Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Compost, Recycle, Landfill

I took seriously everything that I've learned in the Story of Stuff video that I presented a while back.  It has inspired me to implement a new garbage system.  I've always recycled, but recently I started composting as well.  The goal is to put as few things into the trash as possible.

I have four bins:  the recycle bin, the green compost bin, the brown compost bin and the landfill bin.  My only issue right now is that I'm starting to collect an overwhelming amount of green compost.  Because of this, I'm starting to see how I'm really going to need a worm farm and VERY soon.  The worms can devour all of the excess green material and make beautiful compost.  I also use a compostable trash bag.  I know that it will not decompose in the landfill which is upsetting.  Because the landfill rubbish is not mixed, oxygen can't get to the decomposable material which is too bad.  I use them anyway because at least I know I'm not putting those toxic petroleum based materials into the ground.  Plus if my trash is burned, it will not release such dangerous toxins into the air.  I can't fix everything by recycling and composting, but I can at least be a part of the solution and for now that's enough.

2 comments:

  1. Composting organic waste is a good way of contributing towards a greener planet.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for your participation Dumpster Dude and Sandy! Comments are always valued!

    I didn't have to take out my garbage for about two weeks (the landfill bin)! It just wasn't filling up very quickly. Most of the stuff that I needed to throw away was either recyclable or compostable. Even though it was sitting in my kitchen for two weeks, it didn't smell because most of my kitchen scraps were in the compost bags (and we don't eat a lot of meat). I would still like to know what to do with containers that can't be recycled (for example the plastic bags that grains and seeds come in). I'm going to talk to my health food store about that. If I learn something of value, I'll be sure to post it! ;-)

    ReplyDelete