For the past two years I have not put out a trash can at the curb while my neighbor's trash cans are filled to the brim.
What gives?
Here's what I throw out:
- Everything that is "food" gets composted, so, there's no actual food in the trash (and yes, bones and meat and oils are food just as much as carrots and spoiled ketchup or mustard is food).
- Every "container" containing food is rinsed out, so, the container itself is clean (for the most part), and the container goes into the "blue" recycling bin (which is 60 gallons I believe).
- Every box or piece of paper or wrapper or envelope or anything whatsoever with printing on it goes into the recycle bin.
- I almost never have electronic waste (once or twice a year?) so let's forget about TVs and refrigerators and batteries and broken cellphones, etc. since they're so rarely put in trash.
- About the only place there is anything even remotely resembling "trash" is the bathroom. But even there, all biologically soiled tissues go down the toilet, so, the trash contains bits of cotton balls or q tips or nose-blowing tissue paper, all of which goes into the blue recycling bucket (it's not pretty, but it's recyclable).
- Everything that pays the CRV of five and ten cents goes into a special bucket for dropping off to get my CRV back, so, there are very few bottles other than clean food bottles and jars in the recycling.
- I almost never have clothing trash, although they're recyclable anyway, so, the once a year I throw out a pair of jeans would go into the recycling bins anyway.
- Of course, all yard waste would go into the green landscaping bins, so, let's not even discuss leaves and branches here.
- No babies for quite some time, so, there are no soiled diapers to worry about (and anyway, we always used the cloth ones so there's nothing to recycle except the wash water which goes down the drain).
- Motor oil is a separate thing, which happens two or three times a year, as do tires and mechanical parts, all of which are recycled in their own way already (e.g., tires go to Costco while motor oil goes in jugs set alongside the trash bins).
So, given that my brown trash bin is never used, what on earth do people *put* in their trash bin, that can't be recycled otherwise?