[hackerspaces] Cleanliness in your Hackerspace?

[Nathaniel Bezanson]

> We have member boxes/lockers/tables and I train each new member where the
> cleaning supplies are, how to take out the trash, what happens when stuff
> gets left out (lost n found, hacked apart, thrown away), and why futzing
> with the lab equipment will earn shame. This has done wonders toward
> getting everyone on the same page.

This helps to a certain extent, but I think I'm seeing an effect where the
new members are better versed in things than the old members, and it's
hard to pull someone aside for "retraining".

Our issues at i3detroit can be split into two categories: Daily mess, and
long-term storage.

Daily mess is basically "leave nothing on the tables", and I think the
problem is that there are a few items (power strips, soldering irons) that
can legitimately be left on the tables, and they serve as a "seed" to
visually permit other clutter. Despite that, I'd say our record is "pretty
good, but room for improvement". I think my next attempt will be to
establish storage locations for those few items too, and try to make the
tables completely clear at the end of every day.

Long-term storage is a huge issue. A big project gets abandoned, and out
of respect for someone's property, nobody else will throw it away. We've
tried to combat this with praise, with scorn, with paperwork, and with
marked spaces on the floor. Nothing has worked.

On the bright side, trash cans are well taken care of. Seldom are they
overflowing, and only occasionally does someone empty one and fail to
replace a new bag.

-Nate-