Friday, February 12, 2010

One Small...Bag

I'm a little late with posting our February project for One Small Change, so here it is:
Last month, our "change" was to waste less food. This month, we have challenged ourselves to fill only one "tall kitchen" size trash bag each week.

Two bags every week for a family of four seems like too much. We recycle heavily—all of our paper, tin, plastic and glass go in the bin, so it puzzles me that we can fill up two whole bags of trash. With what, exactly? Well, I couldn't say. So I looked. And took a picture (sorry). Turns out it's mostly food packaging—empty coffee k-cups, butter wrappers, pita bread packaging, bags from frozen produce, and random non-recyclables the girls bring home from school (valentine's candy packages, today).

The number of trash bags we drag to the curb each week is the true measure of how much waste my family creates in seven days. So, by limiting the number of bags we fill, we are sure to be more conscious of the amount of disposable items we bring into the house and, ultimately, haul out of the house.
Please rest assured. This is the last time I write will about, and post pictures of, our trash.

8 comments:

  1. What a great change, can't wait to see how you get on.

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  2. What a great idea! It always amazes me how much waste we can produce when really trying not to! I look forward to hearing how it goes - good luck! :D

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  3. this is such a great change! when i lived in ithaca new york their recycling program was great...free pick up for recycling but had to have trash tags (paid). i was able to (single ol' me at the time) only use one trash bag per month and just recycle like crazy. (i stored my trash in an outside can!) anyway...it is really great to meet you and i am excited to exchange cards with you as well!! thanks for stopping over to say hello!!

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  4. that's a really cool change! i like it. how's it going so far?

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  5. I really like how you made it a goal to do 1 bag per week (as opposed to just reducing waste). We have been aware of our trash lately also (mainly due to reading posts like this) and we realized that last week we only used 1 trash bag (we were out of town for 2 days, but still)...
    I hope it is going well for you! And thanks for linking this on our new blog!
    Suzy
    P.S. we are having a surprise March giveaway, so make sure to have your March change post up by March 5th and come back to the blog and link to it in the comments section!

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  6. Great change! We hardly had any until we had our latest bub and then it changed so I am working to get it back again - fingers crossed - it is all about awareness!

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  7. We fill a tall kitchen bag every two weeks, and there are three of us (though one of us is very little still). It used to be more, but I found that just by being mindful about what I buy made a difference. Still working at it...but having an occasional relapse when I just don't want to cook!

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