When I was teaching second grade, I made little trash containers for each group of students to use during art projects. Using old gallon milk or juice jugs, I cut off the top and left the handle on with a big L-shaped cut. This leaves the bottom half intact to collect the trash and the handle makes it handy to grab when you need to sweep off the table top or empty at the end of the day.
I have been using several of these containers for sewing for about five years, and find them very handy to keep threads and snips of fabric off the floor. I keep a breath mints tin or old sewing machine needle case in the bottom for needle discards.