Help me cut down on my garbage bag output…..and a poll! - Page 3

[elsie]

yeah -  our county is great and they send us every year an updates list of what can be recycled (of course, I recycle the old poster). I went on a tour of the sanitation station once and they are constantly looking for companies who can help them expand their recycling by buying the recycled materials.

Anyway, our county also posts the recyclables online as well. We can recycle cardboard juice containers but it was added to the list about 2 years ago.

[SunRise]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle 

Pictures of milk bags

http://www.google.com/search?q=milk+bags+canada&hl=en&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=bwNFUL_LJ6P30gGN1ICYDA&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=580

3 clear ones (1.333… litres each) are packaged together in a  4 litre outer bag.  Hmmm…it does seem wasteful now that I think about it.

The outer bag is LDPE 4 - whatever that means.  I will go back to the township recycling page and see what they say about it.

Yeah, I could put the paper in the compost bin. We just have large storage plastic containers as compost - they fill up so fast, that using them has not worked out so well.  Maybe I need to  look into red worms compost - although I think I might start with recycling as it may be easier.  I wonder if worms can overwinter outside?

When I was growing up my mom used to wash the milk bags and use them for our sandwich bags. At my uncles house he has a branch with several limbs with milk bags propped on the limbs drying, ready to reuse.
Edited by SunRise - 9/8/12 at 7:03am

[4evermom]

Most weeks our family of three just puts out one tall kitchen sized trash bag (13 gallon). The only time it's more is if there is yard waste (other than leaves which get vacuumed up curbside in the fall). Or if I'm cleaning out the garage or basement or doing some crazy project like reupholstering a couch and throwing out all the old fabric and stuffing. We don't compost but we do recycle what we can and have curbside pickup of plastics #1 and #2, cans, glass, paper, and cardboard. We donate/sell/give-away things we don't want that are still in usable condition.

We try to take care of possessions even if we don't like them or want them so that they are in good condition for someone else. For instance, I could never get behind letting a child destroy a toy thinking it was theirs to decide what to do with. And I'm bothered if things get damaged from neglect (left out in the weather) or misuse. Buying well made things helps, too. Less breakage, less trash. I fix or mend things when possible. I don't spend a great amount of energy but frequently a spot of glue or a few stitches make the difference between trash or not.

[justmama]

We are a family of 4 and we recycle everything we possibly can but cannot compost here in a rental house(a duplex with a shared yard) and we put out one bag a week.  Recycling pick-up is free in my town but we pay for garbage so we keep it to the very bare minimum and try not to waste food.  Most of our garbage is unavoidable packaging.  I try to keep down the grocery bill so that sometimes means packaging for food, though we do mostly homemade items.

[elus0814]

I would estimate 10 regular sized garbage bags per week for 7 people plus more if we're cleaning out a closet or have another project going on. We can't compost and there is no recycling. It fills a large rolling garbage can to overflowing, the kind where if an adult stood in it the edge would be up to their chest and they have a foot of open space in each direction all around them. It's a lot of garbage, I admit it.

I could take things to be recycled but we don't have the space to store them, there's no space in the van to haul very much, and it would involve a 60 minute round trip drive to a bad part of the city to drop it off.... by myself with five little kids. Even if I felt safe going there and had the time I'm not sure if, environmentally, it would make sense to use so much gas to drop off the 4-5 garbage bags I might be able to squeeze in there (that would have black widow spiders living in them from being stored in the garage where there are lots of them).

I try not to buy things that have excessive packaging and we seldom use paper towels. Things are overwhelming right now with three kids in diapers so we're using disposables, that probably accounts for an entire bag full per week. Most of the garbage is food packaging and things that would otherwise be recycled. Things like laundry detergent bottles, milk jugs, cereal boxes, peanut butter jars,  and so on take up lots of space even when squished down.

[kathymuggle]

We put out garbage tomorrow and we are currently at 2.5 bags.  

We will be under our 3 bag limit.

Up until this week we almost always had 4 bag for our 5 person family.

I did it primarily through recycling.  I learned a fair bit about what can and cannot be put in the blue box.   Old habits are hard to break and I probably have hauled about 10 times out of the trash this week, asked who the guilty culprit was, and had them recycle them.  I need to make myself a badge that says "recycle police,"  lol.    I only looked on the top layer of trash, so I am sure there is more I missed.  

[4evermom]

Maybe a reminder sign would help? Our township gave out magnets that listed what was recyclable, so I plunked that on our indoor recycling bin. That way visitors know what is recyclable, too. I'm always asking when I visit people because it is so variable from place to place. It also helps if you have the set up to make recycling as easy as possible, like if you can have two trashcans side by side with one being for recycling. That way, the family member will take something to the trash and be reminded to think about which place to put it simply by there being an option. And they won't be as tempted to put recyclables in the trash because it's closer/easier.

[SweetSilver]

Originally Posted by 4evermom 

It also helps if you have the set up to make recycling as easy as possible, like if you can have two trashcans side by side with one being for recycling. That way, the family member will take something to the trash and be reminded to think about which place to put it simply by there being an option. And they won't be as tempted to put recyclables in the trash because it's closer/easier.

This, exactly.

Also, if your community has yard waste pickup, some services allow food waste (also used paper, like pizza boxes, paper plates, etc.) to be included.  Seattle has such a service, but they are a large, recycling-minded city.  Nearby Olympia also started food waste in the yard waste in some areas.