Composting and reduced garbage

15 years ago

Hi all! I have noticed lately that with all of the composting and recycling I have been doing, I only have one small bag of garbage to put out by the curb each week. There are only two of us in the house, but I think that is exciting! Whenever I have old paint or electronics, I bring them to the free recycling event the city has around here a few times a year. Next time I am going to approach my neighbors and offer to bring theirs in, too.

Have a great day!

Cathy

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

buford
15 years ago
That's great Cathy, that's what it's all about, reduce is the first word in Reduce, reuse and recycle. We try to reduced by composting and we also bring all our magazines and cardboard to the town recycle (our waste management co takes only glass plastic and newspaper).
0
billhill
15 years ago
That's wonderful Cathy. I wish more persons would help their neighbors to recycle. Keep up the good work. and you have a great day too. - - Billhill
0
Related Discussions
garden compost
Q
Comments (10)
Ours has come down to four heaps on the ground, It did not start that way, My husband had made three compost bins rectangular, deep and wide, out of heavy cedar slats with spaces between. Number one was the current garden material inc grass and veg/salad waste. Number two was a 6-12 month compost, number three was 12-l8 month old compost and number four was 18-24 months mature and ready beautiful black loam. We find we could put just about anything in and after 18mont-2yrs it was well cooked and no longer contained germinating seed - They were turned every six months last one dumped on the ground and 2 went into three one went into two and number one became the new start up bin again. They have all rotted out now, so have the four heaps 1, 2, 3 and 4 on the ground. Until we build new compost bins. It still works OK though. Perhaps we will not go to the trouble of building what appeared to be tough wooden ones, but go to ones contained by a suitable wire as long as we can make them a similar size to what we had. They were biiiiiig! But I am crazy about our compost I was drooling a couple of days ago when my hubby piled up the delicious black loam over my rose crowns. It was my thrill of the week. Heehee!! We were late, but we did it, thanks to the advice on some rosy friends here. Pauline
...See More
compost tumbler - using a metal garbage can
Q
Comments (5)
I used a contractor's black plastic trash bag. Poked some holes. My intention was to be able to roll it around often. I let it sit for months in actuality. It did make compost, which I used in planting. I had mine in the shade -- the sun might have "cooked" things faster, but I don't have any inconspicuous space int he sun. I live in the moist midwest, I should have added a lot more brown. I think that this method would work fine, for someone with patience. I am not convinced that the compost tumblers will really make compost in a matter of weeks. My methods seem to take at least a year, but you get the same great stuff in the end. Susan
...See More
Where do you keep your garbage, compost and recycle?
Q
Comments (7)
I have a covered garbage pail under the sink for garbage bin garbage, and take it out and kick it around the kitchen when it's needed (pretty much like you said). I have a trash pullout with one bin for deposits (bottles and cans) and one for the bin (jars, paper and plastic). Plant matter compostables go in reused produce bags to be taken down to the city green bin. We don't have garbage composting. I don't refrigerate my house (A/C if on at all is set very high), and don't even like putting meat waste and really yucky things in the city mixed garbage bin, which gets a lot of afternoon sun. Phew! Though I'd do it if it were going for composting. That would be my big concern in the kitchen though: The bins are outside and downstairs and the veg waste is bad enough at times if no one wants to carry it down. What I'd want for it is well covered, probably with one of those charcoal filters or something, if it couldn't be carried right out immediately. I keep thinking of maggots. It just takes a single fly... I actually think if you have nothing else that you want to put under the sink, if you don't have plumbing in the way (inspector forced it under mine), you might fit all four bins but they might be small. And you certainly could do garbage and city compost with covers, and the rest next to it. I have recycling bins in every room so that it doesn't all accumulate in the kitchen. Considering how your city is diverting so much from waste water processing into high heat compost, I wonder if the house of the future will have a garbage room. Maybe it'll even have a built in composter appliance, so that all the city would pick up would be recycling (plastics, glass, metal) and home processed compost for a final run through to purify it in the city plant. Hm... Goopy plastic wrappers. That future needs a compostable wrapper that works as well as ordinary plastic for preserving freshness so as not to waste water. They've made great strides with cornstarch. My experience? I have had my pail (Rubbermaid) since I moved into off campus housing decades ago. It's a great pail which holds a week's garbage, because there's just so little garbage nowadays. There would be a lot less without paper napkins and towels. The other bins are standard size and could be twice as big. If your pick-up bins are right out the door, it doesn't matter, but if you don't like emptying them twice a day, or whatever, go for the biggest bins you can fit, especially for stuff that doesn't stink.
...See More
Compost vs Garbage Disposal?
Q
Comments (24)
Thepeppermintleaf (and everyone) - my worm bin is something like this one. I started out with a home made one using a Rubbermaid type bin, but, as peppermintleaf alluded to, I was always trying to manage where the worms migrated to so that I could get vermicompost that was fairly worm free to put in the garden, and the results of my efforts were mediocre at best. This systems works much better, and, for the number of years it's been working well, very worth the investment. The worms do migrate up as you add shelves & compost material. My only complaint is that, to get to finished compost, you have to get to the bottom - so you have to remove the upper layers, put them down, remove the bottom, finished layer, and then replace the upper ones. Not the end of the world, but it takes some effort. Here are some photos of how it works: Here's the top drawer. I add compostables & shredded newspaper. The newspaper helps keep fruit flies at bay, as well as acting as bedding for the worms: This shelf is somewhere in the middle: Here's the lowest one (I recently took two finished ones out to the garden, so this one isn't completely done breaking down - but almost: And here's one of the recently harvested empty shelves. Note that the bottom is a grid/screen, which allows worms to move up - when a top layer gets full, I simply add an empty shelf to the top & add food/newspaper to it.
...See More
annpat
15 years ago
Cathy, I'm impressed---taking your neighbors' paint, electronics. I bet you'll get a lot of greatful takers.
0
teequiltbarbie
15 years ago
Great job, Cathy. That kind of example and enthusiasm goes a long way, I believe, in educating everyone about the need to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Go Cathy! ..oh, and isn't it fun AND rewarding. It becomes a game, what can I do with "this thing" to make it work again for something else?
0
joepyeweed
15 years ago
I wish Cathy was my neighbor. :-)

The other great thing about composting, is that small volume of garbage that you do throw out, doesn't smell either! Yah! No more stinky garbage.
0
flora_uk
15 years ago
It always amazes me that people think it's easier NOT to compost. I really hate walking to work past the bags on rubbish day and having to weave my way through other people's disgusting leftovers because they put the bags out the night before and they get ripped open by cats, foxes or seagulls. If only they would compost too.
0
gardenlen
15 years ago
great stuff cathy,

yes many more could do much more insead of seeing over flowing garbage bins each collection day. if they had vege' gardens it would be easier to do but then not many do that either.

our city has a recycle collection for plastics and cans etc.,. so with that all rottable scraps go direct to the gardens wher the worms do their bit, all other bits and pieces of paper get kept and when enough we put them in the fruit tree garden and cover them with mulch, so we could go up to 4 weeks without putting our bin out, but there is no incentive to do so.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page
0
User
15 years ago
I, too, only put out on can of garbage every month. Too bad I don't get a discount on my garbage bill. Everything else gets recycled, composted, or repurposed.
0
jonas302
15 years ago
Idaho I have no idea if they do this in your area but we can buy colored bags from the garbage company so you only set them out when you need to rather than weekly or monthy pickup
0
greenbean08_gw
15 years ago
Our trash co increased their recycling pickup several months ago. They charge $5 for the recycling but by getting the recycle toter and getting rid of the trash toter (changed to 1 bag pickup), I actually end up saving a couple dollars monthly.

With recycling and composting, we don't put out much trash at all. If I decide to start a separate "pet" pile, the trash would be half what it is now.
0

Composting and reduced garbage

Comments (10)

buford

billhill

Related Discussions

annpat

teequiltbarbie

joepyeweed

flora_uk

gardenlen

User

jonas302

greenbean08_gw

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US