Eco-Family Filled 1 Trash Can Last Year

earthycrunchymama · December 2009

Saw this article online... this is one heck of an EFF!!! :]

Meet the ultimate green family who recycle so much they only filled one rubbish bin in 2009
By PAUL HARRIS
Last updated at 12:46 AM on 31st December 2009

The dustbin is so crammed with rubbish it's in danger of overflowing.
There's a mess of brightly coloured plastic at the top, some unidentifiable trash sticking out either side, and so much garbage in the bottom that it's getting difficult to keep the lid on without squashing it all down.

But this battered old bin is the Strauss family's pride and joy.

Why? Because it has taken them an entire year to fill it - with the only rubbish they have had to put out for the dustmen since they resolved to cut their waste. In the last 12 months they have had to dispose of an average of less than 2oz a week - the equivalent of three tablespoons of sugar. The bin was last collected in January 2009 and is only just looking ready to go out again.

All it contains is the waste for which there is no other place.
The rest goes for recycling, selected landfill, compost or re-use. Even the family's broken wooden toilet seat became fuel for the front room fire.

But their remarkable commitment goes far deeper than that.

They have adopted the Good Life by growing some of their own food, have taken the same reusable bags to the shops too many times to count, buy only what they need, and have ruthlessly removed their names from junk-mail address lists. Even Christmas produced only 61/2oz of waste.

Here comes the difficult bit, though. Next year they aim to throw away nothing at all.

The no-waste quest began 18 months ago after water treattheyment engineer Richard Strauss, 53, his wife Rachelle, 37, and their daughter Verona, eight, read about the effect plastic bags had on marine life.
They decided never to use plastic bags again - and the idea grew from that. Soon, were checking every container at the shops to see if it could be recycled.

They took their own reusable tubs to the local butcher and supermarket deli counter, avoided convenience food and scrupulously sorted what little rubbish they had before determining the best way to use or recycle it.

Their three-bedroom house in the village of Longhope, Gloucestershire, is heated by a wood-burner and the lights run partly on solar energy.
'It's just a case of taking it a step at a time,' Mrs Strauss said yesterday. 'You don't have to do everything overnight.'

The family has chronicled its waste disposal in a weigh-in posted weekly on a website, myzerowaste.com 'When we started this off it felt like a hassle - a bit like going to the gym,' said Mrs Strauss.

'But now we've got into a good routine it's really easy and doesn't cost us any more than before.

'My daughter loves crisps, which was becoming a problem for our rubbish levels, but now she buys one large bag for the week and keeps the rest in an airtight container.

'It's taken us 18 months to get to this level and we've put a lot of determination and effort into it. But if everyone just takes a few more steps towards recycling they can make a huge difference across the globe.'

Read more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1239389/Meet-ultimate-green-family-recycle-bin-rubbish-year.html#ixzz0bHAimhO2

lytedark · December 2009

wow. that's pretty amazing. sadly i probably create enough waste for both my family AND theirs.. Embarrassed

lar1203 · December 2009

that. is. amazing.

smurfetteinred · December 2009

I am way impressed. I'm always impressed by how little we put out but this family obviously puts us to shame.

papagena · December 2009

Wow - very impressive. I wonder what they do with all the 'crisp' bags. (it feels so weird not to just type chip!)

Lotte134 · December 2009

smurfetteinred:
I am way impressed. I'm always impressed by how little we put out but this family obviously puts us to shame.

Same here. Definitely inspiring! I'm going to try to check out the website for more concrete ideas.

lytedark · December 2009

papagena:
Wow - very impressive. I wonder what they do with all the 'crisp' bags. (it feels so weird not to just type chip!)

lol!! i was wondering if crisps were chips or crackers!! hahahaha..

Dobie_Mama · December 2009

smurfetteinred:
I am way impressed. I'm always impressed by how little we put out but this family obviously puts us to shame.

Ditto. We recycle and compost but DANG. We're a long way from one can per year.

papagena · December 2009

Dobie_Mama:
smurfetteinred:
I am way impressed. I'm always impressed by how little we put out but this family obviously puts us to shame.
Ditto. We recycle and compost but DANG. We're a long way from one can per year.

Yeah - we're one can every two weeks, I'd say (although it gets picked up weekly - but usually just a bag a week).

Lotte134 · December 2009

papagena:
Dobie_Mama:
smurfetteinred:
I am way impressed. I'm always impressed by how little we put out but this family obviously puts us to shame.
Ditto. We recycle and compost but DANG. We're a long way from one can per year.
Yeah - we're one can every two weeks, I'd say (although it gets picked up weekly - but usually just a bag a week).

Same here. I was pretty proud of that until reading this...

Dobie_Mama · December 2009

Lotte134:
papagena:
Dobie_Mama:
smurfetteinred:
I am way impressed. I'm always impressed by how little we put out but this family obviously puts us to shame.
Ditto. We recycle and compost but DANG. We're a long way from one can per year.
Yeah - we're one can every two weeks, I'd say (although it gets picked up weekly - but usually just a bag a week).
Same here. I was pretty proud of that until reading this...

LOL - Here too.

eminen · December 2009

What is "selected landfill"?

papagena · December 2009

eminen:
What is "selected landfill"?

I'm not totally sure - I wondered too.

We do have a materials recovery center that takes larger items, and supposedly strips them down, uses & recycles what they can, so I don't know if that would qualify?

[Deleted User] · December 2009

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earthycrunchymama · December 2009

jenstiles:
if anyone has seen wasted on planet green, i wonder what their family would look like if they mapped their carbon footprint. it would have to be negative or like a sq inch or something.

I was wondering that!!!

I'm so amazed at what this family does! their site looks cool!

Hippinski · December 2009

WOW. I thought we did good with one garbage bin a week for two houses...but this put us to shame. I feel like I'm slacking huge.

reeni · December 2009

that's amazing! Makes me wish we could compost... We take out more recycling than we do trash, but still.

earthycrunchymama · December 2009

papagena:
eminen:
What is "selected landfill"?
I'm not totally sure - I wondered too.

could it be a UK term? I think thats where the family was (it's a UK newspaper).

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