The Best Hosts Never Let Food Smells Ruin Their Holiday Dinners – This Is the $27 Countertop Essential They Swear by to Keep Odors at Bay
Is this what was missing during your Thanksgiving prep and clean-up?
Kitchens can be hotspots for strange odors, especially during peak hosting season when food scraps pile up in trash cans quicker than we can take them out.
The best hosts know this, and they don’t leave it to chance. Instead, they rely on one simple countertop essential, the Joseph Joseph food waste bin with odor filter, from Wayfair, that quietly keeps odors at bay before they have the chance to permeate your home.
It’s the kind of under-the-radar upgrade that makes a big difference in neutralizing kitchen odors. Add it to your holiday hosting toolkit, and you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it.
Hosts Rely on This $27 Essential to Stop Holiday Food Odors
This clever caddy has been carefully designed to help reduce the smell of collected food waste. Plus, it is easy to clean, and doesn't take up too much space on your counter, making it ideal for small kitchen ideas.
Masking trash can smells is tricky at the best of times, but piling on the pressure of multiple-course holiday meals can make it feel like an uphill battle. Plus, the holiday stress can make it less enticing to bother with recycling, resulting in unnecessary trash at home.
Whether or not you use kitchen waste in the garden, having a small countertop caddy for food scraps is a great way to keep your main trash can odor-free.
The Joseph Joseph caddy, also from Amazon, has a unique, ventilated design that allows air to enter and circulate inside the caddy, which helps to reduce moisture (the main cause of unpleasant odors from decomposing food). Plus, it features a replaceable odor filter (replacements available at Amazon) in the lid that works in tandem with the fresh air to help trap any smells that do occur.
While the smaller capacity might, at first, seem like a negative, the smaller bag size means that you can empty the canister more regularly to maintain a fresh-smelling home during the holidays without having to worry about wasted plastic.
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Double up your sustainable efforts with the Joseph Joseph IW2 biodegradable trash bags, also from Amazon, and you are well on your way to creating a non-toxic, sustainable home.
The caddy has a sleek design that doesn't clutter up your countertops.
The five-star reviews speak for themselves. One Amazon shopper commented, 'I've been using this for about a week after being very resistant to saving food scraps. I like the size, it's perfect for daily use. Our city has us add scraps to our green/landscape bin, so composting is fairly straightforward. The countertop bin they provided us was just absolutely terrible, so I've been hunting for a decent replacement ever since.
'This looks really nice in the kitchen; you wouldn't know it was full of food scraps,' they add, meaning you won't be rushing to find ways to hide this trash can in a kitchen any time soon. 'It's a good size, it's small so it doesn't take up too much space, but roomy and really easy to clean,' they continue. 'The lid opens up nicely and is lightweight, so it doesn't tip the bin (like the city-provided one did), plus, the metal handle is also a great upgraded feature. It just feels sturdy and well-made.'
Other shoppers loved that you cannot smell anything, even when the bin is full, and that it is super easy to clean.
What to Shop
With a liner-retaining hole inside keeping liner tidy, an easy-access flip-top lid and ventilated design, this countertop bin is ideal for quick use when you are rushing to prepare holiday meals.
These biodegradable trash bags are perfect for the food waste caddy, designed to fit perfectly and break down with your food in compost.
Made using activated carbon that helps absorb unpleasant odours from decomposing waste, you should replace the filters every three months to prevent odors.
Really tight on counter space? This food waste bin has mountable wall brackets to make better use of vertical storage to save space.
Distilled white vinegar is a fantastic non-toxic cleaning tool for any home. When used correctly, it can help to kill mold and bacteria, as well as tackle odors and lighten stains, all without harsh chemicals. It is ideal for clenaing trash cans.
Sponge cloths are plant-based, meaning they are free from plastics and decompose in compost heaps in around 10 months, making them an eco-friendly, hygienic alternative to traditional sponges and paper towels when cleaning your kitchen. Plus, they can be sanitized in the top rack of a dishwasher between uses.
Dealing with food scraps is just one way to make your home smell good for Christmas. Brush up on the best ways to freshen up common Christmas day house odors for whole-house freshness.

Chiana has been at Homes & Gardens for two years and is our resident 'queen' of non-toxic living. She spends most of her time producing content for the Solved section of the website, helping readers get the most out of their homes through clever decluttering, cleaning, and tidying tips. She was named one of Fixr's top home improvement journalists in 2024.
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