How To Secure Garbage Cans From Blowing Away (Do This!)

Whether you live in a neighborhood or a rural area, it’s important to secure your garbage cans from blowing away. Unsecured garbage cans can lead to scattered trash across your yard, or worse…across your neighbor’s yard. Scattered trash can lead to unwanted pests, road hazards, and unsightly litter.

When it comes to securing your garbage cans, think about what will work best with your daily routine. If you want to keep your garbage cans close to the house or garage, you have a couple of options. Consider visibility, the weather, and price. If you want to keep your garbage cans away from the house as on trash day, you can choose how to weigh down your bins.

Secure your garbage cans with D-rings so that they don’t blow away in the wind. Wrap a bungee cord around the garage can’s handle as an extra safety measure. You can also use weights or magnetic anchors to protect your garbage can from the wind.

Before making any permanent changes, set everything up. Line up your garbage bins where you would like to secure them against the house or garage. You don’t want too much room between the side of your house and the garbage bin.

Locate the “handle” on the front of the garbage can. The front of the garbage can should be up against the side of the house, with the back of the garbage can facing outwards. Mark the side of the house level with the handle. On standard city-provided garbage cans, the handle is halfway down the front.

You will drill in the area that you marked, level with the handle. Generally, the D-rings will be two or three feet off the ground. This way, there is very little room for the garbage can to be moved by wind or animals. Make sure that everything fits.

If you chose to wrap the bungee cord around the entire backside of the garbage can, you will need to install the D-rings level with the top of the garbage can. Line it up and mark the side of the house. This is ideal if you are working with longer bungee cords or need to attach the D-rings higher up. Make sure that everything fits before drilling any holes.

Once you’ve checked that everything lines up, you’re ready to attach the D-rings to the side of your house! Remember, the process may differ slightly depending on the material you are drilling into. You can drill into concrete, siding, and brick. You can also attach a wood panel to the concrete first. There is little room for error here since you are drilling into the exterior of your home or garage.

Place the D-ring on the desired area of the wall. With a pencil, trace the two circles for the screws. Remove the D-ring. For concrete, stone, or brick, you will need masonry bits to drill into them. Hold the drill straight as you drill into the material. Make sure not to drill in at an angle or to drill into the mortar. Start the drill at a low speed, using light pressure. For concrete, make sure the pilot hole is deeper than the screw’s length.

Once you have the two drill holes for your D-ring, secure the D-ring to the side of the house with screws. Concrete screws you can drive right into the hole, but with other materials, you may want to fill the hole with a dowel before screwing in the D-ring. Pull gently to test.

Now that you have a D-ring attached to the side of your house or garage, arrange your garbage can against the wall in front of it. The front of your garbage can should be against the wall.

Attach one end of the bungee cord to the D-ring on the wall. Thread the bungee cord through the handle on the garbage can. If your cord is long, you can wrap it around a few times. Attach the remaining end of the bungee cord to the same D-ring. Leave a little slack, but there shouldn’t be more than six inches between the garbage can and the side of the house.

If you are wrapping the bungee cord around the entire backside of the garbage bin, follow the same procedure but closer to the lid of the garbage can. Use one bungee cord and one D-ring per garbage can.

If you find the sight of your garbage bins especially unsightly, or if you have problems with animals getting into them, you may want to invest in an enclosure for your garbage. You can build a small enclosure of concrete, wood, or other materials that are attached to the side of your house or garage that keeps your garbage cans out of sight.

If you live in an area with high winds, you will want an enclosure with a removable lid that is heavy enough to remain closed, but light enough to be lifted regularly. Make sure to build a small door or opening so that you can roll the trash cans out to the curb on trash day.

An enclosure is the more aesthetically pleasing option when securing your bins, but will be more costly. You can build one yourself for just the price of the materials used, or you can buy a pre-made enclosure online for between $150-$300.

If you can’t attach your garbage cans to the side of your house because you’re renting, or simply because you don’t want the garbage cans so close to the house, you can install a hitching post. Insert a 4×4 wooden post into the ground. You can use a chain or cable to attach the garbage can to the post. You can also use the same process as the D-rings, except you will attach the D-ring to the wooden post. Check that there is not too much room between the post and the garbage can.

Related Questions

Will drilling into concrete crack it?

Concrete is a brittle material, and not knowing how to penetrate it properly can cause it to crack. Nailing, screwing, and drilling can all cause cracks in concrete. To avoid cracking the concrete, you will need to take precautions. A hammer drill works best. Don’t force the drill into the concrete, as this can cause unnecessary stress on the concrete and break it. Don’t drill deeper than necessary; measure your concrete screw and mark that with tape on your drill and go drill just a little deeper. 

Should you keep garbage cans in the garage?

Some people choose to keep their garbage cans in the garage to deter animal activity. Depending on the area you live in, you could be attracting bears, raccoons, rodents, and pests by keeping your garbage outside. But once temperatures rise, garbage cans in the garage can start to smell.