I’ve been meaning to ask a similar question, but there is no New and Unimproved Workplace Neighborhood Rants thread (and also it’s none of my business, and doesn’t harm me directly). There is a house down the street that usually has two 96 gallon trash bins overflowing every week. What are they doing to possibly generate that much?
Our family of three usually has one 13 gallon kitchen bag lonely at the bottom of our single 32 gallon trash can. For this, we pay $1/day for trash service. I’ve looked into trying to save money on the trash, but I can either upgrade to a 64 gallon for the same price as my 32, or drop recycling to save $5/month. I do have free recycling dropoff from the city, but $5 seems like a reasonable price to not have to haul sticky cans over twice a month.
We are in a similar situation. We have to take recycling in to a dump like location. Here we separate and cleanly bag and mark. Pay about $11 (just went up) and I bet it all goes into the landfill next door.
Can’t prove it, but I bet it’s a racket.
I do it mostly cause I just don’t wanna burn plastics. In my mind I hope I’m helping, in an altruistic way.
Trash is a problem. That’s why we’ve gotten to where we are.
as somebody who worked in this industry, I can ASSURE you that it is needed.
When you produce noodles et al, you have no idea if they will go to dry arizona or to the swampy everglades - where they might be stored for 18 month at 85% rel. humidity… Unless you like noodles with fluffy hair, a plastic package is a must.
Believe me when I tell you that companies will not spend any money on packaging that is not strictly necesary from a hygiene POV.
When we moved here 20 years ago, I was aghast to learn that trash pickup was once a week and it cost $40/month, and they didn’t pick up recycling. But we could drive 6 miles to the convenience center, dump our garbage for free and recycle glass, paper, metal, plastic, fluorescent bulbs, motor oil, electronic items and even drop clothing in a donation bin. For most of those years, there have just been 2 of us in the household, which meant a trip to the center every 2-3 weeks. Even now with my MIL living with us, we still don’t need to go more often than every week and a half to 2 weeks.
It does help also that we have a mostly wooded lot, so autumn leaves get dumped in the woods to rot as nature intended, removing the need for yard waste pickup. I’ve also been known to fling not-quite-freshest food items among the trees for the wildlife to nosh on. All things considered, we don’t produce a whole lot of garbage.
FWIW, the previous owners of this place used to burn their trash in the woods - we found miscellaneous metal bits where their burn pile sat, so they were even more frugal than we are!
For me, a lot of “garbage” is discarded packaging due to online shopping. I take that out separately when I leave in the morning. Actual kitchen garbage only requires one kitchen sized garbage bag a week.
I’ll believe you on that - but then why does it need the cardboard box? I’ve seen plenty of noodles sold in just the plastic bag ? ( And what about pasta , which is usually sold in just the cardboard box?)