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Eco-Friendly Family
cros8380
member
Feeling guilty about garbage bags
cros8380
member
I hate using them, but can't figure out what to do instead. We don't compost, but put whatever we can down the garbage disposal. We have city garbage service and our garbage needs to be "contained" in a bag before it goes in the garbage can.
What do you use?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Feeling guilty about garbage bags
It's kind of a no-win situation. Most of us recycle and compost like mad, and still have to put a little garbage on the curb. A recycled or bio bag might be a touch better than a new petroleum bag...but really, it's all going to get locked away in a landfill to sit. Garbage disposal use means more water/chemicals/microbes at the treatment plant to process the extra waste, so that's only marginally better.
A small apartment worm bin can be a great option (my mom has had one in her basement for years)...but only if you have somewhere to put the finished compost when done.
We live in a condo and I think we do about as well as is possible for city living where we are (minus composting). We use bags made from recycled plastic. Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and I think even Target all sell them.
The biggest thing, though, is just trying to reduce your waste. In many cases, we've gotten to the point where we make our purchases with this in mind.
A few examples: Glass jars that we know we will reuse. Veggies from the CSA/farm club where they will pick back up the packing materials and re-use them again again. Our milk is delivered in glass jars which we can either reuse (and absorb the deposit fee) or give back to have the deposit credited. When we have produce to buy at the grocery store, we don't bag it in those little baggies. (Why do people do this like mad with their organic produce at Whole Foods?!?!?!?), nor do I buy the produce from TJs that only comes in the plastic wrappings. I've stopped buying avacados from Whole Foods, because I'm irritated about the netting that they put the organic ones in and can't help, but think of an animal getting caught in it each time I go to make guacamole. Most of the free-range/organic eggs are in more eco-friendly packaging than their "conventional" counterparts. We replaced zippie bags with reusable containers. Reusable sandwich bags are an option a lot of people use. We've gotten our grocery list down to a much smaller list of staple ingredients where we can buy much larger quantities.
Finally, as we've learned to eat better food and avoid the boxed foods aisles, I find that there is MUCH less waste. We have replaced a huge majority of foods with things we can make at home with ingredients we already have. We avoid individual servings. If there's an option to buy larger or in bulk, we do so. Ie. No need to buy flavored yogurts when we can buy one large container and add our own fresh fruit. Or apple sauce, when we can make our own. Or make our own rice milk with rice and other ingredients that we already have.
What are you noticing as the biggest/most common thing that you throw away? maybe if you post some specifics we can give you better suggestions?