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Goin' green's bin real nice

Custom-designed sheds now part of how T.O.'s trashing it in city of the 21st century

Jun 19, 2008 04:30 AM
Janice Biehn
TORONTO STAR

Torontonians need not suffer the indignity of exposing their clunky garbage and recycling bins on their front stoops for all to see.

Toronto-based Bin Solutions (bin solutions.ca) has custom-designed cedar shed kits that neatly hold all three City of Toronto bins, with a little extra room for storage. The bins are also raccoon-proof.

The mini-sheds, measuring about 5 feet wide by 6 feet tall by 28 inches deep, are available in naturally weathering cedar, or in premium pine which can be painted or stained to match the exterior of your home. They cost $850, or $1,100 for a taller model.

Bin Solutions launched in 2005 when construction worker Zion Shraiter, newly emigrated from Israel, grew frustrated with the growing clutter of the city's recycling and composting programs.

"In Israel, you can't get a building permit without showing a plan that includes hiding the recycling bins," he says.

He hired designer and carpenter Srul Levy to come up with something that would keep the bins tidy, free of snow, and raccoon-proof.

"I didn't even know what raccoons were," Shraiter says. "In Israel, we have a problem with street cats though."

In his first year, Shraiter sold about 3,000 bins.

Since the recent rollout of the city's new blue recycling bins, and the upcoming garbage bins, Shraiter says visits to his website have tripled and he spends four or five nights a week doing home consultations.

To original customers he is also offering retrofit kits to increase the height of the sheds to hold the new bins, free of charge if you pick it up at his North York warehouse.