In my house, the kitchen trashcan seems to fill to overflowing multiple times a day. I'm forever shoving the trash down in the bag to fit in just a little bit more before I take the bag outside to our two large garbage cans. And I'm still stuck on trash day, furtively sneaking an extra bag into my neighbor's half-empty bin.
If this scenario sounds familiar, a trash compactor may be a useful addition to your kitchen. The go-to appliance in the late '70s, the trash compactor is often overlooked in modern kitchen design, but it shouldn't be. It can help meet our new-fangled desire to take up less of the planet's room with our junk.
Viking dubs its professional series VUC "the most powerful home trash compactor available." And with 3,000 trash-crushing pounds and the largest capacity trash drawer on the market, they might be right.
The breakaway trash basket is easy to remove, empty, and clean out and can be used with or without bags. The built-in small litter area lets you load in small trash items without opening the large drawer. The whole unit claims to easily hold the weekly trash of a family of four.
This compactor will get the job done, and the activated charcoal filter and fan ensure your kitchen never smells like garbage. But if you're worried that a trash compactor will kill your kitchen aesthetic, consider that this one comes in 24 different color finishes--so it really won't look...trashy.