How do I reduce our trash?

[luckymom]

If you actively try to reduce the amount of trash your family generates, please share what steps you take.  I am appalled by how much trash goes out our door.  We do recycle, but still, it's just loads of containers, plastic, etc., and those Trash Mountains I keep seeing are freaking me out.  I am open to all ideas.  Thanks

[AK_Mom4]

For us, it required changing what we bought. Butcher counter paper wrapped cuts in place of the (cheaper) ones in the styrofoam trays. No bagged fruits or veggies - I bag these myself after purchase. Bakery counter bread in paper in place of plastic wrapped. it's not a perfect solution, but we have made an improvement.

[prairiewindmomma]

We've cut our trash by 2/3.  We stopped our newspaper and magazine subscriptions.  We buy things in bulk.  We bought cloth kitchen towels to use when drying clean hands instead of paper towels. We recycle, extensively.  We would compost our veg and fruit scraps, but there is a rat problem in our neighborhood and I just can't go there. Our lawn is too small.  

 

Have you analyzed what it is that you are throwing out?

[MEmama]

We have more recycling than trash in any given week. I typically throw out one trash bag a week but it usually isn't all the way full (only if I've been on a decluttering spree!). The recycling though...it seems never ending.

 

Composting reduces a lot of kitchen waste. But mostly it's just taking a good look at where your trash is coming from and what you can realistically do about it.

 

I made a list one day of every single thing I threw out, recycled and composted. It's staggering (but most were the second two).

[Tita Gidge]

We don't generate a large amount of trash, even for a large family. I'm not sure what we do, really. Our trash service comes twice a week but we only fill the can once every 3 or 4 pickups - if then.  

 

We eat lots of fresh food. We bring those home from the market in re-usable mesh bags rather than the store's plastic bags.

 

We don't eat a lot of individually sized portions - we buy in bulk or warehouse servings. We portion ahead of time, but not with plastic baggies.

 

We buy family-sized portions of hygiene stuff like lotion and soap, again portioning out in re-usable containers if necessary.

 

We use cloth a lot - napkins, placemats, diapers, feminine needs, rags for cleaning, even for the Swiffer-type mops and brooms.

 

We don't buy a lot of CDs, DVDs, gaming things etc. - anything that can be kept digital, is. (I don't like this, I like tangible things!)

 

We buy things used. Not a lot of extra packaging to deal with that way.

 

We refuse store bags if we really don't need them. E.g, the bookstore - we carry the books out in hand. I can keep bags/boxes in the trunk.

 

We don't any longer, but once upon a time we composted. That was an immediate reduction of trash!

 

 

ETA: reading through this I realize what we do - WE WASH! :lol: We wash re-usable containers, dishes, and cloth items instead of using convenience products. My friend is the crock pot queen and she's been using these disposable liner things. She also lines her baking pans with foil so she can toss it right after. Her priority is time, so she takes advantage of convenience items. Her trash will be more full than mine. I have more time than she does, plus I'm way cheaper!, so I just use the stupid crock pot and wash it after; same for baking pans.

Edited June 9, 2016 by Tita Gidge

[Ali in OR]

You can probably recycle a lot more than you are. There really shouldn't be food containers in the trash--not much anyway. Cardboard boxes--flatten them and put them in recycling. Cans--recycle. Plastic containers or bottles--recycle. I'm trying to think what food containers do go into the trash and I'm coming up with the lining bag in cereal boxes and plastic cellophane or bags for cheese or lunchmeat. Search for your waste disposal company's website and see if they have a list of what can be recycled and where you can improve.

[SparklyUnicorn]

We have more recycling than trash in any given week. I typically throw out one trash bag a week but it usually isn't all the way full (only if I've been on a decluttering spree!). The recycling though...it seems never ending.

 

 

Same here.  We don't have much trash, but a ton of recycling.  And we appear to be the minority on the street for that.

 

It's hard to reduce packaging because everything is freaking packaged these days.  Even fruits and veg. 

 

Since I now have the Instant Pot I plan to buy dried beans.  That should help a little.  Emphasis on a little because I don't eat tons of beans.

[SparklyUnicorn]

You can probably recycle a lot more than you are. There really shouldn't be food containers in the trash--not much anyway. Cardboard boxes--flatten them and put them in recycling. Cans--recycle. Plastic containers or bottles--recycle. I'm trying to think what food containers do go into the trash and I'm coming up with the lining bag in cereal boxes and plastic cellophane or bags for cheese or lunchmeat. Search for your waste disposal company's website and see if they have a list of what can be recycled and where you can improve.

 

Yep.  We recycle any paperboard wrapping.  So cereal boxes, etc.  All junk mail unless it contains personal information, etc.  Pretty much as much as we can get away with.  I even throw the plastic lining bag and cellophane into the recycling.  Maybe we aren't supposed to?!  But we do.

[frugalmamatx]

Recycle everything that can be. 

 

Compost - if you setup a compost bin and entice black soldier flies to lay their eggs in it, the larve process it very very fast!

 

Chickens - seriously chickens. Chickens can eat almost any leftovers and are happy to do it. And they'll give you back wonderful eggs in trade. 

 

reuse a lot of things. I don't use cloth bags for grocery shopping - instead I get the plastic ones and save them for projects around the house. Right now I'm saving them to stuff lawn chair cushions with. 

[BooksandBoys]

Our family of five usually has about two bags of trash a week, and we recycle the equivalent of three bags a week. We do not compost yet.

 

We don't eat fast food (I bought fast food a few times the weeks we were remodeling...one meal fills almost an entire trash bag!).

 

We use cloth napkins and cloth in our kitchen and for cleaning. I own paper towels for the really disgusting messes, but a roll generally lasts our family a month.

 

We don't buy much anyway and what we do buy is usually used. Our kids have very few toys compared to their friends. I still think we have too many toys! We give gifts of experience (go to movie, zoo) much more than things.. Buying used cuts down on packaging a huge amount.

We reuse boxes and paper that Amazon sends for packaging as painting "canvases," which cuts down on extraneous art trash.

 

We eat all of our leftovers. I don't buy premade or convenience foods (not even cereal, in general) because our food allergies make the convenient food cost prohibitive. There's generally much less packaging for the raw materials of cooking. We use glass storage for leftovers and because we only own 10 containers, we have to eat the leftovers before we can have more leftovers. We wash or reuse ziploc bags (I stick my old ziploc a back in the freezer if they had a freezer item in them, then they are ready to be reused).

 

We don't get magazines or newspapers. We do borrow magazines from the library. We liberally use the library for lots of things which cuts down on purchasing too.

 

I own a Soda Stream to manage my seltzer water habit. Before I bought one 6 years ago, I would lug home dozens of bottles or cans of seltzer a week. Lots of trash/recycling.

 

We give away everything we can. If I need to get rid of furniture, I put it on my curb. It's usually claimed in a few hours by some random passerby. If not, it goes to a thrift store. I've found that even really junky items (things I wouldn't donate to a thrift store) are usually taken...people love free.

[73349]

I read Zero-Waste Home by Bea Johnson. I recommend it. She also has a blog and a couple of videos on YouTube. If you use Facebook, you might like the Journey to Zero Waste group.

 

I have adopted Johnson's shopping method, which relies on buying food mostly in bulk in your own containers. (I use mason jars.) If you don't buy a package, you don't have to recycle or trash it. We are able to buy milk in glass bottles that get returned to the local dairy to be sanitized and reused. And we waste less food now that I am buying the amount I will use, such as a pint of ground meat from the meat counter instead of whatever size plastic package is being offered. (The employee weighs my jar before filling it, so there is no price penalty.)

 

We failed at home composting (regular and worm  :blushing:  ) and decided to pay for a pick-up service. (If you have neighbors who garden, you could offer scraps to them instead, if you don't.) Now there's no food packaging and no food waste going into the trash, so we don't need plastic trash bags any more! We use paper instead--reused paper grocery sacks or small recycled paper bags meant for the food-service industry.

 

We have reusable stuff that replaces disposable stuff--cleaning cloths to replace paper towels, flannel handkerchiefs to replace tissues, black twill napkins (hide stains), stainless steel water bottles, reusable shopping bags, a stainless steel straw for DS. I acquired it slowly over time, not all at once.

 

It has worked so well that a week or two ago, DH accidentally rolled the garbage cart back inside the fence because he assumed it has been picked up--it was so light he couldn't tell the truck hadn't come around yet. The majority of our trash is now the kitty litter.

 

HTH.

[luckymom]

Wow!  Great info! Thanks.  I feel excited to get to work on this.

 

So, can I take my own containers to WF and fill them rather than buy the pre-packaged or use their plastic bags?

[SparklyUnicorn]

I think the only way this is going to improve if is stores are heavily discouraged from wasteful practices.  Everything is packaged.  There are very few produce items in many of my local stores that aren't packaged.  So much stuff is packaged in a package.  The waste free living advice is literally NOT doable in most stores now.  Bulk?  If you can even find it, it's more expensive.  I can't fathom a way to bring my own containers for this because of the way they have you weigh it.  And it gets so little traffic I am leery if they rotate it properly and clean those things out once in awhile. 

 

With some stuff I appreciate the way it is packaged, but with other stuff it's really crazy.  And I swear they do it sometimes just so you can't see what you are buying.  Like produce where you can't see all the produce inside. 

 

We recycle pretty much everything other than old food and personal gross items. We really have very little trash outside of the recyclables.  We really should buy smaller trash cans and bigger recycling buckets.  Although the recycling guy is kind of a jerk.  If you have a lot he sometimes just ignores some of it. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Wow!  Great info! Thanks.  I feel excited to get to work on this.

 

So, can I take my own containers to WF and fill them rather than buy the pre-packaged or use their plastic bags?

 

Oh Whole Foods yeah..they'll let you do that for sure.  The regular stores...that's a hit or miss.

[Guest]

I second The Zero Waste Home. That is a great book.

 

I use a lot of strategies. Some of them fluctuate; when we are very busy, I use more convenience things, but when we have more time, I can avoid those.

 

Almost all food scraps and waste are either composted or fed to the chickens. I buy fewer packaged goods, or buy them in recyclable packaging. I buy bulk goods. I have cloth baggies for vegetable bags or bulk purchases. I use cloth and reusable cleaning materials and household use; napkins, cleaning cloths, dishtowels, hankies. I keep a recycling bin upstairs, to collect shampoo bottles or similar things that may otherwise not make it to recycling. I buy razer blade cartridges. I use some reusable feminine supplies, although (TMI) this is less practical now.

 

I think differently about the goods I buy; I consider where it goes ultimately. Even recycling is not quite as good a solution as reusing and reducing, so I try to make things instead of buying another thing when I can. I can my own relish, pickles, tomatoes and Jalapeños.

 

I even use pencils over pens often because pencils biodegrade while pens do not.

[Guest]

I think the only way this is going to improve if is stores are heavily discouraged from wasteful practices. Everything is packaged. There are very few produce items in many of my local stores that aren't packaged. So much stuff is packaged in a package. The waste free living advice is literally NOT doable in most stores now. Bulk? If you can even find it, it's more expensive. I can't fathom a way to bring my own containers for this because of the way they have you weigh it. And it gets so little traffic I am leery if they rotate it properly and clean those things out once in awhile.

 

With some stuff I appreciate the way it is packaged, but with other stuff it's really crazy. And I swear they do it sometimes just so you can't see what you are buying. Like produce where you can't see all the produce inside.

 

We recycle pretty much everything other than old food and personal gross items. We really have very little trash outside of the recyclables. We really should buy smaller trash cans and bigger recycling buckets. Although the recycling guy is kind of a jerk. If you have a lot he sometimes just ignores some of it.

I am so lucky to have a really remarkable food co-op. Their bulk section is astounding. And they are well-versed in what a zero-waster is doing; they speak Crunchy fluently. ;) i bring cloth bags, so the weight is negligable, but I know you can get your Tare weight (the weight of your jar) taken right at the entrance, and the cashier will know what this means.

 

I have had a few moments of complete disconnect at other stores where they are not fluent in Crunchy.

[Tap]

The vast majority of plastic film/wraps can be recycled.  There are collection sites at most grocery stores.  Check for specifics at your location, but here is a website that lists what is allowed.

 

 

I keep a plastic bag hanging up in my coat closet. I add plastic film/wrap items to it until it gets full, (or until I think to take it with me to the grocery store).  Then I just toss it in their recycling bin.  

 

I have also just put the plastic inside my reusable bags and then when ever I go to the store, I just toss it in the bins directly from my bags.  On the off hand chance I go to a store that doesn't do recycling, I just bundle it all inside one of the bags, and leave it in my trunk until my next visit to a grocer who does recycle. 

[73349]

Wow!  Great info! Thanks.  I feel excited to get to work on this.

 

So, can I take my own containers to WF and fill them rather than buy the pre-packaged or use their plastic bags?

 

Some locations are much better about this than others. Mine was designed to be a nearly zero-waste store, so they would look pretty bad if they forced people to accept plastic packaging.

 

I brought my jars (one of each of three sizes I use) to the customer service counter to get the tare weight, and wrote it on a piece of painter's tape on the lid in Sharpie. A quart canning jar with its lid is one pound (1.00), a pint 2/3 of a pound (.66), a half-pint under half (.46). Some people use cotton bags for nearly everything, and those typically range from .04 to .07.

 

I use little squares of card stock (left over from school), hole-punched and held on with a rubber band, to write the item numbers for the items I buy. Some people skip that and take pictures of the bin labels with the phone, reading each number to the clerk when it's time; I do that if I forgot my label.

 

Once you're set up, it's pretty easy. :) I'm not the only one who does it at my store.

 

Sparkly, we waste less when we buy exactly the amount we'll use, so it doesn't seem to be costing me any more. DH and DS are not into leftovers or casseroles to use things up. WF can be $$$ if I go for the processed stuff, though.

[slackermom]

Dh buys a lot of things in bulk from WF, using the containers they provide. He writes the bin code on the lid with a marker, and when he notices he has run out of something, he just takes the container back to WF and refills it.

 

I purchased packs of deli-style containers from a restaurant supply store, and use (and reuse) them to pack small portions, great for lunches or snacks.

 

We get produce from a CSA for half the year, and I pick it up in a hamper. I bring a few small containers to hold berries and tomatoes.

[Stacia]

Also recommending the Zero Waste Home book & blog.

 

And, if you're taking jars to the store, chalk markers are handy for writing PLU codes & such. It washes off when you wash the jar.

[luckymom]

I am so grateful for all of these recommendations.  Our trash and recycling will be undergoing a definite makeover !

[luckymom]

One more question ...

 

How do you package your recycling for the dump?  Special bags?  

[Stacia]

For example, here's the Zero Waste post on how she does her weekly grocery shopping...

 

http://www.zerowastehome.com/2010/01/zero-waste-grocery-shopping/

[DaisyDay]

Our chickens take care of our food scraps.

 

We live in an area where we can burn, so we burn all cardboard and a lot of paper. (You'd be surprised how much cardboard waste there is once you start watching for it.)

 

We wash and re-use Zip-Lock bags.

 

Plastic grocery store bags are used as trash bags in the smaller cans in our house, but very often at the store we refuse bags or put more items in each one to use fewer of them.

 

Large bags that animal feed comes in (large dog food bags or horse/chicken feed) are excellent for trash and they hold a LOT of garbage. Alternatively, they burn well.

 

We recycle scrap metal and aluminum foil/cans.

 

We often buy used furniture and baby stuff.

 

We do use disposable diapers which bothers me quite a bit. As I posted on another thread, my cloth diapering experience lasted less than 24 hrs. But without getting extreme about it, we maximize the use of each disposable diaper before changing it. With 2 medical needs foster babes, disposables are my one indulgence. 

[nd293]

I use mostly fabric shopping bags and net reusable bags for fruit and vegetables. I don't buy individual anythings - all family sized and break it down into reusable plastic containers if needed. No paper towels in the kitchen or paper plates for foil dishes. Only 1-2 boxes of ziplock bags a year.

 

We produce 2-3 small shopping bags of garbage every week and a full bin of recyclables every 2 weeks. It's way too much. We're a family of 4.

[kubiac]

"Americans use and throw away 100 billion plastic bags every year, which requires 12 million barrels of oil per year to manufacture."

Source: http://www.reuseit.com/facts-and-myths/learn-more-facts-about-the-plastic-bag-pandemic.htm

 

Invest in some nice cloth bags that make you feel good when you use them. Keep them in your car. I've had the same set since 2008 and I love mine. I receive a credit of .05 or .10 when I use them at local hippie stores (Sprouts, Whole Foods). I almost always remember them for groceries, but forget when going to the drugstore, the hardware store or the superstore. Still, buying reusable grocery bags--and later reusable produce bags--has been one of the best and simplest ways we've reduced our landfill trash.

 

There is a whole subculture developing around the principles espoused in Bea Johnson's book. You can see more about how people are changing there lifestyles by poking around the #zerowastehome #zerowaste or #zerodechet tags on Instagram.

 

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/zerowastehome/

 

Another terrific resource for reducing kitchen waste specifically is Anne-Marie Bonneau's https://zerowastechef.com/ blog.

 

And a good quick general intro is here: http://www.paris-to-go.com/2014/11/10-easy-time-saving-steps-to-zero-waste.html

 

GOOD LUCK!

Edited June 10, 2016 by kubiac

[Laura Corin]

One more question ...

 

How do you package your recycling for the dump?  Special bags?  

 

We have recycling bins in the garage that we just load into the car, then empty into the correct dumpster when we get to the recycling centre.  Something like this:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/STACKABLE-RECYCLING-COLOUR-PLASTIC-HINGED/dp/B009R6OWIO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465547436&sr=8-1&keywords=recycling+stackable+bins

[73349]

One more question ...

 

How do you package your recycling for the dump?  Special bags?  

 

Our recycling is picked up at the curb from a city-owned bin, and we're not allowed to bag it.

 

If you transport yours, how about an old laundry basket you can use each time?

[SparklyUnicorn]

I need to find nice cloth bags.  The reusable bags they sell in most stores...you can't wash them.  They fall apart.  I don't want bags i cannot ever wash. 

 

 

"Americans use and throw away 100 billion plastic bags every year, which requires 12 million barrels of oil per year to manufacture."

Source: http://www.reuseit.com/facts-and-myths/learn-more-facts-about-the-plastic-bag-pandemic.htm

 

Invest in some nice cloth bags that make you feel good when you use them. Keep them in your car. I've had the same set since 2008 and I love mine. I receive a credit of .05 or .10 when I use them at local hippie stores (Sprouts, Whole Foods). I almost always remember them for groceries, but forget when going to the drugstore, the hardware store or the superstore. Still, buying reusable grocery bags--and later reusable produce bags--has been one of the best and simplest ways we've reduced our landfill trash.

 

There is a whole subculture developing around the principles espoused in Bea Johnson's book. You can see more about how people are changing there lifestyles by poking around the #zerowastehome #zerowaste or #zerodechet tags on Instagram.

 

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/zerowastehome/

 

Another terrific resource for reducing kitchen waste specifically is Anne-Marie Bonneau's https://zerowastechef.com/ blog.

 

And a good quick general intro is here: http://www.paris-to-go.com/2014/11/10-easy-time-saving-steps-to-zero-waste.html

 

GOOD LUCK!

 

[73349]

I need to find nice cloth bags.  The reusable bags they sell in most stores...you can't wash them.  They fall apart.  I don't want bags i cannot ever wash. 

 

Try Amazon? They have some options in washable canvas.

[JumpyTheFrog]

Composting alone cut our trash by about 1/3, although we were already using cloth napkins and cleaning wipes.

[BlsdMama]

Wow! Great info! Thanks. I feel excited to get to work on this.

 

So, can I take my own containers to WF and fill them rather than buy the pre-packaged or use their plastic bags?

 

You can purchase mesh bags off Etsy that are well suited for this purpose. Plus, it won't add to the weight you're paying for bulk products.

[knoxinsox]

We don't generate a large amount of trash, even for a large family. I'm not sure what we do, really. Our trash service comes twice a week but we only fill the can once every 3 or 4 pickups - if then.  

 

We eat lots of fresh food. We bring those home from the market in re-usable mesh bags rather than the store's plastic bags.

 

We don't eat a lot of individually sized portions - we buy in bulk or warehouse servings. We portion ahead of time, but not with plastic baggies.

 

We buy family-sized portions of hygiene stuff like lotion and soap, again portioning out in re-usable containers if necessary.

 

We use cloth a lot - napkins, placemats, diapers, feminine needs, rags for cleaning, even for the Swiffer-type mops and brooms.

 

We don't buy a lot of CDs, DVDs, gaming things etc. - anything that can be kept digital, is. (I don't like this, I like tangible things!)

 

We buy things used. Not a lot of extra packaging to deal with that way.

 

We refuse store bags if we really don't need them. E.g, the bookstore - we carry the books out in hand. I can keep bags/boxes in the trunk.

 

We don't any longer, but once upon a time we composted. That was an immediate reduction of trash!

 

 

ETA: reading through this I realize what we do - WE WASH! :lol: We wash re-usable containers, dishes, and cloth items instead of using convenience products. My friend is the crock pot queen and she's been using these disposable liner things. She also lines her baking pans with foil so she can toss it right after. Her priority is time, so she takes advantage of convenience items. Her trash will be more full than mine. I have more time than she does, plus I'm way cheaper!, so I just use the stupid crock pot and wash it after; same for baking pans.

What she said.  This sounds like my life. I originally did this to save money, which it does.  All those paper towels and ziplocs add up. But our trash went way, way down.  My son remembers taking out the trash several years ago.  A massive trash bin, overflowing.  Now, we have trash pickup twice a week, and usually have no more than a small garbage bag, or a Walmart bag even.  We are allowed up to 4 trash cans, BTW.  What on earth would I throw out??

[fraidycat]

I need to find nice cloth bags. The reusable bags they sell in most stores...you can't wash them. They fall apart. I don't want bags i cannot ever wash.

Got any old t-shirts? No sew and Sew options.

 

http://www.mommypotamus.com/no-sew-t-shirt-tote-bag-tutorial/

 

http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2013/09/how-to-make-a-recycled-t-shirt-tote-bag.html

Edited June 11, 2016 by fraidycat

[shawthorne44]

The Zero Waste blog also has other interesting things.  Like keeping a sourdough starter, and what to do with the extra stuff when you feed the starter.  She's amusing in the way of the Pioneer Cooking Woman.  

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Got any old t-shirts? No sew and Sew options.

 

http://www.mommypotamus.com/no-sew-t-shirt-tote-bag-tutorial/

 

http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2013/09/how-to-make-a-recycled-t-shirt-tote-bag.html

 

I don't.  But I have thought about making my own bags. 

[historically accurate]

The Simple Year blog is a "Journey to Zero Waste" blog this year - it started in May, I think.

[fraidycat]

I don't. But I have thought about making my own bags.

Thrift store time. :)