contamination that a long lecture does not.

The second is an impossible rinse rule. If you do not rinse your own jars, do not order guests to. The template says rinse if the lid says rinse. Keep that condition. An absolute “everything must be spotless” line creates guilt and a sink full of soaking cans that the cleaner then finds.

The third is sending them on a scavenger hunt. “Take recycling to the center on 4th Street” is a chore and often a car trip the listing never mentioned. {bag_spot} should be on the property or at the curb you are allowed to use. A depot run belongs in the price and the listing, or it belongs to you.

Animals, bags, and full carts

Lids are on the sign because raccoons and crows are a real turnover problem, not a punch line. If your carts lock, {bag_spot} should include how the lock works, or the lock code if it is not a secret shared with the whole block. A code on a sign is visible to anyone in the kitchen. Prefer a clip or a latch you can describe without a secret.

If {trash_bin} is full at check-in, do not leave that for the guest to discover on checkout morning. Empty it at turnover. The checkbox that tells them to write in the thread is for a bin that fills during their stay, not for a bin you left full. The cleaner checklist should include “carts have room for a stay.”