Plastic bins have become the “go to” solution for storing, sorting and battling clutter. However, despite the immediate satisfaction of cleaned out closets and cleared off countertops, these bins.can actually serve to increase household clutter over time. An empirically observed phenomenon in manufacturing industries reveals that as inventory capacity increases, inventory increases over time with no other changes. The translation for your household conquests is that the more space you provide for your stuff, the more stuff you will accumulate. Bins appeal to the “out of site, out of mind” mindset, but if you never clean out the bins, they become permanent additions to your home.
As with most problems, the best solution is prevention. But if bins are absolutely necessary for your home, you can incentivize yourself to clean them.out later. The next time you fill up.a bin, put a special.prize at the bottom. Cash is an easy and desirable prize for you or others in your house to exhume the bin and permanently deal with the contents. As extra incentive or for multiple bins, place prizes of different values into identical packaging, then place them at the bottom of the bins. The mystery prize increases interest where the payoff could be huge, similar to how lottery jackpots attract wishful gamblers.