One Year Dump Cycle
It has been since one year and three days since I last went to the Transfer Station. I was able to store our family garbage for a year and then it all fit nicely in my pick-up truck with a short bed with room to spare.
Previously the longest I had gone was six months. There was a time when I went every four months. Last year I set a goal to go once a year. I want to see if I can extend that further next year.
In an article I wrote last year I showed that each person in Dried Salmon (Clatsop) County generates nearly a ton of garbage per person every year. Estimating the weight of the garbage in my truck, I doubt it was over 300 pounds. So in one year, my family of two generated less garbage weight than the combined weight of our two bodies. Most people generate 25 times their own weight.
Also, it cost me $25 to dump that one years collection of trash. Yep, I'm feeling green and smug.
posted by The Guy Who Writes This at 6:01 AM
7 Comments:
Seriously, Guy, to what do you attribute this amazing feat? You don't burn, do you? I don't see how people can reduce significantly when every single thing you buy has an outer wrapper, inner wrapper, anti-theft ties, and more that have to be weeded through before you find the teeny, tiny little product deep inside.
We have one small garbage can picked up once a month; sometimes every two months because we often forget to put the can out... The other stuff we burn, recycle, or compost.
Love,
Anon
Recycling and composting. Some papers that can't be recycled do get burned, but it isn't much at all. I especially buy that which has the least packaging or at least recyclable packaging.
Hey, weren't you the one complaining about the plethora of flies you had this year? Coincidence?
Those were from horse poop. The garbage is kept in a big wooden box, and it is mostly plastics that can't be recycled. No food waste is ever in the garbage to make it smell bad or attract insects or vermin.
Well, I guess I should share this... We just pulled in the driveway and I saw smoke. We just attributed to my daughter doing her chore, the burning. However, when we got closer to the house we saw that the pasture next to the garden was on fire. We jumped out of the car and were able to put it out with a garden hose. It appears that something blew out of the barrel and spread to the grass. No, we don't have a screen on the top. But we will the next time the garbage gets burned.
Had we arrived a few minutes later it really would have taken off. The wind was just right.
Love,
Anon
That was a close one. We had a hot wire from an electric fence start a fire on our lawn once.
Those screens cost about $30 these days. I burned mine out but still have the frame and I now line it with hardware cloth.
Post a Comment
<< Home