Every week we gather two large bags of trash to be hauled out of sight and out of mind.  It’s amazing when you realize that some cultures produce literally no trash at all.  I found myself getting irritable about the quantity of “leftovers” we seemed to be tossing out. What the heck was filling up those garbage bags?  I decided to investigate and for a week took note of what I was throwing away.   I suspect my trash is pretty similar to anyone else’s in the U.S.

Packaging proved to be by far the largest component of waste.  Even though I cook a lot from scratch, it seems I can’t avoid food packaging.  I found cellophane, cardboard, foil, Styrofoam, paper, and plastic.  Cans and glass, at least, can be recycled.  Then there is the pharmacy.  Pharmaceuticals and cosmetics love to use excessive packaging, I suspect to make you believe you are getting more of a product than is really there. Or how about hardware?  Some items from the hardware store still come in individual units that you can pack in a paper or plastic bag available at the store (or in your own bag!).  Many items, however, are designed with packaging that allows them to be conveniently displayed and most are contained in cardboard and (what else?) plastic.

Non-recyclable plastic placed number two in my garbage.  Cleaning products, household items, food, and even paper products come enclosed in some form of plastic. Plastic wrap and storage bags, anyone? Shopping bags to cart our goods home are almost always plastic, though these can be recycled, ironically, as trash bags.

Third came paper.  Napkins, Kleenex and paper towels, were the primary offenders, along with can labels and waxed cartons.

Next, were food scraps, though not many, as we recycle vegetable and fruit trimmings, eggshells, tea bags and coffee grounds into our compost pile.  Also, we use up leftover food, so there is little waste here.

Finally, there were those odds and ends – a broken dish, a worn out pair of socks, a sponge, some aluminum foil, and assorted cultural artifacts, broken or too worn to be of use to anyone else.

I’d like to get down to one bag, maximum, per week.

So how do we reduce what goes into the trash?

Packaging:

• Buy the largest quantity that makes sense in terms of use and storage.
• Buy bulk, where possible, and bring your own containers.
• Buy food at farmer’s markets and from local food producers, when available and in season.
• Buy products that sell refillable units, such as some household cleaning products manufacturers.  Method is one example.  The Body Shop is a cosmetics company that offers refillable units.
• Be aware of the amount of excess packaging used by certain companies and avoid buying their products.  Let the companies know you are doing this.
• Look for products that use minimal packaging.

Non-recyclable plastic:

• Avoid buying food in Styrofoam containers or non-recyclable plastic containers.
• Buy frozen products to substitute for the same product in a bottle.  Juices, in cardboard and metal cans, for instance. However, be aware that the juice concentrates come from all over the world, so it’s a trade-off as far as how much energy you are saving.
• Take reusable bags every time you shop.

Paper:

• Switch from paper towels to cotton rags or microfiber cloths.  These can be washed and reused multiple times.
• Switch from paper to cloth napkins.
• Store food in reusable plastic containers, or in glass containers, rather than in plastic bags or plastic wrap.
• If you do use plastic bags, wash and reuse them.

Food:

• Use leftover food instead of throwing it away.  Small amounts of vegetables can be saved during the week and added to soups, stews or salads.  Fruits can be added to cottage cheese, green salads, pudding or jello.  It doesn’t take a lot of a particular food to add flavor and variety to a dish.  Save bread ends in the freezer and when you have a bagful toast them on low in the oven to make breadcrumbs and croutons.
• Recycle vegetable and fruit scraps to a compost pile. Your garden will thank you.

Or, what about this radical notion?  If we consumed less, we’d reduce our trash immediately.

How is this green?

According to howstuffworks.com, it’s estimated that Americans generate 251 million tons of trash each year.  Some of this is recycled, some is burned, but the majority of it is buried under a layer of dirt.  It does not decompose readily, but is simply contained so that it does not contaminate our groundwater or our air.  My question is this: at 251 millions tons each year now, with the population ever increasing, where are we going to bury all of this in years to come?  Please don’t tell me the ocean.  And, are we creating vast wastelands (pun intended) that will not be habitable for centuries?

At least we owe it to ourselves, and to future generations, to try and reduce what goes in the landfill.

Your turn:

What strategies are you using to reduce waste?  

Resources and inspirations:

“The Waste Crisis: Landfills, Incinerators, and the Search for a Sustainable Future” by Hans Y. Tammemagi.

“Material World: A Global Family Portrait” by Peter Menzel, Charles C. Mann, and Paul Kennedy

www.howstuffworks.com

Next week:

Right brain math.