Garbage question
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive February 2008:
Garbage question
How many bags of trash do you set out per week? I feel like we have too much although I'm not sure what to do about it. There are 5 of us and our main kitchen trash fills daily and we actually set out between 6-8 30 gallon bags a week. I was wondering how we compare to others.
Our family of five empties the kitchen trash every other day. We put out about 4 bags a week, usually 1 white bag and 1 black bag twice a week.
However about once every 2 months we have a big trash day, when I clean out stuff and we set out 4-5 bags on trash day.
So what do we do to cut down on trash. First we don't use anything paper except for special occasions. Like for superbowl tomorrow we will use paper plates. We use cloth napkins, we use one water cup for each of us daily. I called and hda my name removed from a lot of mailing lists. We don't get a newspaper (i just read online). My kids clean out backpacks and such at school, so I don't end up with much of that trash at home. If we do a drive through somewhere, that trash goes into their trashcan. Hmmm that is about it. We are far from frugal, but there are a few things we do. I don't use produce bags at the store, I take my own bag and put everything in there. I try not to buy prepackaged food also.
We are a family of 5 and pretty much use one (white) bag a day.
I buy 30 gallon bags for my 13-gallon garbage can, because the 13-gallon fills up too fast and then no one empties it and it's twice as much work to empty the garbage. Besides, then, when I do empty the kitchen garbage, I have enough room for the 2 bedrooms and bathroom, too. It just works better for me. We maybe have 3 of those by the end of the week.
3 adults in my house - we seem to have a lot of trash/garbage as well. We shred a lot of stuff and empty the shredder once a week; that only fills about 1/4 of a kitchen trash bag since it's shredded so small. Since hurricane Katrina, we don't have recycling out here (yeah, it's like living in a place that's gone backwards in time), so the newspapers and other stuff normally recycled gets tossed too. We seem to have between 4 and 7 bags weekly, depending on the week. And like most of us, when I decide to start decluttering, there are more.
We have the huge garbage can on wheels that are issued to each resident, and they hold a LOT. We have trash/garbage pickup twice weekly, and sometimes we forget, and this garbage can is large enough to contain a *normal* week's worth of garbage for us most of the time.
Our family of five puts out 7-9 white kitchen bags of trash out each week, plus one box of recyclables. The kitchen trash goes out daily, plus the bathroom and bedroom baskets that get emptied once a week. I have no idea how that compares to other families of a similar size.
There are only two in my household, so we don't have a lot. Our township also does recycling very vigorously, so on Mondays the township picks up all paper refuse (paper, cardboard, phone books, etc.) and on the regular trash day household trash goes in one container and all plastic, glass and metal goes in another container.
The township recently changed systems, and provides each household with special heavy-duty trash containers that can be picked up by big arms that come out of the side of the truck, pick up and lift the container, and dump the contents into the truck. We got the smallest size containers and don't fill them more than half full most weeks. I know sometimes people have more trash than will fit in the container and will put out bags, but if that happens frequently the township will drop off another container because they really want you to use these special containers. The first set or sets is free - I don't know what will happen if one gets broken and has to be replaced.
I would guess our trash container would hold 3-4 big trash bags and is usually half full or less; the recycling container would hold 2 big trash bags and is usually only half full. But remember, this is two adults, and we are fairly conscientious about using re-usable plastic containers instead of plastic bags, using cloth rags instead of paper towels when we can, etc. For example, Scott is the only one who drinks coffee, and he bought a washable/reusable fliter for the coffee machine so he doesn't use paper filters.
We use 3-4 30gallon bags a week. If I do a major house cleaning like bedrooms and fridge and stuff we could add 2-3 more bags to that. Plus when I grocery shop the store I shop at doesn't provide bags they provdie boxes so I bring my groceries home in boxes.
Plus out city does not provide recycling and we drink allot fo juice,gatorade and milk in our house so we have allot of containers in our trash.
We empty the kitchen trash 1x per day.
We have 3 bathroom trash cans and empty those 1x per week.
We also set out a recycle tub 1x per week.
We empty the kitchen trash at least once a day, sometimes twice.
We buy a lot of bulk so we have a lot of boxes that go in the garbage.
Our trash is picked up twice a week. Our three large garbage cans are always out at the curb.
We generally have large bulk trash. This Monday we will have the toilet, pedastal sink, and the walls we ripped out from our bathroom. There are people who drive around Sunday night and take anything that they can reuse/sell. We leave anything big out for them to easily take.
We recycle almost *everything*. Almost all food goes down the drain and anything 1 and 2 type plastics, cans, glass gets recycled, along with any paper.
So, have 2 bags a week we put in our container.
NPR did a neat show on how someone proved how much we *can* recycle. She was in college and took her trash with her EVERYWHERE!!! Can you imagine how much you would recycle if you had to take your trash everywhere with you? She said it made her recycle a lot more and start a compost.
Can you tell I'm from Boulder, CO?? LOL
I wish we could use colored bags. They make us use clear bags for garbage, blue bags for glass, cans, and #2 plastic.
Where our garbage gets complicated is that one week is paper/cardboard and the next week is blue bag stuff. You need to keep track of which week it is. It would be so much simpler if recycling could all just get put out every week. I don't think they have enough room in the trucks, or something.
Two adults and 2 children, and we use 1 white bag every day, plus some boxes and stuff from soda and the such. We have no recycling here, they did on post, but they dumped the recycling bags in the same trash truck as the garbage... I don't get that. Generally, I buy a 40 pack of trash bags once a month, and I hate how much trash we have.
Family of 4 and we have about 3 kitchen sized bags a week. We have as much or more recycling than we do garbage each week. Right now food scraps go down the disposal, but we hope to start a compost pile in the spring. All plastic, paper, metal, etc. is recycled. That leaves very little that needs to be thrown away.
We have 7 people in our home, and 2 wear adult sized diapers. We have a 2 bag/garbage can limit/week. If we have more, we have to buy tags for the extras, and the tags are $2 each. We get them for nothing, because we have kids with special needs. We normally have 3 tall garbage cans full, and the majority of it is diapers.
We recycle tons, so usually have about 3 tubs full, as well as a big bag of paper.
In Sept. we're going to be getting green bins, which will be for compost. They will even take diapers and feminine products. Many areas around us already use them, and I'm thrilled we will be shortly. We will have hardly anything out for garbage.
Want to add: We put food in the garbage disposal (with the exception of bones, and a few things that just won't work in there). And like Yvonne, we buy in bulk @ Sams, and we break down the boxes before putting them out. We usually tie them together and stack them by the garbage can on trash night.
We USED to have recycling bins. During Katrina, the recycling facility was damaged/destroyed and apparently the local government (parish) thinks it's too costly to start up again. STUPID, IMO. We were paying for it in our water bill. And since Katrina, there is also a new company that does the garbage pick-up - and no, there are no charges for recycling. However, I believe in recycling, and we were very diligent about it in the past. It really irks me that we are throwing away all the plastic, cans and papers that could be recycled. There is nowhere local to drop the stuff off, if we wanted to do it on our own. So when we were recycling, we had much less trash/garbage.
IMO, recycling should be a priority in ALL areas. And we were told stories that just ticked me off so bad - in the past, each family was given ONE blue plastic bin for recycling. Most places have something for plastic, something for cans, and something for paper. Not dear old Louisiana. So all of our cans and plastic went into the bin, and DH would put all the newspapers into paper bags and just lie it on top of the bin when we put it out. Well, we heard stories that once it was delivered to the recycling location, most of the stuff was just put in the garbage! ?!? What the heck?
But again, this *is* Louisiana, and with all the crooked politics and money going into the politician's pockets, from the lowest level of government to the highest, NOTHING is done the way it should be. Another reason we are NOT going to retire in this state. Can't afford to move now at our ages, but when we do retire, it will NOT be in Louisiana.
Sorry for the rant, I'm pretty fed up with things where I live. LOL
When we lived in Chicago, there was a huge recycling program. We had a big, wheeled trash can for recycling, and we recycled just about everything, so we had only 1 or 2 trash bags a week. We had no set garbage fee each month, you paid per bag, so it really encouraged people to recycle.
Here, in Oklahoma, they don't recycle as much, just plastic and paper. So, we have more trash. They don't recycle cardboard, which is big to me. So, we have one, white kitchen, trash bag a day. We have 2 big, wheeled trash cans. In the winter, when we don't do yard work, we use one a week, normally. Now, if I do a big clean out, we use both. In the summer, we use both cans because of grass clippings, etc.
I totally agree with you, Karen, about recycling. When we first moved here, I put everything in the cycle bin. The guy keep leaving a ton of stuff. At first I thought he was skipping us, then my neighbor told me, we don't recycle all that stuff. I really wish more places would recycle as much as possible.
We alternate weeks between the co-mingled recycling (glass, plastic & metal) and the paper recycling. Clear bags for co-mingled, paper usually tied or sometimes in a clear bag if we have enough of it.
Kitchen garbage - once a week - we have a compactor. Household garbage (small baskets) also once a week. Also we occasionally have 1 extra bag with cat litter and the extra food stuff when I clean out the fridge.
All in all, I thin we seem to not have a lot because the compactor really helps reduce the number of bags.
Can't wait to have a disposal like Heidi. Much easier.
Ame
We can't put out yard waste. There is a special drop-off site for tree branches and grass clippings, etc. They shred the tree branches and offer the mulch for free.
Our yard waste can only be put out a few times a year, and a special truck comes around for that. If they ever saw yard waste in the garbage, they would just leave it.
We are only given one blue bin per home, but we can buy more. I just put mine out in big totes or tubs. They don't care what it's in. I normally have 3 or 4 containers out there, as well as a huge bag of paper.
We have one large dumpster that is full each week. Occasionally overflowing. We also have a compactor, which really makes a difference in how much you can get in the dumpster. There is NO recycling program here, which is so ridiculous I can't even believe it. To recycle, I would have to drive quite a ways, and that seems to defeat the "green" idea by using up all the gas it would take me. The majority of people in this county refused to pay a SMALL recycling fee to the trash company each month, so we have nothing that way. There are a few recycling stations around, but all far from me.
We have probably 7-9 bags/week, but that's without recycling. We are a family of 3. (including one scrapbooker/card maker, which means I gave up my love for trees a long time ago!!LOL) Just kidding, but honestly, paper crafters can't ever claim to fight for trees! 
Oh, the township recycles yard waste also (including Christmas trees) - it goes out in large heavy brown paper bags, and branches are tied up and can be no more than 3' long. It goes to a location just a couple of miles from us, where it is all shredded into mulch and anyone can go and get all the mulch they can carry during normal working hours.
Pam, when you start your mulch pile, just remember that no meat products should go in it. We had a family around the corner that was putting meat wastes into their mulch pile and when the water company started relaying sewers we had a terrible rat problem at our end of the block, until the inspectors discovered that they were putting meat in the mulch pile. I had a mulch pile when I was actively gardening, and other than it's a pain to keep turning it, it was a good thing. I would up having two mulch piles, and would use the rotted down mulch from one pile at the beginning of gardening season, and the alternate pile the next gardening season.
I live in a very rural area, so we don't get any town services. We have well water and septic system. We pay yearly for ambulance service, and we have a volunteer fire department. We pay monthly for our garbage pick up. There are several trash haulers and you can go with any company you want. We have had the same comapny for 31 years!
We don't have a lot of garbage. First of all, we recycle everything that we can; newspapers, magazines and catalogues, glass, plastic, cans and cardboard. We take our soda cans and bottles over the state line into Connecticut because they pay you five cents per beverage can or plastic bottle. We have a large Rubbermaid trash can outside just for that. When it is full, DH takes it to the redemption center. He gets about ten dollars. We have a compost pile and we put our veggie scraps, grass clippings, the wood shavings from our guinea pig cage, etc. We don't, however, put kitty litter in the compost because it doesn't break down. That, unfortuntely has to go in the trash. I don't use the clumping litter, so it is pretty heavy. We have a fire pit, so we burn all of our paper trash such as junk mail and old bills, etc.
When all is said and done, we usually only have one white kitchen trash bag per week and the rest is recycling. Oh, and we have a milkman, so our milk and juice come in glass bottles that are rinsed and returned every week. I like that. Less waste, and the milk tastes so much better in glass.
One word of caution; make sure you shred all credit card offers, bills, and virtually anything else that someone could use to steal your identity. That's why we burn ours.
Marcia - I think it's great that they can add diapers and feminine products to a mulch pile, but how do they break down? There is a lot of plastic in them.
The first few years we were married they did a special pickup in the spring. They would take broken furniture, larger than normal items. It was a great way to clean out your garage or some people their yard.The landfill is expensive They quit doing it about 4 years ago saying since people would go through the trash it made too big of a mess and the garbage workers were over worked etc. All the people running for city commissioner are saying they want to bring it back.
I have no idea how the products break down, Hol. I'll have to google that.
Deanna, I quit getting junk mail and newpapers so I didn't feel so guily about scrapbooking
Also using digital you only print what you need, right?!?
Kaye- We still get the newspaper, but how in the world do you avoid getting junk mail?? We get TONS that I throw away each week.
I only print the pics I need of course, but all the paper I buy and use for scrapbooking and cards is a TON! Not the same for you? *I* have one bag of trash just from papercrafting each week.
This thread has motivated me though to try and look yet AGAIN for a better way to recycle around here. Everytime I check on it, it's very discouraging. I hate not recycling! I don't feel good about it but have few options where I live.
Deanna - There is an address that you can write to to have your name removed from junk mail lists. I will try to get it for you. It takes a couple months to kick in, but I am told that it greatly reduces it.
I looked into the diaper thing, and I found an article that talked about a machine that separates the plastic from the products. I can't believe what we will be able to put in that bin. I can't wait to get one!
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