Logan Voss
Rodents running amok in your workplace is a nightmare scenario for business owners everywhere. These small animals can invade your outdoor garbage cans and dumpsters. But there are steps you can take to eliminate this risk. Here are five tips for keeping critters out of your workplace trash cans.
Minimize Food
Many of these animals have voracious appetites and do anything they can to reach a source of food. This threat is especially troubling for restaurants, where food waste is a magnet for rodents. Work with your garbage collectors so that food spends as little time in the garbage as possible.
Change, Wash, and Sanitize
Businesses big and small often keep trash cans right outside of their doors. Regularly changing the can liner will keep the scent of food from attracting any unwanted guests. Knowing the proper method for sanitizing and cleaning your trash cans helps prevent odors and scraps from attracting animals.
Trash Can Placement
If possible, move the trash cans indoors when your business is closed. This will keep animals from burrowing into the waste. A gate or fence might be enough to keep larger critters from climbing into your cans. An exterior shell for the garbage bin prevents some animals from getting a grasp to climb.
Light Them up
If critters are already nesting comfortably in your trash can, one of the safest ways to scare them off is by lighting them up—the cans, not the critters. Many of the animals wanting to make a den in your dumpsters despise bright lights of any kind. Floodlights shining at all outdoor trash cans will keep many pests from having a new place to call home.
Fasten The Cans
The last tip for keeping critters out of your workplace trash cans is to keep your cans upright. When a garbage bin falls over, it presents an easy opportunity for animals to climb in and make a home. Tying or strapping down your trash cans keeps this from happening. Some businesses even go as far as to bolt the cans to the cement or pavement.
