This trash can is absolutely, astonishingly overkill for most scenarios. Do you need it? Probably not. But if you do need it, this is a superb product. We had the regular clamshell trashcan. The problem was our Belgian Malinois would sneakily run regular sorties to raid the trash can, steal whatever inedible but delightful smelling item had been thrown in there, and sneak off to the garage area to enjoy it at her own leisure. Many a trip home we discovered a dog with an upset stomach, having eaten something that should not have been eaten, only to be ejected in the most unpleasant manner a day or two later after many groans and farts that would be considered inhumane torture by the United Nations. The problem was that she'd stick her nose under the lid and flip it up, revealing the contents for her perusal and refined selection. I tried, I intervened, I relocated, I pleaded, I begged to no avail for those items to be thrown directly into the outside bin. The moisture absorbent packs went in. Smelly toys were tossed in there. Sometimes food would follow. Eventually I found myself with some additional funding and thought to myself, "Big dog only needs to be hospitalized once for a luxury can to pay for itself." So I did the luxurious thing and bought this can as buttefly lid openings are one way to prevent the lid from being opened by a curious muzzle. On receiving it, I immediately threw a delicious smelling moisture absorbing pack from ground meat in there, followed by some old bones, a tennis ball, and effectively a smorgasbord of her favorite goodies, leaving her alone with the can to resolve their differences for several days. It worked! Despite her efforts, she was unable to coax the can into opening in a way that she could steal from it. Now we've had it for some time, what can I say? We use the Costco trash bags with this, and they stretch to fit the bin insert perfectly. The mechanisms controlling the butterfly actuation are completely hidden from items being thrown in, so if you have a significant other who likes throwing peanuts in there, it won't eventually jam the mechanism. The mechanism has a hold open mode for convenience, and the lid is Belgian Malinois Muzzle resistant to being flipped open (nothing is ever Belgian Malinois proof). The added height also means it's easier to swipe your hands over the sensor, and not lean down too far to do it. Downsides? The price. The 6xAA batteries isn't an issue, we've been using it multiple times daily with no problems. Probably lifting off the automated mechanism is the only slightly tricky thing, I can see someone breaking the lid if carelessly replacing the bag, but I get around that by putting it in the "hold open" mode, lifting it off, and resetting it when I'm done replacing the bag. Really, the only thing that stopped me before was the price. If my dog ate just one item that didn't pass all the way through, that vet bill would dwarf the cost of the trashcan. This luxurious purchase is as much insurance as it is functional, but it's also just a really good trashcan.
