We are entering month four and we have filled two 8 gallon bags of trash. Those two bags take up quite a bit of space in the bottom of my bin, though, and I struggle to see how I can possibly make this bin last all year. That’s alright, the goal is to see how long it takes us… and it may be shorter than I had hoped.

Our second bag of trash for the year.

So this update is about how we have, as a family of four, only filled two 8 gallon bags in 3 months in a town that has no zero waste store, a few bulk bin buying options, a handful of restaurants that allow bring-your-own, and few package-free options. It’s no jar, but it is a conscious effort to create less waste, and I feel good about that.

Recycling Right: I am a diligent recycler, always have been. But we recycle less, about a third less, than we did when we started the toward zero waste journey. That’s because I now understand that recycling is not sustainable. It’s good; better than not recycling a recyclable item, but recycling not the answer.  Knowing what I know now about the state of the recycling industry, I no longer wish-cycle (throwing things in that you are sure the facility should recycle and think they will if you just keep putting it in there). This is contamination (and I’m not talking about skipping the rinse, here), and I no longer risk contamination knowing that the commodity prices have fallen steeply.  A contaminated product not only won’t get top dollar; it will very likely end up in the landfill.

January – March

Terracycle-ing: Because I did not introduce this low waste lifestyle when they were wee little ones, my children became accustomed to store-bought bars and cereal and chips, all which come with non-recycle packaging. I learned to make bars and chipss and even some really tasty crackers, but I don’t love to cook and simply could not keep up with the demand.  Discovering the Terracycle Company was a game changer for us. I still make some of this stuff sometimes, but being able to buy bars, and cereal and chips again, has kept my kids from revolting.  We are fortunate to have a limited Terracycle program at our elementary school, and drop off chip bags and snack wrappers at our local Subaru Dealer.

Making Ecobricks: Never heard of them? Neither had I until I joined our Apex admin, Karin Johnson, at a TZW Booth at the Apex Farmers Market. Ecobrick is a way to collect and utilize your non-recycleable plastics to make bricks for building!  It’s not enough to make a brick if it will not be used, however.  Right now I have one brick made and am loading a jar with plastic bits for a second jar. But if I don’t find a project, this will end up with my landfill trash as well. Let me know if anyone is interested in building something out of Ecobricks! Would be a neat engineering project for kids.

Composting: It’s the only reason that I am actually able to collect my trash in the green bin for as long as it will take to fill it. Composting allows me to have dry, non-stinky trash, that can sit in my garage for months on end (we hope).

I have two compost bins in my backyard, and I use a local service we are blessed to have called CompostNow.  This may seem a little over the top, but composting is AWESOME and there are many reasons we should all be doing if we care about our planet. Just check out this video by Kiss the Ground:

See, there is more to this than just landfill diversion!

Normally, one would not be able to compost meat, oil or bones in their backyard, but I have what I think is the best backyard bin there is, the Green Johanna Hot Komposter.  I got it when we were living in Europe on discount from my town, so be forewarned its not cheap.  The reason I also use the Compost Now  (besides the fact they are good people and I want to support an amazing eco-business) is because 1) I don’t love trudging out back in winter, and 2) I cannot compost compostable service ware that I might get from restaurant takeout (such as Zenfish and Juice Vibes), in my bin. Believe me, I’ve tried.

In an effort to keep these updates short-ish, I’ll close. But next time, I’ll continue to share more of what we have done to keep our landfill contributions low!

Stay tuned to my Green Bin Update!