Why do we create so much trash for the landfills?

[gtaus]

This past Labor Day weekend we had my brother, a couple of his girls, and 6 of his grandchildren visit us for a couple of days. Basically, an overnighter leaving after supper on day 2. I have a split level house with full accommodations on both levels. So, my brother and his family stayed downstairs on the walk out level. My Dear Wife and I live on the upper level. Anyways, 10 of them downstairs for a day and a half, more or less.

Now, they did a very good job in cleaning up after themselves, so this is not a complaint. But in just 2 days, they had 3 kitchen bags full of garbage which is more bagged garbage than Dear Wife and I create in a full month! We are down to about 1 garbage per month now, which I will explain in a short while.

It got me to thinking how much garbage must be sent to the landfills that really could be taken care of in other ways. For example, all their leftover and uneaten table food was just tossed into the garbage bag, whereas Dear Wife and I would have put all that stuff into a chicken bucket. All their pop cans and empty plastic containers got junked, whereas we would have rinsed them out and put them into a recycle bin. Lots of food packaging, the light cardboard kind, filled up the garbage bags whereas I would have shred them up to use as coop litter for the chickens. A very small amount of their trash is what would be considered garbage for us, such as plastic wrapping, used napkins and paper towels, and they also had a baby with them, so diapers, of course. All in all, I estimate they could have gotten by with maybe only 1/4 of a trash bag for the weekend if they reused, recycled, or feed the kitchen scraps to the chickens.

Of course, it was much easier for me to just let them toss everything into the garbage for the 2 days they spent with us and then take out the trash when they left. But thinking about it now, I wonder how much stuff gets sent to the landfills that could be otherwise taken care of in other ways? Kind of wish everyone had chickens, shredded their paper products for animal litter, had livestock to feed the kitchen scraps and leftovers, etc... Recycle the metal, glass, and plastics if you can. Leaving only a few things left for the landfill.

My personal journey: Years ago, Dear Wife and used to have 3 to 4 bags full of garbage every week. Recycling cut that down to half, easily, or maybe even more. But the real savings is now that I shred almost all our paper products and use the paper shreds as chicken coop litter, which later gets dumped out into the chicken run composting system, and the compost gets used in my raised garden beds. Almost all our kitchen scraps and leftovers get put into a chicken bucket to feed the girls. In the end, we are down to about 1 bag of garbage per month, for the 2 of us.

I would love to hear any thoughts on garbage disposal methods to reduce the amount of stuff that gets sent to the landfill. We are doing our part, but I am sure we might be able to do even more.

 

[Fluffy_Moth_With_Silkies]

This is actually such a valid question. The planet's not in such great shape, and there's so much more we can do to help it. I just wish that more places had actual recycling.

 

[gtaus]

This is actually such a valid question. The planet's not in such great shape, and there's so much more we can do to help it. I just wish that more places had actual recycling.

I have serious doubts about all the stuff we put in the recycle bin actually get recycled. Many years ago, when I lived in Minneapolis, the newspaper did an exposé on the recycling program. They followed the recycle truck as they picked up all those separate bins for glass, metal, plastic, and paper, and then followed them out to the landfill where everything was dumped into a one large pile. Nothing was recycled.

I hope things have improved, but I doubt it. Mostly, I think it's just a scam to make us feel better about dumping garbage.

So, I do my best to reuse, repurpose, or reduce the amount of material that ends up in our recycle bins. The bulk of our stuff is probably paper products and packaging. I shred almost all our paper and light cardboard food boxes at home and use that as chicken coop litter. Heavy cardboard can be repurposed as weed barrier for the gardens and pathways.

I try to reuse some glass containers for food items instead of using plastic. I try to repurpose some plastic containers for use out in the garage. I use metal cans in the garage, but don't need very many.

I don't have any big solution to our garbage problems, but at least by shredding paper and feeding all our kitchen scraps and leftovers to the chickens, recycling what items are eligible, we have reduced our throw out garbage to about 1 bag per month.

About a month ago I examined what really gets tossed into our kitchen garbage can. Mostly, it's stuff like used paper towels, napkins, plastic wrap and trays from food items, and that was about it.

Everything in our trash bag was burnable, so I dumped it into my fire barrel that I was using to burn out a stump. The garbage burned up in no time, but I added branches and split wood on top so it would burn longer. All that was left was a tiny pile of ashes. No need to drive into town to get rid of the trash. Saved time, money, and effort and put all that kitchen trash to good use burning out a stump. Well, it takes a lot of wood and time to burn out a stump, but I think you get the idea that the kitchen trash was used in the process in a small way. Anyways, the trash did not end up in a landfill somewhere.

 

[Fluffy_Moth_With_Silkies]

I have serious doubts about all the stuff we put in the recycle bin actually get recycled. Many years ago, when I lived in Minneapolis, the newspaper did an exposé on the recycling program. They followed the recycle truck as they picked up all those separate bins for glass, metal, plastic, and paper, and then followed them out to the landfill where everything was dumped into a one large pile. Nothing was recycled.

That's actually terrible. I wish that companies would try a little harder to actually take care of the environment. I try my hardest to recycle as much cardboard as I can in bonfires, but lots of the other trash goes to landfills. I'm just glad that plant-based plastic is being created, it'll be a lot better for the planet.
-Moth

 

[Henfla]

Do your renovation company facilitate for recycling?
Here where I live they give us three different coloured types of bags where one is for plastic, one is for paper and cardboard and one is for food waste. We use regular plastic bags from the store for everything else. The glass and metal we recycle in a separate garbage can.
I think it is very important that the renovation companies facilitate for recycling for it to happen, but it does cost. We do pay alot for it, and it is definetly not voluntary to do so, but I do think it's necessary for our environment.

 

[arizona_chicken_noob]

I love this. While recycling is indeed a mixed bag, my understanding is that glass and aluminum do pretty well (and can be near infinitely reused).

A couple of personal habits I have picked up to generate less waste:

• Give small gifts, often consumable. Or if it's something that lasts, it would be small and very nice. This has the added benefit of lower postage costs for mailing.
• Buying many things second hand. All shirts, pants, sweaters, jackets, etc.
• Fix things when they break, and try to buy only items that are amenable to the fix-and-keep-going lifestyle.
• Adopt minimalism as my go-to for most things.

 

[lagrange chicks]

One big problem is that appliances now days are made to last 7 to 10 years and not to be repaired. When we bought our house we bought new stove and fridge and that was 35 years ago, they are still in use now. We have friends that are on there 4th fridge in the same amount of time and they need to call a service tech about every other month. The other thing I hate are the plastic bags at the store, I may be wrong but would say for every bag recycled 2 go to the land fill or are blowing around the world. When offered I always get paper, they break down and is a renewable resource.

 

[gtaus]

Do your renovation company facilitate for recycling?

Not quite sure what you mean by a renovation company. Maybe it's lost in the translation. Where I live, we have a large company that accepts our trash and recyclables. We drive up to a building called a transfer station. There, we can put recyclables in one bin and the trash goes into other bins.

Here where I live they give us three different coloured types of bags where one is for plastic, one is for paper and cardboard and one is for food waste. We use regular plastic bags from the store for everything else. The glass and metal we recycle in a separate garbage can.

A couple of years ago, all our recyclable materials is now able to be combined together in our recycle bins. So, all glass, metal, plastic, and paper get dumped into the same recycle bin. One is supposed to assume that the recyclables get transferred to a place where they are sorted out. However, I have never heard of such a facility, and I suspect everything just gets dumped into a landfill in a third world country or someplace out of sight for those of us in the US.

I don't know that to be true, but you would think that if our recyclables were actually being recycled that the local, country, or state governments would be advertising how much waste was recycled and what it was used for. Other than paying for the mandatory trash service in our local property taxes, there is no accounting for what happens to any of our recyclable trash.

I think it is very important that the renovation companies facilitate for recycling for it to happen, but it does cost. We do pay alot for it, and it is definetly not voluntary to do so, but I do think it's necessary for our environment.

I'm all for reducing the amount of trash in our environment. It bothers me to think about some trash I use and throw away may be on Earth for hundreds of years after I am gone.

There are a few small changes that address the recycling issue on the front end. For example, Amazon now ships most of their products in environmentally friendly cardboard with biodegradable labels and packing tape so it could be tossed into a compost pile instead of a landfill.

Where I live, newspapers are mandated to use environmentally friendly soy based inks, which allow the newspapers to be composted. Before, they used inks that were toxic to the soil. So, it's small steps like that that are nice to see because they add up fast.

 

[gtaus]

Buying many things second hand. All shirts, pants, sweaters, jackets, etc.

These days, I do a lot of shopping at our local church charity Thrift Store. It doesn't bother me to buy used goods that are in good working condition. I save lots of money.

Fix things when they break, and try to buy only items that are amenable to the fix-and-keep-going lifestyle.

Not only do I try to fix things that I have, but I have picked up a number of items at the Thrift Store that they give away for free because they need to be fixed before use.

Adopt minimalism as my go-to for most things.

I can't say that I practice minimalism. I like my stuff. I have too much stuff, according to Dear Wife, but I usually find a use for the things I save. If I have not used something for a period of time, then I might get rid of it. No doubt, a week later I will finally need it, no matter how long I had kept that item before I tossed it out! Seems to happen all the time.

 

[MiMito3]

This past Labor Day weekend we had my brother, a couple of his girls, and 6 of his grandchildren visit us for a couple of days. Basically, an overnighter leaving after supper on day 2. I have a split level house with full accommodations on both levels. So, my brother and his family stayed downstairs on the walk out level. My Dear Wife and I live on the upper level. Anyways, 10 of them downstairs for a day and a half, more or less.

Now, they did a very good job in cleaning up after themselves, so this is not a complaint. But in just 2 days, they had 3 kitchen bags full of garbage which is more bagged garbage than Dear Wife and I create in a full month! We are down to about 1 garbage per month now, which I will explain in a short while.

It got me to thinking how much garbage must be sent to the landfills that really could be taken care of in other ways. For example, all their leftover and uneaten table food was just tossed into the garbage bag, whereas Dear Wife and I would have put all that stuff into a chicken bucket. All their pop cans and empty plastic containers got junked, whereas we would have rinsed them out and put them into a recycle bin. Lots of food packaging, the light cardboard kind, filled up the garbage bags whereas I would have shred them up to use as coop litter for the chickens. A very small amount of their trash is what would be considered garbage for us, such as plastic wrapping, used napkins and paper towels, and they also had a baby with them, so diapers, of course. All in all, I estimate they could have gotten by with maybe only 1/4 of a trash bag for the weekend if they reused, recycled, or feed the kitchen scraps to the chickens.

Of course, it was much easier for me to just let them toss everything into the garbage for the 2 days they spent with us and then take out the trash when they left. But thinking about it now, I wonder how much stuff gets sent to the landfills that could be otherwise taken care of in other ways? Kind of wish everyone had chickens, shredded their paper products for animal litter, had livestock to feed the kitchen scraps and leftovers, etc... Recycle the metal, glass, and plastics if you can. Leaving only a few things left for the landfill.

My personal journey: Years ago, Dear Wife and used to have 3 to 4 bags full of garbage every week. Recycling cut that down to half, easily, or maybe even more. But the real savings is now that I shred almost all our paper products and use the paper shreds as chicken coop litter, which later gets dumped out into the chicken run composting system, and the compost gets used in my raised garden beds. Almost all our kitchen scraps and leftovers get put into a chicken bucket to feed the girls. In the end, we are down to about 1 bag of garbage per month, for the 2 of us.

I would love to hear any thoughts on garbage disposal methods to reduce the amount of stuff that gets sent to the landfill. We are doing our part, but I am sure we might be able to do even more.

I used to live in Michigan. My sister-in-law’s parents owned a trash collecting company. Unless there is an order for recyclable stuff, and there aren’t that many besides aluminum, it all goes in the land fill anyway. Most people do their best. Kids in diapers etc cause a lot more trash as well.