Home
Log in / Sign Up
    Private Messages   Advanced Search   Rules   New User Guide   FAQ   Advertise   Contact Us  
Forum -> Household Management
Too much trash?



Post new topic   Reply to topic View latest: 24h 48h 72h

MadameX




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 5:59 pm
Unbeknownst to me, our neighbor has been complaining to my husband about the amount of garbage that we produce. I only found out about this because today he has mentioned it to me and I was totally thrown off guard. I suppose it bothers him because we take turns taking out the trash.
He gave me a whole shpiel about plastic and the ocean etc.
mind you, I’m pretty sure that they don’t recycle either. But I guess our average of seven large garbage bags a week compared to his one bag a week is annoying to him.
Keep in mind that we are a family of four that hosts guests on a regular basis, and our neighbors are a couple who is not home most of the day and often goes away for shabbos.
Am I crazy (don’t answer that lol)? Is an average of a bag a day way too much?

I know this seems petty but for some reason this really bothers me. Sad
Back to top

groisamomma




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 6:07 pm
I should run for cover. We use an average of 3 bags (13-gal) per day!! During major cleanups on my days off...let's just say yesterday we threw out 7 full bags.

It's not your neighbor's business, as long as you and dh are disposing of your own trash. They shouldn't have to carry your trash if the amount is so disproportionate.
Back to top

amother
Red


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 6:11 pm
Stop taking turns, let him take out his bag and you take our yours.
Back to top

Cheiny




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 6:13 pm
groisamomma wrote:
I should run for cover. We use an average of 3 bags (13-gal) per day!! During major cleanups on my days off...let's just say yesterday we threw out 7 full bags.

It's not your neighbor's business, as long as you and dh are disposing of your own trash. They shouldn't have to carry your trash if the amount is so disproportionate.


Agree totally. As long as you’re responsibly taking care of your end of things, it’s none of their business.
Back to top

amother
Puce


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 6:13 pm
We are 4 people and produce 1 or 2 bags a day plus boxes. Have DH take out the trash.
Back to top

MadameX




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 6:23 pm
groisamomma wrote:
I should run for cover. We use an average of 3 bags (13-gal) per day!! During major cleanups on my days off...let's just say yesterday we threw out 7 full bags.

It's not your neighbor's business, as long as you and dh are disposing of your own trash. They shouldn't have to carry your trash if the amount is so disproportionate.



Lol!! Thank you that was very reassuring Smile
Back to top

amother
Black


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 7:58 pm
We are a family of 5 and produce 3 bags of garbage a week, plus one bag of recycling plastic/metal and one bag of paper. But we dont host very often.

But what are you throwing out?!
Back to top

amother
Ginger


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 7:59 pm
Family of 4. 1 bag a day.
Back to top

amother
Scarlet


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 8:00 pm
Please try to recycle! Smile
Back to top

amother
Natural


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 8:01 pm
We're 4 and we have at least one huge trash bag a day. It's a weird thing to complain about the neighbors trash unless they make a mess and there's trash all over the place. We used to share outdoor trashcans with pur neighbors, till I got fed up because I was the only one taking care of it. We bought our own outdoor trashcan.
Back to top

thunderstorm




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 8:01 pm
We are a family of seven and usually have 8 large trash bags a week plus a full can of glass and plastic bottles for recycling and at least 6 cardboard boxes to recycle a week.
Back to top

Fabulous




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 9:06 pm
Yeah, we are a family of 5 kah and most weeks we use 8-10 of the 13 gal trash bags and 2 recycling (metal, glass, plastic etc.) and several boxes torn down and taped up. It's normal.
Back to top

dee's mommy




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 10:28 pm
First of all, I am going to say that it is none of your neighbour's business how much trash you put to the curb.

On a separate note, I do think reducing one's waste is very important. You may want to look through your trash to see what it is you are throwing out, and then you can see what changes you can make.

Do you have a recycling program in your city? Do you have recycling boxes you can put to the curb with your trash? What materials can be recycled according to your city's program. (The best candidate materials for being recycled are glass, metal and paper/ cardboard. Plastic can be "recycled" according to some cities' standards, but the truth is that it is not indefinite, and only gets downgraded.

Do you have a way of composting your organic waste? (Food scraps and such.) This will not decompose in landfills. They produce methane gasses instead of decomposing unless composted properly. Does your city have a composting program? (Mine has a green bin program, so you can put the organic waste in a designated "Green Bin" which we can take out to the curb.) If not, learning how to compost is a very good way to reduce waste. Another option may be to freeze your food scraps, and take it to a farmer's market when you can. (Probably not at this time of the year.)

Are you using disposable or one use items? If so, you may want to look at replacing those with reusable items. For example real dishes over paper or plastic. Reusable water bottles instead of one use water bottles. Reusable shopping and produce bags instead of plastic. Dish towels instead of paper towels. Cloth napkins instead of paper napkins. Reusable containers instead of ziplock bags. You get the idea.

Are you throwing out items that can still be used, even if you don't want them anymore? If so, are there second hand, or charity shops where you can donate them?

Please note, I am not saying the following to brag. I just want to show you that it is possible with a family of four (which my household is).

The majority of our waste is composting and recycling. Our city only picks up the garbage every two weeks. There are two different categories of recycling, so each category rotates every week. (Papers one week, glass, metal and plastic the next week), and composting or "green bin" is collected every week.

I don't use garbage bags, but I think it would take us a few weeks to fill one up. (We have an "outdoor" garbage can which has a 121 liter capacity (I think that is under 32 gallons), which we put the trash right in. After the green bin and recycling, our trash bin has relatively little in it, depending on what is going on in the house at any given time.

Last year, after making a lot of effort to reduce our waste, we did an experiment, and didn't put that garbage can out for six weeks. At the end of the six weeks, I think it was somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 full.


This may sound overwhelming, but take small steps, and do some research. Any change you make will make a difference. Good luck.
Back to top

levlongnprosper




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 10:32 pm
MadameX wrote:
Am I crazy (don’t answer that lol)? Is an average of a bag a day way too much? I know this seems petty but for some reason this really bothers me. Sad


Even though I agree with your neighbor around reducing waste, it's totally inappropriate for him to be complaining. If he wanted to influence your family's habits, there are kinder ways to introduce waste-reduction into neighborly conversations.

We're a young couple who like to host, and we go through about half a bag of trash per week, but we recycle, compost, and drop off soft plastics with a special recycling program at a grocery store. I try to use real plates, but sometimes I'm just not up to that many dishes, especially when hosting, so we buy compostable disposables.

If you want to start reducing your waste, don't do it out of shame. Everyone starts where they're at with the lessons life has given them, and every habit changed helps, no matter how small!
Back to top

amother
Lime


 

Post Wed, Dec 26 2018, 1:07 am
Family of 4, one in diapers and one wears just to bed. We throw out a bag every day or day and a half. But clean up sprees can get us 2-3 bags that day! Boxes are separate. I try to toss recycling separately. But there is always trash! Tissues, diapers, vegetable peels (my city doesn't have a green program like yours and we don't have a yard to do it in) and plastic snack bags or food containers. I can't do reusable as they don't come back from school. And what do you do about those yogurt or applesauce containers? Not recyclable. I buy big bags of snacks, baby carrots etc and separate in bags to save money...
Or those prizes from school that break in 2 days.

I don't see how you can't have a few bags a week...
Back to top

amother
Ruby


 

Post Wed, Dec 26 2018, 1:11 am
Of course it's his business if he has to take your trash out. Stop taking turns. Let everyone take out their own trash.
Back to top

dee's mommy




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 26 2018, 12:00 pm
Imamother Lime, you may find it unbelievable that my family of four is not even sending out a half bag worth of trash every two weeks, but it is true. Most of the things mentioned above are things that we have either found a reusable option, or we just don't bring into the house in the first place. We have found reusable alternatives for otherwise disposable items, such as diapers (cloth) pads (cloth) tissues (handkerchiefs), plastic wraps and bags (beeswax wraps, and reusable jars and containers), paper towels (real towels), paper napkins (linen napkins) and of course reusable shopping bags and produce bags. There are more, which I will be happy to discuss if you like.

I realize that I am very lucky that my city provides a curbside option for composting. (They kind of have a big incentive, since this is what is collected every week, not the garbage.) Before we had this program, this easily was the biggest contribution to our trash each week. I'd say we probably had a bag or bag and a half each week. If we didn't compost, I think it would probably be the same now.

While I am not an expert in this, I know there are options for composting if you live in an apartment, or have no yard. This link has a bit of an introduction to various methods, but you would have to do more research to see what would work for you:

https://www.goingzerowaste.com.....ments

As far as sending reusable containers to school, yes, I have had fears of things not coming home. I do find that my school age child tends to respect "real" things. (For example, once I put in a reusable plastic spoon or fork, that she really liked, but then she threw it away out of habit. After that, I put in real spoons, and she never threw them away again. As for containers, you may be interested in a bento type of box. It's one container with compartments, so you can put different types of food in them and they are separate. (Also, bonus: less to wash.) There are very fancy ones out there, but we use this:

http://www.onyxcontainers.com/......html

I still feel like I have a lot of trash. I too struggle with the candy and cheap plastic toys that are brought into the house (not by me), as well as other things I just can't avoid. I do the best I can, and keep trying to do better.
Back to top
Page 1 of 1 Recent Topics




Post new topic   Reply to topic    Forum -> Household Management