My cat’s main litterbox is right next to the toilet, so I can just check it for solid waste while I’m using the potty myself, scoop it up, and flush it along with whatever I produced. Unlike most people, I subscribe to a dead-tree newspaper (see footnote) and that usually comes wrapped in a plastic sleeve; I save those, and take the majority of them to my local animal shelter, for the purpose Shodan described. I’ve put other plastic bags in there as well, and I also use the sleeves for cleanup when my cat decides that her dinner belongs on the floor or furniture. :o
Footnote: I used to recycle my newspapers along with the other items; I have a booth at a local antique mall, and they recently put up a request on Facebook for newspapers. I’ve taken them 2 paper grocery bags full of them so far; other recyclable paper goes into another bag.
The closest I’ve seen to compost bins at a restaurant is recycling oil into biofuel, and not many people do that. However, the restaurants are always happy to have someone who can haul off their used cooking oil, because they have to pay for that service (and that oil is often made into other products).
When I was in college in the early 1990s, I worked with a woman who had lived in Toronto for a while, and she said that a lot of restaurants there gave their food waste to farmers, who would then feed them to animals. I’ve heard of some independent restaurants doing that, although they didn’t donate plate scrapings; it was things that didn’t get served in the first place, like meat or vegetable trimmings.
Very rural, here. I have a garbage can and a burn barrel. We don’t have trash pickup here. I have to haul my own trash to a landfill. I burn what I can. I know it’s not socially acceptable. The landfill is at least 30 min. away. Gotta do what I gotta do.
ETA I wash out cans and containers too. I don’t think your wife has gone too far, in that. Maybe hauling trash home from a restaurant is over the top.
You’re better than me. We have no recycling here. Zero. When I tried taking glass and cans to a neighboring town I was told they would not take my recyclables. My garbage goes to work with me and I put it in my dumpster. Cardboard and paper goes to our burn barrel.
You aren’t. And it never even occurred to me to do such a thing. I would expect everything to be melted/shredded/whatever following some process that might or might
not includes washing for eliminating whatever garbage sticks to it. I definitely wouldn’t expect that your meticulously cleaned garbage would not go through the same process as the rest, so even now that I’m considering it, I would assume washing the recyclables to be a complete waste of time.
My understanding is that a lot of plastics might not be accepted for recycling anyway. It depends entirely on who’s processing the stuff (but any sort of food contamination usually gets stuff rejected ).
Might be more effective to spend the time and effort trying to persuade shop and restaurant chains not to use plastic in the first place, and energy companies to look at using waste anything as fuel for communal heating and power stations.
I’d venture that the amount of (formerly) clean potable water that’s now polluted + the energy use to heat the washing water together outweigh any environmental benefits to recycling the plastic items in the first place.
So to me, that’s going too far: when your actions make things worse instead of better.
No; you’re supposed to rinse out any chunky stuff but there’s no point in washing them carefully, as they will get washed anyway. So, it’s not even washing at home instead of at the recycling center, you’re wasting soap and water.
The sources of plastic pollution in the ocean are also sources of “regular trash”. The difference is that that regular trash is some combination of heavier than water and/or degrades quicker, so the problem is more local and doesn’t accumulate in the same way.
These bins are nonexistent in SE Louisiana, for what it’s worth. It’s common for offices and other white-collar workplaces to recycle plastic and paper, though.
Reusable grocery bags are available these days, but rarely used. I might see someone use their own shopping bags at a grocery store maybe once or twice a year.
My understanding is that the problem with plastics isn’t the ocean problem, but how it can affect the local environment. Plastic bags get blown away by the wind. Straws don’t make it all the way to the trash can.
I do not get, however, why they aren’t just using paper replacements everywhere, rather than inviting people to carry their own. Paper, if it does leak into the environment, will degrade quickly. Neither need to last all that long.
Oh, and I can’t remember if I’ve ever even seen a proper recycle bin in real life. Definitely not in fast food places around here.
(Not saying no one recycles, or no one has their own bins. But I can’t remember if I’ve ever seen those actual blue bins out in the wild.)
Exactly. They get blown away by the wind and never end up in the landfills where they are a problem. They just freely roam the land like carefree pixirs and enjoy the nature they experience around them.
I also have never seen a straw in the trash. Piled up by the billions next to the trash, sure, but never in the trash or the landfills where they would be a problem.
Me neither, as obviously paper water and drink bottles are the way to go instead of those evil plastics.
I know I never have.
I know I never have. Especially not in front of peoples houses in neighborhoods in cities where recycling is mandatory.
And I am so glad that a few posters mentioned that it’s not us (USA) polluting the water with plastics and garbage. I’ve watched some documentaries (not about pollution) that showed in the background beaches in a few different Asian countries. There was so much garbage all over the that it was ridiculous. Plastic bottles and bags were everywhere. It’s time for the other countries to step up to the plate. It’s not the “Evil Americans”.
Come visit Seattle. They’re everywhere. Stadiums, fast food places, people’s homes. If someone can’t find one you’ll see them walking around with the trash until they do. And compost bins too. Lots of stuff here is compostable.
Never used in restaurants or fast-food places, though.