Climate Challenge, Day Two: Trash Audit

Trash Audit: November 24^th through December 1^st

Kitchen Trash:

·         6 plastic caps

·         4 butter wrappers (firestarter!)

·         2 veggie ties (garden ties)

·         3 teabag packets

·         1 soy milk container

·         1 fish wrapper

·         1 cheddar cheese wrapper

·         2 “weird things”

·         Dirt

Bathroom Trash:

·         TP from a bathroom repair project, not compostable

·         2 q-tips

·         Dental floss

·         1 toothbrush

Compost: 1 two gallon bucket

I did not dump this one out….but Mark gave Mr B. the rinds of a melon and I gave him two apples from school that are not included in the photo (bottom of the page).

Recycling:

·         Newspapers—The  daily GT and a Sunday New York Times

·         About 1 inch of good office paper (council packet)

·         3 cans

·         2 jars

·         2 milk jugs

·         2 film bags, that we will save outside of the city recycling bin

·         Paper scraps and several catalogs

Paper is our biggest toss every week. We could reduce this significantly if I were willing to read the newspaper and the council packets on line.  I am not. The screen bothers my eyes. However, I would like to find a place to turn in all of my good paper for a higher grade of recycling than the bin.

A trash audit can yield some really useful information. What we think we are tossing out is not always accurate. Once everything is sorted, the piles raise questions:  where do I take those spray oil cans when I am done? Or, do I really need the spray oil containers at all? Is there another way to get the same results without generating waste? Finding the answers becomes a challenge.

I was at a meeting several years ago where we were talking trash and recycling. One man described his strategy to reduce non-recyclable materials in his own life. “I let them pile up in a bag,” he said, “until I either find a place to take them or get so sick of the pile that I figure out a way to do without it.” It worked. We all nodded agreement around the table, thinking about our own pile at home.

The Corvallis Sustainability Coalition has created an excellent recycling document. This is the link: https://sustainablecorvallis.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ReUse-Directory-2016-17_11x17.pdf