Going Green Can Begin with Your Garbage Can - KCOY Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo - News

Going Green Can Begin with Your Garbage Can

SANTA MARIA - Trash cans hold our garbage and a lot of toxic dirt and germs, but cleaning out those bins means possibly releasing toxins into our environment.

A local couple is committed to cleaning the Central Coast, one trash can at a time.

Danny Sheridan of Santa Maria explains where the inspiration came from: "It was trash day, and I pulled up in the driveway just as usual, and I walked out and I grabbed the trash cans and, disgusting as they are, I rolled them up, put them behind my gate, and I walked in the house. I've got a three-year-old son, and he came running up to me 'Dad, Dad, Dad' and I reached down and gave him a hug. And then I went to wash my hands."

It then occurred to Sheridan that it was too late; all the germs from his garbage can already were on his son. And cleaning-out the garbage can didn't lead to any better options for cleanliness or consciousness. Sheridan says the environment became a factor, too: "I noticed that a lot of people, neighbors and such, were washing their trash cans out. I was looking at the water, and basically, it was going down our storm drains and into our rivers."

Sheridan estimates each person wastes more than 30 gallons of water by cleaning-out their bins with a garden hose. So he and his wife, Kacie, founded "Cleaner Cans." It's a water-conscious and environmentally-friendly way to wash out your bins.

It's a mobile trailer that uses stored, recycled-water and a 100% biodegradable solution to clean your garbage dumpster the green way.

Sheridan explains the amount of water used by one home owner is immense compared to the volume used by Cleaner Cans: "If you were to take the 200 gallons we have on-board, basically, the average person could do 6 and 1/2 trash cans, where we can clean 200 to 250 trash cans."

The Cleaner Can crew comes to your house on your trash day and takes your can into their trailer. They then sanitize and clean it with high pressure and high heat, and finish it off with a deodorizing spray. When you come home at the end of a long day, your clean can awaits you.

Sheridan says the motives are for a clean environment, and a healthy planet: "I figure if we can do our part in keeping at a tolerable level and keeping the water out of our storm drains, I thought it was a win-win situation for everybody."

For more information on Cleaner Cans, click here.

Or call (805) 714-4775