How to Reduce Your Garbage

Suppose that instead of setting out your two or three bags of garbage to be picked up by the council truck each Wednesday, you just tossed your garbage, unbagged, into a corner of your yard; or in a corner of your apartment.

Do that now. Find a 25-litre pail and a plastic bag (preferably both with no leaks) and install them in your kitchen. Into the bag (inside the pail) drop every scrap of garbage that you toss out.

Once the bag is full (but not overflowing), spread out a garbage sack (three-bushel black plastic) and gather your entire family, every one above the age of four, around you, and have them call out what they think is the major component.

Probably vegetable and food scraps.

Now have a discussion with The Council as to what might be done with the vegetable and food scraps; composting or vermicomposting will be the answer. With the council, devise a scheme of what we all can do with the vegetable and food scraps, and implement it.

You can toss this day's or this week's garbage, including the food scraps, out with the weekly garbage collection confident in the knowledge that never again will you see vegetable and food scraps in your garbage.

Suppose that empty plastic water bottles is the topic. Discuss, devise, Do. You can toss out today's bottles secure in the knowledge that never again will you see plastic water bottles in your garbage

What comes next? Cans of steel or aluminium? Same deal; you can avoid accumulating empty cans if you avoid buying full cans. You avoid buying full cans if you switch to preparing your own stews and soups. There's a use for the vegetable broth saved from boiling vegetables.

And so it will go.

Your family will focus on being clever enough to reduce their consumption of manufactured goods. Listen to young people.

Yes, this will cripple industry, but before you know it your town council will reduce garbage collection to once a fortnight instead of once a week.

NOTHING can beat that, except for garbage collection once a month.

Exception: While you are waiting for town council garbage collection to be reduced from weekly to fortnightly, your family will reach its goal of putting out a bag of garbage only once each fortnight instead of once each week.

Bonus: You won’t have to worry about rodents and flies finding your garbage bags attractive.

Search