Talkin’ Trash
Three weeks ago the garbage men came, and left my two large cans on the sidewalk like they usually do, but the wheels were gone on one of them. I’m not sure where they went, but as the can already had some cracks in it, I didn’t really care much if we had to toss it. So the following week I put a big note on the lid “Please take this can”, and they did.
What’s interesting to me is that I didn’t replace the can right away, and I didn’t really need to. Knowing that I had a limited amount of space for trash forced me to be much more vigilent about my recycling efforts. For me this means not only remembering to put the paper, plastic and glass in the proper place, but remembering to put the recyling out on the right night. (and these guys come very early, so there’s little chance of running out in your jammies in the morning…)They alternate every week, so if you miss the Friday for paper, it’s another two weeks before you can get rid of it.
So now my family of four has practically cut it’s trash in half. Pretty remarkable, I think. I rather like knowing we’re not taking up as much landfill space as we used to. So, the question is, can you do the same?
this is one of my favorite topics of conversation. (ask dave. he’ll confirm.) we started composting about 2 years ago (in addition to our recycling) and our trash went from 2 overflowing cans at the curb each week to less than 1 can. it’s amazing. and, between the composting and the recycling and the attention to the trash, i’ve become more aware of the things i buy that are full of packaging and create trash. i love making less of it!