Once a fortnight we diligently wheel our recycling bin to the kerb, and then probably give ourselves a pat on the back while thinking of the resources and energy we have saved. Yet it pays to think a bit more deeply about what is going into each bin.

Windows: Dragging stuff to the Recycle Bin can be annoying if it's hidden amongst the clutter on your desktop, behind all your windows. MiniBin puts it in your system tray, making deleting files and emptying the bin super easy.

If you want a minimal desktop, then the near-permanent presence of the Recycle Bin can be a nuisance. Reader Todd shares one tactic for making it less intrusive without getting rid of it entirely.

Windows only: RecycleBinEx is a souped up Recycle Bin with Windows 7 jump list support that groups files according to the date they were trashed, making it easier to permanently delete items after a specific timeframe.