My new crazy idea- garbage dehydrator

[Brad_bb]

Ok, here's a goofy Idea I've been thinking about lately... my garbage!
  I live on a farm.  I put my garbage bags in a Rubbermaid Brute Tuff Can with the lid snapped on, in my garage.  By the time garbage day comes, I have maggots in the can.  I'm not sure if eggs were laid prior to placing in the can or after.  Of course this only happens in summer.

I've thought of several options - 1)put a foam seal on the can lid, but that won't stop bacterial action and the stink.  Maggots may sill be there too.

2) my crazy idea is to make a garbage dehydrator, like a food dehydrator.  Maybe a solar one.  You'd have to have a box with windows so that the sun can heat it up inside.  You'd also need a very small fan to pull the moisture laden air out of the box.  But with high humidity in the summer, would it even work?  It needs to get hot fast, but not so hot that the plastic bag melts.  How crazy is this?

3) a final option I thought of is to put the garbage bag in another bag and vacuum the air out.  But I don't have a good way to then seal the bag (like a clear or even a black plastic lawn and leaf bag).

Thoughts?

[Kansas]

Offhand, I would wonder why you would not do a simpler method. Compost any food or biodegradable stuff. Those piles get hot enough nothing lives in them. Add some grass clippings. Leaves. If you garden, or your wife plants flowers, its great stuff. I don't think you would have a maggot problem if all of that stuff was removed. I could be wrong, but I don't think that would be a problem anymore

[Riggs]

On hot days, that's gonna stink I don't think it would dry fast enough. I'm with Kansas, compost and recycle all you can.

[isawlogs]

 A dehydrator will cost as much to run as a freezer.....  Just a thought.

Also, as mentioned , if you are on a farm, all that garbage that maggots like should be composted. We throw all that here on the manure pile.

[Brad_bb]

I can't compost.  What I mean is that there isn't much in there to start with.  What they are going after are the packages from meat, chicken etc.  I have hardly any organic matter in there except for maybe the butt of a Romain lettuce heart now and again, and maybe onion ends once in a while, but not often.

[isawlogs]

 You can get a small freezer from the big box store for little $$. We have by-weekly pick-up here, one week recycling the next regular. During the high heat months I put a bag in the freezer and take it out on garbage day. No smell, no compagnions  ;)  Works for me.

[beenthere]

Marcel
We do that as well with the garbage. It is separate from the trash and recycles, so anything that can start to stink gets bagged and put in the freezer (top freezer of a small refrigerator holds it) until weekly trash pickup. No problems with stink or maggots or animals smelling the garbage when it goes out (otherwise they like to dig in there for kicks or something). 

[Al_Smith]

Dump a little bleach in the can you won't have any maggots .

[Brucer]

We've been freezing our meat trimmings & bones for decades. Put the garbage out about an hour before pickup time and the local dogs/bears/raccoons leave it alone.

[Brad_bb]

That's a viable alternative compared to my poposal.  I'd just need to get a freezer.  I currently have a side by side in the kitchen and it's full.

[maple flats]

Likely not an eco friendly method, but a trash man I had about 25+ yrs ago told me to put a little diesel fuel in a spray bottle. Then spray a little in the can every few weeks. The flies won't lay eggs there, not a friendly environment for the maggots. I put about 6 oz or so in a spray bottle and used it for several years without needing to refill. The bleach idea might also work.

[muddstopper]

I feed the scraps to the dogs, leafy materials go to the chickens, plastics and glass are recycled, newspapers and unsolicited mail get rolled up and used for firewood in the winter, and the rest I take to the dump. Nothing left in my trash to feed the maggots.

[learner]

Food by-products go in the garden with some dirt on top. Just dig a few holes with the post hole diggers then fill them in. You till the garden every year anyway. Paper and sawmill excess go to the fire. Plastic, glass and metal go to the recyclers. You can also powder the glass and mix with a bit of diesel to clean the grease and old paint off of metal for re-painting. Just be sure to use gloves!