Weighing In On My Weekly Waste

The weigh in happened later than anticipated.  Getting my house "party ready" took longer than I expected, but I'm finally finished.

It's a "green" theme

I picked March to host Bunco because St. Patrick's day was an opportunity to pick a "green" theme.  Little does everyone know that I have a subliminal message behind my choice.  

After sorting, photographing and weighing my household waste, the results were as follows:

Landfill waste-1.2 lbs.  

1 week of household waste

An additional bag (not photographed) is from cleaning up after our dog.  While I don't feel that a picture is necessary, the weight of 2.4 lbs. will be added to my total.

The recycling materials were sorted before photographing

Cans and bottles to be returned for cash

Cans and bottles going to a

recycling facility

Cardboard and glossy paper is

heading to a recycling facility

The pot to the right of the fireplace holds

paper waste that will be used in the fireplace

While our household landfill waste total was very low, I made some interesting discoveries about my trash container.  Almost all of the landfill waste was plastic.  It was a full bag, so while it was light in weight, it has a heavy carbon footprint.  Plastic NEVER goes away...it just breaks down in to smaller (yet still toxic) pieces.   

Weekly totals were as follows:

TV and batteries turned in at the electronic waste roundup: 72 lbs.

Household waste sent to the land fill: 1.2 lbs.

Dog waste sent to the land fill: 2.4 lbs.

Total: 73.6 lbs.

Divided by 2 people and 7 days=5.26 lbs. per person per day.

If it wasn't for the TV we'd be smokin….

FYI, Americans are recycling more waste than ever before, and keeping these items out of the landfill is fantastic.  Landfills are a huge source of methane which is an extremely potent  greenhouse gas.  However, recent research indicates that not all of it is recycled, with much of it being shipped to other areas or sent to a landfill.

My humble suggestion regarding waste:

1. Buy less, be mindful of what you purchase and how it is packaged

2. Reuse what you can (paper, glass, cans, etc.)

3. Compost it if it is organic (once living)

4. Recycle for "post consumer" products

5. Incinerate if possible (carbon monoxide is less potent than methane gas, 

6. Landfill

Be well, be sustainable and happy gardening!