How much trash do you generate?

[Que]

Because I cook mostly from scratch very little comes with excessive packaging. When I am by myself I do not fill a 13 gallon kitchen pail between trash days. If something can't sit in my kitchen a couple of days, I'll wrap it separate in a grocery bag and take it out. I'll sometimes cook kitchen scraps before throwing them away, because I know it will be a while before the trash goes out.

I have noticed the roommate and the couch surfer and now the roommate's girlfriend can fill the can in a meal. How is the packaging for what you are eating more than the size of a torso?

 

[Tryharder62]

Well it is nice in our town that we have curb recycling. We have a big can that we fill and they pick up every two weeks. Then we have one trash can full ever week of non-recycleable. That is for 4 people. I don't know if that is good or bad??

 

[Muscadine_Eyes]

I don't think about it, really. I do concentrate on recycling any plastics by bagging them and taking them to my brother's. He lives in a city with recycling.

Since I've started buying the Sam's Club size box of mixed baby greens, I've cut down on that portion of waste.

 

[Noor]

I don't create much. We do have recycling here which helps. Soon we will have food scrap/compost recycling pickup.

I cook pretty much from scratch all the time, I don't have much choice.

 

[yossi]

I use a garbage bag a week, though I want to start composting to cut down on waste. I hate to see biodegradable materials sit in a landfill.

I really like this one.

 

[ms_ann_thrope]

About 2 cubic yards a week. Is that a lot?

 

[Cancerballs]

#eatingaway

 

[warrior queen]

My son and I generate about 15 litres a week (a 15 lbagfull).
All dry goods - rice, beans, lentils, etc - are bought from the local wholefoods, vegies are bought from the co-op, meat from my local butcher or supplied by family, and I make just about all of my own sauces, meal bases, etc.
We have very little packaging to worry about.
Vegie scraps, meat scraps, envelopes/paper, a few cans and bottles from drinks, some personal hygiene products, a couple of plastic bottles from laundry detergent, dishwash, etc.... that's about it for us.

 

[Que]

There are lots of things I buy now that I wouldn't in the big city. Angle iron, for example. I can always find that at the end of the month cruising a couple of apartment complexes for bed frames.

In the past I bet I pulled more out of the trash stream than I added to it. I get my Fred Sanford tendencies from my mom's father. He ran a small dairy but mostly he did construction grading. He would drag home whatever he found to put on his iron pile. His father and all the ancestors we know about before that were blacksmiths.

I once turned around and made a 4 mile loop, crossed 6 lanes of traffic on foot during rush hour when I spotted a trucker's chain in the road.

 

[Muscadine_Eyes]

There are lots of things I buy now that I wouldn't in the big city. Angle iron, for example. I can always find that at the end of the month cruising a couple of apartment complexes for bed frames.

In the past I bet I pulled more out of the trash stream than I added to it. I get my Fred Sanford tendencies from my mom's father. He ran a small dairy but mostly he did construction grading. He would drag home whatever he found to put on his iron pile. His father and all the ancestors we know about before that were blacksmiths.

I once turned around and made a 4 mile loop, crossed 6 lanes of traffic on foot during rush hour when I spotted a trucker's chain in the road.

My dad used to dumpster dive outside of the office. There was an alcohol company nearby that distributed the displays for bars and stores. He found this half Halloween half Christmas arch that had 2 skulls with light up eyes. It had a niche for the skulls that you would cover to make it a Christmas display. He also assembled a wire Christmas tree for wine bottles. It was about 7 feet tall. He was sad when they moved.

 

[Lord Pmann]

Loads. All non biodegradable shit. Mostly radioactive.

 

[Aphro]

One large green garbage bag every two weeks for a family of five.

We have an extensive recycling program here, plus curbside pick up if organic material for compost. Very little goes into the actual garbage.

 

[Wat_Tyler]

I recycle every single thing I can - plastics, glass, paper, cardboard, cans. I compost all vegetable matter and trimmings from the house plants. I try not to take in a lot of stuff which is going to result in a lot of trash. I give things still usable away. As a result, there isn't an awful lot to go into the trash bins.


I guess I go through the equivalent of a 13 gallon bag per week, but I hardly ever use them. I buy catfood in the 18 pound bag and use that for trash mostly.


I try to be very conscious of food and how old it is. Nothing galls me like tossing food that has decayed.

 

[Que]

I recycle every single thing I can - plastics, glass, paper, cardboard, cans. I compost all vegetable matter and trimmings from the house plants. I try not to take in a lot of stuff which is going to result in a lot of trash. I give things still usable away. As a result, there isn't an awful lot to go into the trash bins.


I guess I go through the equivalent of a 13 gallon bag per week, but I hardly ever use them. I buy catfood in the 18 pound bag and use that for trash mostly.


I try to be very conscious of food and how old it is. Nothing galls me like tossing food that has decayed.

I had depression-era parents. Though Dad's family had money and Mom's had a dairy so that neither knew hunger, it was a definite clean your plate policy. You put it on your plate- you eat it.

Fortunately, I like eating the same thing for 2-3 days. If I cannot anticipate that I will finish some dish I made, I freeze the part won't finish on day one.

I do this thing called "planned leftovers." Less so now than when I was young and money was tighter. I'll cook two chickens knowing that I have enchiladas, a chicken meal, soup, soft tacos, and chicken salad.

 

[BotanyBoy]

13gal kitchen bag will last me 2.5-3 weeks. I compost all my organics, all the scraps, cat shit (I use corn crumble feed for litter) everything I can. I use this to grow my ornamental plants, using food scraps instead of fancy shamncy bullshit in pretty packaging, largely upping my profit margins for each flower/bulb/bonsai sold.

My consumable compost is kept separately and only uncontaminated USDA/OMRI organic matter goes into that pile for this is what I consume.

I have to haul my own waste and pay by the bag at the landfill see....so it makes keeping your trash to a minimum worthwhile.

Now the recycling center pays by the lb for all of it. Al and Cu being the most profitable by far, but they still pay for plastic, glass, and paper/cardboard.

I sort it all into Rubbermaid roughneck trash bins....due to my diligence in sorting they more than pay for my trash bill and the fuel to haul all of it. Overall I'm pretty happy with the waste management process in my area....Though I wouldn't mind paying a snig extra for trash pick up.

 

[doowdniw]

I think roughly about 3 cubic feet of trash per week for the entire family. The rest gets recycled or put into the next door neighbor's compost pile (at his request).

 

[chillywilly2]

I have a pickup truck and I drive the highway about 5 miles to work each day.

I just throw the daily stuff in back and its gone by the time I get there.

I make a lot of sawdust in my hobby woodworking shop...thats gone by the end of the street


grass clippings just get dumped over the fence...nobody really notices.

 

[Wat_Tyler]

I had depression-era parents. Though Dad's family had money and Mom's had a dairy so that neither knew hunger, it was a definite clean your plate policy. You put it on your plate- you eat it.

Fortunately, I like eating the same thing for 2-3 days. If I cannot anticipate that I will finish some dish I made, I freeze the part won't finish on day one.

I do this thing called "planned leftovers." Less so now than when I was young and money was tighter. I'll cook two chickens knowing that I have enchiladas, a chicken meal, soup, soft tacos, and chicken salad.

My parents were likely around the same age.


Mom has gotten weird with money in her old age.


My grandfather recycled before it was cool, and I paid attention to him a lot.


Piece at a time, I'm getting better about menu planning, but mine is still 100% sale driven.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

We compost, burn, save aluminum.

Not a lot for three people.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

How many of you are tossing those damned unreliable mercury bulbs into the trash?

 

[warrior queen]

How many of you are tossing those damned unreliable mercury bulbs into the trash?

All electronic and electric-related stuff goes to a recycle facility that breaks them down for gold, rare earths, metals, etc.
Glass goes to a collection point for a company here that makes glass bricks for building houses.
Anything wood (furniture, etc) goes to the local Mens Shed where retired guys make wooden toys for underpriveleged kids.
My tyres go to a place that makes puffed rubber for playgrounds.

If you look hard enough, there are usually facilities like these in most major cities.

Eta....today I heard about a community garden looking for vege scraps for composting, so I'll start that too.