Could You Live with Your Trash?

Some time back,

in a post about saving money,

I made a comment about decreasing your trash.

Also, look in your trash to see what you are spending money on.

Now, it's time to ask a couple more questions.

Where is away when you throw something away?

If you couldn't throw it "away" how would that look?

I would rather not preach, but offer some ideas for decreasing 

the amount of trash we (society) produce.

If you've not yet seen such heart-wrenching things,

put in your search engine and view images...

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

I typed it that way to make it easy to copy and paste.

We have been working on decreasing our amount of trash

around here, and the homesteading, sustainable, or DIY lifestyle

actually lends itself in this direction quite well.

We have 3 garbage cans.

I think the last time I went to the dump was just after Christmas.

We are getting close to needing to go again within the next month or so.

Here are a couple charts I found interesting:

So what can we do?

1. Take a reusable tote with you to the store.  That's an easy one.  A bonus is that some stores take a nickel off your total for each bag you bring.

2. Take mesh bags (or muslin etc) with you for produce.  I find these at the Dollar store - 3 for a dollar.  You could also get a veil from a thrift shop and make enough for you and your neighbor.  Or, you could grow your own produce.

3.  Compost your scraps.  Many of us are already doing this.

4.  Re-use items.  Again easy.

5.  Consider the gifts you are giving.  Try not to give plastic as a gift.

6.  Buy in bulk.  Azure Standard is a wonderful site.  Go in with others if you don't need a lot.  Even with shipping, it's usually less expensive.  I have a friend/neighbor who I call and say, "When you order from Azure, can you add 5 lbs. of XYZ or whatever."  Often it's a case of "Oh good, I need some too.  Can we split a bigger bag?" etc.

7.  Cook at home.  It's healthier and creates little or no garbage.  I recently found out (by asking) that the plastic liners around our meat from the butcher/meat packer is even recyclable.  (We get a full beef in the fall.)
8. Yes, I left recycle for way down the list.  Obviously, recycle what you can.  The thing is ~ if you can avoid it in the first place, that means don't bring it into your home, you won't have to recycle it.
9.  Before you pitch an item, ask a friend or neighbor if they could use it.  Or keep a bag to add things to.  When it's full take it to a local thrift store.  (These items can be a tax deduction if you ask at the thrift store.)
10.  And alas, how many of you open your mail over the garbage can?  You can begin to control what comes into your home via the mail box.  The Direct Marketing Assoc. has an opt out choice.  You just go to the link I just provided and decide what you want or don't want to receive.  The only glitch is that if you have donated to an organization in the past, it will not remove you from that list.  You will have to call those places and ask to be removed from the list.  Mail has been an on-going issue for us, but we receive very little junk mail.  Any time you give your name & address out, specify that it is not to be sold or distributed in any way and that you would like to be added to their 'No mail" list.

There are probably many more ways to avoid and/or decrease the amount of garbage you produce.  If there is something that works for you, please feel free to leave a comment and share.  

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitched