Keep a Summer Trash Can From Breeding Maggots With a Layer of Salt

The Problem

A closed trash can in summer heat is a fly incubator: moisture from food waste condenses inside, eggs hatch in days, and a week of vacation is enough to come home to maggots and a smell you'll hunt through the whole yard before finding.

The Technique

1. Empty the can and clean it out.
2. Pour a layer of salt across the bottom.
3. Repeat when the salt gets saturated or discarded with a bag.

The salt absorbs the moisture that both the smell and the maggots depend on. It's cheapest insurance right before leaving town in hot weather, when the can will sit sealed and cooking for days.