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I haven’t talked about trash in a while, so I thought I would update you on the amount of stuff we throw out each week.  In a previous post I talked about how we had reduced our trash so much that it didn’t matter that we missed taking the trash to the curb for pickup.  What I thought amazing about that was it had only been 2 weeks since I started the plastic free challenge.  So what about now , it’s been 12 weeks, how little do I throw away now?

Well it’s amazing, at least to me, but we have missed 2 weeks of trash pick up and still have plenty of room in the recycle bin and the large trash can.  In fact we are throwing so little away that the kitchen trash can (13 gallons) only needs to be emptied every 10 to 14 days.

How do we do it you ask?  I’ll tell you one thing…it’s not hard to do, all you have to do is pay attention to what you buy.

Here are some ways to reduce your trash:

1. Start looking for items in the grocery store that come in little or no packaging.  Squeeze boxes and listen for the crunching sound that internal bags make.

2. Buy more fresh produce and stay away from frozen and canned veggies or fruits.  Don’t buy veggies that come wrapped in plastic.  Why do you need to buy carrots in a plastic bag?  Your gonna peel them before you use them, so what’s the point of the plastic?

3. Don’t buy things that come individually wrapped.  This one is a tough one for our family.  We have really been working on this, but we still buy the healthy breakfast bars that come wrapped in foil.  Maybe one day I will take the time to make my own granola bars.

4. Bring your own containers to the grocery store.  Unfortunitly none of the stores that I shop at let me use my own containers but other bloggers use them in their hometowns so it’s definitely something to try.  Also if you shop where you can buy from the bulk bins, use your own bags or better yet go to your local Chinese restaurant and see if you can buy some of their paper take out containers.  Everyone in the store will ask you where you got them and then you can start up a conversation about reducing your footprint.

5.  Bring your own bags to the store or don’t use one at all.  Do you really need a bag for that box of spaghetti? Can’t you just hold your receipt in your hand as you walk out the door?  Don’t let anyone tell you that a bag is mandatory.

Those are only a few ways to reduce your trash and make sure you don’t forget about composting your table scraps.

Now that we are 10 weeks into my experiment I thought that I would do a quick update on my progress.

Below is an excerpt from my very first post, read more here…

Most everyone is interested in reducing their carbon footprint and reducing their impact in the world, here are the 10 items that I would like to address in my home this year.

1. Recycling
2. Composting
3. Eliminate toxic cleaning products
4. Cut energy costs
5. Become plastic free or at least plastic less
6. Limit the use of my car
7. Buy Green Power
8. Buy more local products
9. Set up an urban garden
10. Stop eating out

So lets see where I am at…

#1. I recycle everything that I can, in fact most weeks the recycle bin is fuller then my trash can. 

 #2. I have started a composting bin.  However I have been waiting to buy worms, I was worried that they would die in the cold.  Next week I will send off for the worms and then get the worm bin moving.  I do have to say that the compost bin that I have in my laundry room has been doing a good job all by itself.  I have been using it since the begining of the year and I have yet to need to empty it.

#3. Elimiating toxic cleaning products…I have been working on this slowly.  As you know I have been using a Cleaning Service to do my major house work, this month I didn’t use them but I think from now on I will use them once a month, so if I am not doing much cleaning I am not using up the chemicals that I have on hand.  I might go ahead and Freecycle the toxic products and keep the safe ones, that way I can have a clean start.  The only problem that I have been having with this item is that all cleaning products come in plastic.  I have used baking soda and vinegar, but they just don’t get rid of most of the stains or soapy residue in the bath tub.  I do try to buy only recycable bottles of cleaner or ones that can be refilled, that is better then some of the #5 bottles that are under my sink.

#4.  I have cut my energy costs by almost $50 a month, just by changing 10 habits.  That was easier then going plastic free.

#5.  I have dramatically changed my plastic habits.  I can even go to the store and not buy any plastic packaging.  The best part is besides the milk issue, we haven’t had any issues with missing out on some of the plastic wrapped foods. 

#6.  Limiting the use of my car has been a tough one.  In fact we will be talking about this topic next month.  I rode several times in February but my knee hurt so bad after those few times I am almost afraid to get back on my bike.  I am on some good drugs now and the swelling has finally gone down, so I will start working back up to the full 6 miles next week.

#7. Now that I have reduced my energy costs, I can start buying green power.  Here you have to buy power by the kilowatt hour and you can’t easily change it month to month, so this will be another topic for discussion next month.

#8.  As far as buying local products, I haven’t been able to do that at all.  For some reason the Farmers Market is only open in the Spring and Summer, so once that opens I will be able to buy all my fresh produce from local vendors and maybe I will get lucky and other products will be offered there too.

#9.  I have talked with my landlord and putting a garden in the backyard is off, but maybe I will be able to grow some veggies in some pots on the back patio.

#10.  Stop eating out…HAH!  This item seems to be impossible.  It’s not that we have overscheduled lives, but somedays we just don’t have the time to cook dinner.  Since both of us work it is very difficult on days that we have activities to find the 30 minutes that it takes me to cook a well balanced meal.  I know that 30 minutes isn’t very much time, but somedays it seems like an eternity.

Well that’s were things stand so far, somethings are getting easier while others are not.  We still have a lot to talk about, so stay tuned…

Last night I realized that we had missed trash day, but to my surprise it didn’t matter.  There were no overflowing trash bins or recycling bins full to the top.  I mentioned this to my husband and he was amazed.  In only 2 weeks we have reduced our trash so much that maybe we will only need the trash men everyother week.  Once we make our compost bin we might not need the trash men but once a month. 

We have a a 64 gallon trash cart, which would hold about 4 full trash bags, before our reduction in trash we would fill that bin each week.  Now it will take us a month to fill that trash can!  It has really surprised me how much trash my family used to make.  I was just being a lazy consumer and not really paying attention to what I bought and how it was packaged.  But now with just a little bit of effort I have made a huge difference in saving our precious landfill space. 

I have been doing a lot of research on composting.  Since I live in an urban environment, surrounded by neighbors on all 3 sides, I want to make sure that I don’t do this haphazardly as to not make a big stink and alert the local neighborhood association. 

I do have a couple of plastic trash bins that are sitting empty, so I am thinking that I could use one of those.  A few well placed holes, with the gobs of leaves that are on the property and a few kitchen scraps might work out just great.  The only thing that I am wondering is…do I need to add worms or some additive to speed up the compost? It seems as though if I leave it to itself it might take quite a long time for the composting to begin but if I add worm I could have compost in a matter of weeks. I am trying to aim for a spring planting of my new urban garden, so new compost and compost tea would be awesome.  Is it too cold for worm composting, our coldest month is still to come.  Questions that need to be answered…can anyone help?

Well it is official…we, a family of 6, has limited their trash down to one 13 gallon trash bag.  That’s without composting, so I imagine that we can almost eliminate the need for those nasty plastic trash bags completely once we do start composting. 

Anyone out there compost? We have a backyard but I am not sure that the landlord would appreciate a pile of green matter smoldering in his backyard.  I know that buying a composter involves plastic and that’s not in the cards,  so what do you do?  We do have a great place for a compost pile but I am afraid of what the neighbors might say…what are your suggestions?

Most everyone is interested in reducing their carbon footprint and reducing their impact in the world, here are the 10 items that I would like to address in my home this year.

1. Recycling
2. Composting
3. Eliminate toxic cleaning products
4. Cut energy costs
5. Become plastic free or at least plastic less
6. Limit the use of my car
7. Buy Green Power
8. Buy more local products
9. Set up an urban garden
10. Stop eating out

Now I have high expectations but I don’t think I can do all of these all at once. So I will ease myself into this by trying to accomplish at least one item per month. Remember I have a husband and 4 kids to convince, and I am sure that a coupe would ensue if I took things to quickly. So my first goal will be to learn more about the recycling in my community and surrounding communities and how I can use them more wisely.