Zero waste household. Update!

[Shagbark Hickory]

Ok the zero waste subject is misleading. That's not really the goal.
A month ago I posted how I am trying to reduce household waste so I can fire my hauler. My goal was to go from using weekly 90 gallon pickups to just 4 trips to the dump each year and more specifically, because the dump charges by the bag, to make it worthwhile, I'm shooting for 8 bags tops. At the same time I don't want to be inconvenienced all that much or have bad odors and pests. Sounds easy, doesn't it?!

So far it's going well. I've gone a month and garbage is a little less than half full. I haven't used any pickups. This puts me on target for two 55 gallon bags at the end of the quarter. Although this is a household of just one person, I operate a business from home and eat most meals at home.

Here's how I'm doing it.
I separate the trash into 6 departments.
1.) recyclables
2.) paper towels (used but not majorly soiled)
3.) plastic bags & plastic film wrapping
4.) food and smelly or potentially smelly waste
5.) non-food waste
6.) fruit and veg, dust and pet hair to compost

Much to my surprise, about 65% of the uncompressed volume of the non-recyclable waste is plastic bags and plastic film wrapping! Luckily I can take these bags to the supermarket where they collect it in a bin out front. I've had to empty this stuff twice last month.

Paper towels are the second biggest contributor. The ones that aren't majorly soiled with food, I save for spills and other cleaning tasks. But they eventually end up in the trash.

The rest goes into the trash but the non-food trash I can easily take little bits of it with me once in a while to throw out somewhere else.

I use the food disposer in the sink A LOT. I would not be able to do this without that. All food wrappers are thoroughly rinsed to prevent odors and pests. The supermarket also collects foam trays that meat comes in and egg cartons but I haven't been recycling those. Only been recycling the trays that sliced fruit comes in.

As you can imagine I have a lot of recyclables. This month there has been a lot of office paper. Although I don't have to, today I'm using a recycling pickup but keeping track of how much they're taking. I can use the free recycling center but don't want to go there more than 4 times a year. If I get overloaded with recyclables I can take cans and bottles to the supermarket, they collect those too.

As for the inconvenience of doing this, so far I haven't had to go to the dump or recycling bank. The time spent rinsing wrappers and crushing cans and bottles is offset by not having to take stuff to the curb. The extra attention I have to pay to put stuff in the right place is offset by the fun of the challenge and it will save a good bit of money if I can do it. Dropping off the plastics at the supermarket only takes a matter of seconds and I do it when I have to buy groceries.

Next I'd like to figure out the pet waste situation. Currently, It's being thrown out. I've looked into those doggie septic tanks but think I have too much poop. About 10lbs a week is dog poop.

I had a box of large toner cartridges that I was saving but not sure why I was saving. I took them to staples for a credit off a future purchase. Dropped off a little trash in their generously wide can out front while I was there ;)
I'm a little worried that I do a little spring cleaning that I'm going to end up with a lot of unexpected trash. I guess that's as good of an excuse as any not to do any cleaning.

So that's my update. I welcome any criticisms.

[grasswire]

1. is your intention to avoid making trash....

...or is it to avoid paying for collection?

Because, respectfully, you are engaging in practices that aren't exactly good for the planet. Also, you are engaging in practices that are costing you extra money already (sliced fruit on foam trays) etc.

[grasswire]

2. AND....

...the idea that you dump some of your trash in places where OTHER people pay to have it collected is kinda stinky.

[Shagbark Hickory]

5. Fair enough criticism.

The goal is NOT to do that.
In the event of an emergency, I would take advantage of the trash cans that are available to the public in places like gas stations and stores. Not illegally using someone else's dumpster or anything like that.

Ultimately I am forced to reduce waste, compost and recycle as much as possible.

Don't forget that not having TWO garbage trucks visit me each week has some ecological benefits.

[Shagbark Hickory]

6. Both

I am forced to reduce, reuse & recycle in order to be rewarded with not having to pay for collection.
As for the sliced fruit, they mark that stuff way down when it starts to turn green and grow hair. I am having to now think twice about buying stuff that comes in trays and other wasteful packaging.

[Warpy]

3. My biggest waste is paper

especially the non newsprint stuff that rolls in this time of year that's on glossy paper and I can't recycle here.

A roll of paper towels lasts me 6 months and they have to be so foul I can't blow my nose in them by the time they hit the can: think cat vomit. I have a roll of aluminum foil I bought from my local supermarket 3 corporations ago, it's got to be 10 years old and I'm only now getting to the end. I have no idea how old the "new" roll of plastic wrap is, I think I bought it 3 years ago. Plastic, newsprint, aluminum, and cardboard are all recycled at curbside. Plastic produce bags are rinsed and used to house my homemade bread and only discarded into recycling if the bread turns into a penicillin colony.

I have a mini dumpster. It hits the curb maybe once a month and only half full.

[Arctic Dave]

4. Sounds like our breakdown also.

We are at the point not of actually shopping for things that are in recyclable containers.

Things they no longer recycle in our area:
Glass
Most plastics (except pete 1 & 2)
Styrofoam

[sui generis]

7. we switched to using the compactor for paper only

during the week we collect clean glass, metal and plastic in a single large sealable bin, but we used to mulch food scrape until we discovered an explosion in the rat population. Now food scrape goes down the drain, which isn't great for water treatment, but by and large what goes into landfill from us is truly only non-recyclable, and not much of that at all.

The compactor ends up compacting 40 - 50 pounds worth of paper between emptying, and the perk is we use the compactor a lot fewer times if we have a lot of flat items already, cutting down on that energy consumption.

Now about my cooking:

I never peel skins. Seeds and cores from coring / prep goes in mulch. Meat trimmings are usually pan seared to render out the fat and mixed into the dog food for later. I cook my spinach whole, only the very stem ends trimmed, same thing for other leafy greens. Beets, celery, bean ends and other whole veggies get spare parts thrown onto mulch, but cauliflower, broccoli and other fleshy stems get recycled into weekly veggie chowder with chicken broth, so even trimmings don't make a huge part of my contribution to landfill OR to water treatment, and there's a lot of goodness in the skins and stems that we forget about.

The funniest thing was I used to be so bourgeoisie about recycling and then when I took the plunge it actually does make what goes into weekly trash pickup about a fifth of what it used to be, and it's not any more effort.

[Shagbark Hickory]

8. great tips! thanks! nt

[OKIsItJustMe]

9. Sewage treatment plants are designed to treat sewage (not garbage)

http://www.google.com/search?q=garbage+disposal+sewage+treatment

Your dirty paper towels can be composted (along with a lot of the stuff you're putting down the drain.)

[Shagbark Hickory]

12. I remember hearing about that.

I put food scraps down there. Reasonable amounts.
Less than the amount that comes out the other end if you catch my drift.

Is this too much? The sewer dept has never told us not to use our disposers and if they are not intended to be used then I expect the government to ban them.

[OKIsItJustMe]

17. Local governments have banned them

They lead to clogged sewage systems, and cause problems for treatment plants as well.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88382453

Raleigh, N.C., Bans New Garbage Disposals

by Adam Hochberg

March 17, 2008

Starting Monday, new garbage disposals are banned in Raleigh, N.C. Officials say the appliances allow grease to accumulate in sewers, leading to sewage spills. But a lot of homeowners, and a company that makes the kitchen appliances, consider the ban invasive and misdirected.

To try to prevent environmentally damaging sewage spills, city crews use a special truck to flush away grease with water and chemicals. They do it on every sewer line in Raleigh — repeating the process about twice a year.

Mayor Charles Meeker says the annual cost runs into the millions of dollars, and he blames much of the problem on garbage disposals, which he says encourage bad kitchen habits.

"You certainly can put grease down a sink without a disposal, but when you have a disposal in a house, you're more likely to grind up things like chicken bones," Meeker says. "And the amount of grease that comes out of each house is increased by about 20 percent, which across the city is thousands and thousands of gallons."

...

A friend is a Civil Engineer, his friends in the local treatment plant hate garbage disposals.

Think about it, "Stuff that comes out the other end," has already been digested.

[Shagbark Hickory]

23. Well I don't put grease down the drain for heavens sakes!

I'm talking about bread crusts.

[OKIsItJustMe]

25. Have you considered composting?

(If you're an apartment dweller, you might consider http://www.google.com/search?q=worm+composter">worm composting.)

[kestrel91316]

19. Sewage treatment plants have no trouble whatsoever dealing with

organic cooked food waste, which is what garbage disposals are for. Raw fruit and vegetable trimmings, and raw meats, are more problematic FOR THE DISPOSAL UNIT (lol, ask me how I know). The biomass that settles out of sewage, in MY area and many other places in the US, is anaerobically fermented to biogas which is burned to produce a lot of electricity. Imagine a giant swamp bubbling up swamp gas - same biological process.

[OKIsItJustMe]

21. You may fnd this article interesting

http://www.slate.com/id/2201176/

...

The research is unambiguous about one point, though: Under normal circumstances, you should always compost if you can. Otherwise, go ahead and use your garbage disposal if the following conditions are met: First, make sure that your community isn't running low on water. (To check your local status, click http://www.drought.gov/portal/server.pt">here.) Don't put anything that is greasy or fatty in the disposal. And find out whether your local water-treatment plant captures methane to produce energy. If it doesn't—and your local landfill does—you may be better off tossing those mashed potatoes in the trash.

...

[Shagbark Hickory]

24. Little bits of uneaten chicken nuggets? Bacon?

Thats not compostable stuff.
To be clear I do not put paper towels down the drain.

[Betsy Ross]

10. We average about 2 gallons of garbage a week.

Over a quarter-year, that's 26 gallons. That's 75% less than you seem to have. We compost garden products and some food and put the rest in our city compost been. We rarely get plastic bags as I have made both net and cloth bags for produce and bulk products. (I give these bags away to customers at my local grocery and to friends. Often get bag credit for these along with the cloth shopping bags.) The few plastic bags we get are recycled. We rarely use paper towels, preferring cloth for most purposes including napkins. When we do use paper towels they go into the compost bin. We are fortunate to have a major recycling program in our city so all paper, glass, cans, and most plastic are picked up. This leaves us with the most pathetic excuse for weekly "garbage."

While I do commend you on your efforts, shifting the responsibility for pick-up to others (gas stations or what-have-you) does not change the amount of garbage you generate, just who pays for it.

I just remembered: My husband picks the tissue out of the waste baskets and adds them to the city compost too. That really reduces our garbage.

Try to cut back on the paper towels. And for the most earth-friendly paper goods, see http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/assets/binaries/tissue-guide-view-at-a-glance.

[Shagbark Hickory]

13. Wow. I have a long way to go to catch up.

I don't get that many plastic bags. That's what's so puzzling. Most of it is wrapping.
I have cut way back on the paper towels but I still use a lot. I don't see any way around it unless I just stop housekeeping altogether. There are somethings that can't be wiped up with a reusable cloth.

[kestrel91316]

20. The ONLY things I use paper towels for (and I use Green Forest, 90% PCW)

is cleaning up around the litter box (one of my cats is a butt-hanger when he pees) and cleaning glass, windows and mirrors. I use sponges and cleaning cloths for the vast majority of my cleaning.

[Statistical]

11. Everything sounds good except using the drain.

You are just moving waste from landfill to water treatment plants where it is far more costly to purify. The solids then end up going into landfill anyways. So you aren't reducing waste you are just making it take a detour through the waste treatment facility which wastes even more money and energy.

My uncle worked in waste treatment facility. He is retired now but he likely would tackle you and take you down to the treatment center to see what your "zero waste" is doing to water supply. The best thing you can do for the planet is to minimize what goes down the drain.

Good effort though. Not sure I could do all that. One simple thing you could do is get cloth bags from grocies. Then you don't even have to get the plastic bags. Reduce is better than Recycle.

[Shagbark Hickory]

14. Why doesn't the water dept tell us not to use our disposers then?

Why isn't the government banning insinkerators or at least telling us not to use them?
I use it for reasonable amounts of food scraps, IMO. Less than what comes out the other end. Is this still too much?
Just to clarify, I didn't mean that I have all those gallons of trash going down the drain. Just that the slightest bit of food scraps in the trash causes odors and attracts pests. I used to just wipe my dishes clear into the trash. Now I wipe them into the sink.
What do you think about that?

[Statistical]

15. As long as it is a small amount probably not a problem.

Just avoid greases and oils. I guess I misunderstood. If you are putting an entire dish of leftovers that spoiled down the drain that likely is going to far but then again I am not the garbage police. :)

Thanks for trying to reduce your footprint.

[grasswire]

16. it's complicated

I love garbage disposals in the kitchen. I don't have one, but I love them. So convenient.

But to the issues above: It isn't always the trash that's the problem, it's the amount of water used to flush the trash through the disposal.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/is-my-in-sink-garbage-disposal-eco-friendly.php

In-sink garbage disposer proponents claim that sending food waste down the drain decreases the amount of waste trucked to the landfill in large diesel-powered trucks. However, the conveyance of food waste through a pipe requires a lot of water and that water has to come from somewhere. According to a 2005 California Energy Commission report, 19% of California’s electricity use, and 32% of its natural gas use is for pumping water and wastewater! So, not only is water a scarce resource that should be conserved, but pumping it requires a lot of energy and, in California at least, contributes a significant amount to global warming.

So, what do you do with all that food waste? Composting comes to mind, but as the InSinkErator website claimed: "Home composting (when done properly) makes sense, but it’s not always practical for all people everywhere – in crowded urban settings, in high-rise buildings, in frigid weather." Apparently they have never heard of the NatureMill indoor automatic composter. This product, made from recycled materials, includes a small heater and mixer (uses only $0.50 of electricity per month) to maintain industrial-grade composting conditions. This means that you can even compost meat, dairy, and fish in it, which is typically a composting faux pas. The unit fits under your sink or on your fire escape, so even the most urban of us can avoid sending food waste down the drain while producing up to 120 pounds per month of rich organic compost each month.

Though convenient for quickly disposing of the contents of that mystery container that has been in your fridge for months, the in-sink garbage disposal is certainly not the greenest way to deal with your kitchen waste.

[kestrel91316]

18. I have been consciously working to decrease my trash output for a few years.

Currently, the bulk of my trash by weight is used scoopable cat litter. I try to avoid buying packaging, and just buy actual stuff, and when I must buy packaging I try to only get easily recycled packaging. So, glass jars rather than plastic, no styrofoam food packaging, lots of fresh produce in just the thin plastic bags, which get double duty as cat litter disposal bags. And I always use canvas totes rather than store plastic bags.

The cat litter has been a dilemma. I have concluded the best place for it is in a landfill. If I use flushable litter and flush the poop, in theory Toxoplasma sporocytes could survive the sewage treatment process and wind up in Santa Monica Bay, and Toxo kills sea otters. Also, IMHO plastics should be landfilled so they never wind up floating in the ocean, so all the suitably sized plastic bags I can't avoid acquiring as litter bags serves TWO purposes.

I have noticed that packaging of non-food items (electronics, home stuff, etc) tends to be much more recyclable (cardboard rather than plastic or styrofoam) than it used to be even 5 years ago. So our consumer choices and loud demands are apparently paying off.

I am fortunate that here in Los Angeles, the city hauls away, sorts and resells all manner of recyclables, including all plastics with triangles, ans all plastic film. They also take food cans, container glass, all paper.

It's a work in progress. My pantry has a lot less overly-packaged food in it than it used to. Now I need to do some home canning again of homemade goodies (pickles, preserves, soups, fruits and veggies). I reuse the glass canning jars endlessly, and when not in use they store dry food goods (rice, beans, etc) because I have those handy reusable plastic lids for them.

[Shagbark Hickory]

22. So how about this....

I can use your kitty litter for my empty paint cans (oooh I know I didn't mention those) so how about you sent that to me and I mail you all my plastic stretch film?

As for the packaging being more eco-friendly, I haven't noticed. I actually think it's getting worse particularly with electronics and computer parts. They blister pack EVERYTHING.

[hunter]

26. Don't buy trash. That's the way I think of it.

I look at my trash and except for the junk mail everything in there is something I bought. So I try not to buy trash.

Most of our food waste gets composted; napkins, coffee filters, too. The only exception is meaty food not fit for the dogs and fat. The more vegetarian we are the less of a problem that is. Currently we don't have a garbage disposal since our last one died, and I think I like it that way mostly because the noise garbage disposals make gives me the willies.

I'm honestly thinking of putting some kind of flush system in our backyard for dog poop. We've tried doggy septic tanks but our soil refuses to absorb much of anything. They fill up and then I have to cover the pit over with dirt and move the lid which is a stinky business. I'd happily buy a used toilet and put it in the garden attached to the sewer line, but my wife's not buying it. A garish "Autumn Gold" 1960s colored toilet would make a fine garden decoration, don't you think?

Our city has a very good recycling program and there are also different tiers of garbage service. You can pay for a small garbage can, a medium can, and a jumbo can. Everyone gets a medium recycling can and a jumbo yard waste can. I only put noxious weeds we don't want in our compost in our yard waste can. We rarely fill our small garbage can and never fill the recycling can.