Getting control of garbage.

Garbage is one of those things that I don’t really notice until I start thinking about it. How much garbage does our family produce? Our city offers free recycling and I made sure to recycle that which I absolutely knew was recyclable. Other than that, I had convinced myself that it was too much information to memorize and too much trouble to sort.

I recently decided it was time to familiarize myself with the city’s recycling policies. I learned that I don’t have to go too crazy sorting because the workers and machinery at the recycling center are very efficient at sorting. So it just became a matter of making sure everything that goes to the city recycling is accepted. Easy peasy.

Next, I went to plasticbagrecycling.org. I learned all about which plastic bags are recyclable and what they’re used for. As it turns out, lots of plastic bags and packaging are recyclable! Shopping bags, produce bags, bread bags, pasta bags, ziploc bags, all good! Now I keep a separate bag of these plastic goods next to my recycling bin. My grocery store offers collection bins for these plastic goods, so I bring ‘em along each week.

In addition, I have three more categories for preventing garbage. Aluminum recycling, which I turn in personally for the CA redemption value. Kitchen scraps, which I am using for compost. And reusable items, mostly clothes and household items that I sell second-hand or donate to the local homeless shelter.

With a five tier system in place, our family produces only one bag of garbage per week! Not only does this reduce my environmental impact on this earth but it saves me money, too. Garbage collection in this city charges by the size of your street side garbage can. With only one bag per week, I can go with the cheapest plan at $32 per month. The next size available bumps the price up to $60 per month!

I can’t help but love that less garbage equals more money in my pocket. I wonder if there are other areas in my life where this relationship also exists.