I have fielded a lot of questions about the impact of such things as outside water features, fire pits, and a multitude of landscaping considerations. But what about the placement of trash cans? Like bathrooms, we’ve all got trash cans. If you live in an apartment building, then you would have no say in where the large dumpster trash cans are placed. I would just hope that your apartment is not directly over the garbage dumpster, or forced to view the area from your windows.
For homeowners, you may have some leeway in where to place your trash cans and it may influence your health and well-being indirectly. Aside from the luxury of being able to place your trash cans out of sight until you need to place them on the curb for Trash Pick Up Day, some people fret about being able to see them all the time.
You might need to keep them along the side of the house. Even if they are stored in the back yard, the sight of them may be considered a “sha” when you are trying to enjoy your backyard space. Some folks keep their trash cans in their garage, so inevitably you have to pass by them when entering the house from the garage as many people do.
Many of us have separate cans for lawn clippings and recyclables. Are these really eyesores? Or is this much ado about nothing and purely subjective? If you have a trash can with rotting food and pet poop, suffice it to say that this is a type of sha, which thankfully gets picked up on a weekly basis.
Where the “sha” cans are kept could influence your health and prosperity. Some classical practitioners will refer to “Pre-Heaven” or “Post-Heaven” formulas to determine where NOT to place trash cans. Each direction is related to a family member and health issues. For example, the direction of Northwest is associated with the father within the family structure. The Northwest is also associated with the head or lungs. It is conceivable that having something unhealthy or unsightly sitting in that directional section of your property could have an impact on said family member or body areas.
Each direction holds unique information and so there could be a problem with a trash can ANYWHERE on a property. But let’s not get anal retentive about the matter. We happen to live in “Period 8” right now and that is associated with the direction of Northeast. In a general sense, we want to keep this area neat, clean, and tidy inside and out. The duration of Period 8 is from 2004-2024. Other calculations can be done based on the orientation of the house, to determine the best or worst location for the trash cans.
Some people create beautiful ways to obscure the trash cans, building sheds, gates, or hedges for the trash cans to be out of sight and out of mind. That is an ideal plan no matter what the direction.
Author: Kartar Diamond
Company: Feng Shui Solutions (R) Since 1992
From the Landscape and Exteriors Blog Series
