Trash Audit - A.K.A. Does this Trash Make My Bin Look Big?

Happy New Year!

We audited our trash last week, to check in to see how we were doing, in our quest to make less trash.  We hosted many people for both Christmas and New Years, and I am happy to report, that even with the present opening, we still have room in our trash can!  (We forgot to put it our between Christmas and New Years.)  Here is what it looked like:

Trash:
8 plastic bags of assorted food packaging (crackers, bread, cheese, ham)
Three plastic tubs (cottage cheese, dip and spread)
12 candy wrappers.  Mostly paper and foil.
 One kitchen trash bag of paper (from a purge of old paperwork.  This all arrives paperless now, but we still had it from the past.)
Christmas Packaging - fit in one 10" x 10" by 8" box.  This was the rigid plastic around a toy each of my kids got.  There was also tissue paper that was beyond reuse, and had already served us well several times!  Santa wrapped his gifts - so there was a small amount of gift wrap  We were pleased that Santa used eco-friendly printed paper.  
One grocery sized bag of assorted tissues, floss, misc.  bathroom trash - collected from all the bathrooms.
Two paper soda cups that came home from eating out - no lids or straws.
Three pieces of fruit that went bad.
A decent handful of junk mail and envelopes from Christmas cards we received.
12 glass bottles of various types.  Did you know that glass can be recycled forever?  It never goes down in quality like other products. 
13 cans of cat food.   Our elderly cats can't eat dry food very well any more.  
4 soup cans.
Cat waste.

Diverted:
8 cans from soda.  They are being diverted to make soda can art, like this 
4 wine bottles.  Diverted to make these centerpieces.
Loads of gift bags and tissue.  We refold and put these back away for another year.  
Compostable plates from New Year's Eve.  They will go into the worm bin.
5 plastic cups - that were washed out and will be used again.
5 cardboard boxes that will be used for art at reCREATE.
Eco -Packing peanuts - which can be used for to make fun art sculptures, like this.


Not Among Our Trash:
Wasted Food from Christmas Eve.  We carefully calculated how much food was appropriate for our guests.  We replenished food as needed.  Result - virtually no wasted food after hosting 11 people.
Excess Packaging:  Among the adults - almost all gifts were either handmade or "experience" gifts.  I'm thrilled that we will be getting together with other family members to see theater performances, and attending some lovely fundraisers together.  Not only are we helping causes, we now have some dates that we know we will be having fun together.  My sister and her husband are taking our kids to see a show and keeping them overnight.  They can't wait!
Disposable Plates & Cutlery - We did bring out some paper plates for New Year's Eve- but we will compost them.  We used all real plates and cutlery for the rest of the time, and just cleaned up afterwards. 
Shopping Bags - We bring our own when we shop - so we don't have a drawer exploding with one use plastic shopping bags.  
Christmas Decor - I heard a story about a local family that put their Christmas Tree out for the scouts to pick up.  It still had on the lights and ornaments.  I can't imagine that!  Each year as we pull out our ornaments, we revisit memories of Christmas Past.    The result is that we reuse them every year.  We did buy a tree this year... but I know it will be mulched and made into compost. 
Much of the food we bought was placed in our glass containers, significantly reducing the amount of waste we generated.  

We are still learning, but are quite proud of our low waste holidays!  How did you do?

 

Being Creative in Making Less Waste

I can't believe it is just a few days until Christmas. My last several weeks have been busy, but calm.  No frantic trips to the mall.

Last weekend I helped 80 girl scouts (along with a small army of helpers) make 400 gifts.  Each made a waterless snow globe, an ornament, a winter scene art piece, a button & wire sculpture and a key chain.  The amazing thing is that the only thing we purchased to make it through this afternoon was the rings for the keychains, and a small amount of glue.  EVERYTHING else was from reCREATE.  We essentially made 400 gifts from other peoples waste!

If you are looking for gifts kids can make, from items around the house, you might want to check out my Pinterest board:  Green Gifts Kids Can Make.

For my kid's teachers, I made these cookies in a jar, from the Whole Foods Market Blog.  The jars were not purchased, but rather empty jelly jars we re-purposed.  We spruced up the jar, with a bit of fabric and ribbon around the top.  There is even a tag you can print out for the gift, here.  

If you are inspired to make something, I have been pinning upcycled projects for over a year at Pinterest.  Upcycled is a term for taking waste or used materials, and transforming it into something of better or higher quality.  Check out this board.

I mentioned that I was part of an Ornament Exchange this December.  In our group of four, two ornaments were upcycled!  This beauty was made by the creative Cindy Ann who runs the ornament exchange.  You might also want to check out the adorable egg carton angels made by Michele, from Michele Made Me.

We plan to audit our trash for the next week, so we can tell you exactly how much trash we made over the holiday.  We are hosting the family, so we might have more garbage than usual, but I am optimistic to share that we were able to have a few days filled with special moments without having an overflowing garbage bin.

I hope you have a lovely holiday. 



 

Overconsumption...I'm not buying it

For years now, my family has been in search of a "better balance" for Christmas.

One year we all ONLY made gifts.... for everyone.  That year was memorable, in that it almost put all of us over the edge, rushing to complete all of our projects.  We learned how to etch glass, make liquor, collage, make gum-ball machines and more.   

Then the kids came along, and we decided to skip the adult gifts and focus on the kids.  Result:  Overwhelmed kids who were over gifted.

Last year we scratched the rules, and everyone did what they wanted.  I think it was a better balance.
I bought a beer making class for the guys, made some ornaments, and scheduled a spa trip for the girls.  We asked everyone not to go overboard for the kids. It seemed to work.

This year, we didn't shop on Black Friday, or Cyber Monday at our house.  In my opinion, the stores lure people in with irresistible offers, only to have very limited numbers of said sale items.  The thought of leaving Thanksgiving to go camp out somewhere for a flat screen TV doesn't appeal to me.   The race to spend as much money as you can, on stuff you really don't need completely negates spending a day together as a family being thankful for what we have.  

Some people may say my thinking doesn't support our local economy.  But I disagree.  Buying imported stuff from big box stores does little to promote our local economy.  I would much rather seek out interesting experiences, or handcraft something that I can give to my family.  My daughter will be getting horseback riding lessons, and my son will be set up for archery class.  Neither gift came across the seas in a box that will need to be recycled.   Both gifts will support local businesses. 

So my challenge to you, is before you buy another pair of crazy socks (or tie, or plastic toy, or scarf) the recipient will likely never wear, ask yourself do we really need this stuff?  Maybe you can sit down and make something for them, or write them a heart-felt letter, poem or celebrate a memory. 

People have been talking about overconsumption for years.  And while I don't agree with all of the points in the video, I suggest you go check out The Story of Stuff. 

What works for your family?  I'd love to hear your ideas!