One way to help keep a home or workplace less cluttered is to have appropriate wastebaskets, trash cans and/or recycling bins in every spot that can use one.

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The 45-liter butterfly trash can from Simplehuman gets raves from purchasers, despite the relatively high price, because there are so many good design features. It's a fairly narrow can, at 10.4 inches, so it can fit into tight spots. The butterfly lid allows it to fit under counters where other cans won't work. And the lid stays open until the end user chooses to close it. 

Purchasers noted that this can keeps their dogs, cats and one-year-olds out of the trash—with the exception of one person whose dog kept his paw on the pedal. Another purchaser noted that the hinges on other cans scraped the paint on her walls, but since this can has internal hinges she had no such problem. 

And the can is designed to last. Simple human says the steel pedal is engineered to last over 150,000 steps—more than 20 steps a day for 20 years.

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Another step trash can with an interesting design is the Tip can from Authentics, designed by Konstantin Grcic. Grcic says: "A good deal of attention went into the design of the lifting mechanism of this waste bin. Most pedal-bins on the market are built with a complicated assemblage of wires, rivets, washers and pieces of plastic. We started the design by breaking the existing construction down into its essential parts. By the end we were able to build the entire mechanism (including the pedal) with just two pieces of metal rod and a rubber hinge." 

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However, purchasers noted a few problems with these bins. With no inner liner bin, this polypropylene trash bin is pretty lightweight—and some users had problems with it tipping over when opened. One placed a heavy doorstop in the bucket, and then it worked fine. Also, some had problems with the lid closing properly; they had to adjust it manually. 

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The Swing Bin, designed by Shigeichiro Takeuchi, was originally launched on Kickstarter. It has an ABS body and a veneered MDF lid, and that's it. Well, almost.

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Because so many people wanted to use a liner bag with this bin, Takeuchi revised the design to include a cylinder of thin PVC inside; a bag can be attached to that. (And those who don't care about using a liner bag can just remove the PVC cylinder.) That's a nice example of a designer listening to user feedback and adjusting accordingly.

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The Hideaway bin from Muuto, designed by Mika Tolvanen, also has an unusual (and useful) lid design; the lid has a clip that allows it to be hung on the side of the bin. 

Another interesting lidded trash can comes (again) from Simplehuman. The touch-bar cans use that bar instead of a pedal; the end user presses the bar—or bumps it with a hip, knee or elbow—to open the lid. As with the butterfly can, the lid stays open until the end user closes it. 

This design is especially nice for end users who have problems with foot pedals. One purchaser mentioned buying it for her mother with advanced arthritis; pedals were a problem for her, but she found this can easy to open.

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The Umbra Couplet, designed by David Green, is a bin for an office or other space without pets or small children. One half (with an inner plastic bin) can hold wet items, while the other half works for dry things. However, this won't work for anyone who discards small things like staples or paper clips.

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RE.BIN launched on Kickstarter and is now active on Indiegogo. The bins are made from recycled plastic and are sized to hold a paper grocery bag. RE.BIN is promoted as a way to make recycling easy—and a way to provide recycling bins that don't totally ruin the user's decor.

One thing worth noting: I now pay 25 cents for every paper bag I get at the grocery store. For any user in the same situation, this makes RE.BIN a slightly less attractive option than if the bags were still free—although the contents of those paper bags could perhaps be dumped and the bags reused. (And my 25 cents is still much cheaper than buying the liner bags that RE.BIN sells at $20 for a 30-pack.) But it's useful when designing for recycling to remember that recycling/reuse rules differ from place to place, and keep evolving. 

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Totem from Joseph Joseph, designed by PearsonLloyd, is a system intended to accommodate all the end user's waste and recycling needs. 

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The top section is a general waste container. There's also a small food caddy that can perch in that section (or in the drawer, or just on a kitchen counter). 

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The bottom drawer can hold any type of recycling. The divider can be removed if it's not needed. (Some areas have single-stream recycling, where sorting is not be required.)

While this design could work well for many end users, I see two potential problems for some of them. The first is that some locales may require more than two recycling sorts: paper, plastic, glass and cans, for example. Such items could be combined in the drawer, but that would lead to more work later on. The second is that bending down to access the recycling drawer may be difficult for some end users. However, the drawer is on wheels, and it moves in and out easily.

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Ueli was designed for Trunz by Alfredo Häberli, back in 2001. It's an interesting design that combines a waste basket with a paper collector, designed for office use.

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I can see a design like this also being used in a home, especially for end users who still get daily newspapers. Having it on wheels would make it easy to roll under (and out from under) a desk or table.