TRASH, TRASH, TRASH!

http://greenbayconsumer.com/files/2011/05/garbage-can.jpg

Recently, it seems like my household is creating more and more trash.  I'm pretty sure that I have to say
"Can you empty the trash?" at least four times a week.  So, I asked myself this question "How much waste are we creating in our household?"  I mean it really can't be that much right? We only have four people living in our home.

But how can I really know how much waste we are producing?  I decided to keep a log of everything we throw in the trash over a 3 day period.  WOW! Was this an eye opener.

I enlisted the help of my husband and kids, and here is what we threw out:

Friday, May 18th - Sunday, May 20th

Trash:

• 2 - empty 12 pack boxes of Diet Coke
• 1 - empty plastic gallon milk jug
• 1 - empty pizza box
• 20 - cans of Diet Coke
• 1 - empty egg carton
• 2 - empty cans of corn
• 2 - empty boxes of macaroni and cheese
• 1 - empty cereal box
• Several paper towels
• 2 - Swiffer wet mop cloths
• 22 - pieces of junk mail (ads)
• 1 - bouquet of dead flowers
• 3 - empty cans of cat food
• 10 - paper plates
• 2 - empty toilet paper rolls

This created ~3 10lb bags of trash.  If we keep this up, that's 1 bag a day, 7 bags a week, 365 bags a year.  All of this trash filling up the landfills.

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So after seeing all the things that we throw away, and realizing that we didn't even recycle, we decided to do some research to find ways we could reduce our waste and help the environment at the same time.

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

Almost every website I went to said these same three words.

I found several good ideas from many websites including: http://greenbitch.wordpress.com/2008/06/12/3r-reduce-reuse-recycle/ and http://www.epa.gov/waste/wycd/homeandgarden.htm.

Reduce:

• Buy less & use less
• Buy recycled or recyclable products
• Bring your own reusable shopping bag with you while shopping
• Buy local
• Cut down on canned & frozen foods
• Buy fresh vegetables and meats
• Cook more at home and eat less at fast food places

Reuse:

• Reuse disposable items like plastic cups, plates and cutlery.
• Buy products in refillable containers, like soap and coffee
• Refill empty water bottles instead of buying new ones

Recycle:

• Soda cans
• Soda boxes
• Glass bottles
• Plastic milk containers & water bottles
• Use food scraps as a compost in your yard

http://crawfordboysclothing.com/wp-content/uploads/recycle-logo.jpg

Now here is the challenge.
Can we use any of the ideas I listed above to help reduce the waste we create in our home?

Again, I enlisted the help of my family and for 3 more days we kept track of our waste.  This time, however, we included recycling.

Monday, May 21st - Wednesday, May 23rd

Trash:

• 6 egg shells
• 1 empty container of ice cream
• 1 10lb empty bag of dog food
• 1 empty bread bag
• miscellaneous take out food trash

Recycled:

• 22 cans of Diet Coke
• 1 empty gallon milk jug
• 7 plastic grocery bags
• 3 daily news papers
• 12 pieces of junk mail
• 3 empty cans of green beans

We used 1 10 gallon trash bag (2 less than the previous 3 days)

While we didn't make all of the changes I previously listed (3 days is not a lot of time) our biggest impact was implementing a recycling program.  This is something that we are definitely going to continue in our household, especially since the kids realized that they could make some easy money if they keep it up.

http://www.4us2be.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Recycle-earn_money.jpg

I will update you in a few months to see how much progress we have made, and to share any new ideas that we have come up with, to help reduce our waste even more.

What will you do to help reduce the waste you produce?