How this all started
1. I read Zero Waste Home {twice}
2. I’ve cut way down on shopping at Costco
3. The Girl went back to college
4. Monkey Boy started working full time
5. I have nothing better to do
6. I like a good money saving challenge {HELLO!}
I know, to some of you, this is going to sound kind of extreme. But you know what? I am SO TIRED of paying for services I don’t use. Living in high maintenance suburbia has so many everyone’s doing it so we should be doing it too traps it drives me bonkers sometimes.
The truth is, it takes our family about 3-4 weeks to fill a typical 32 gallon trash can these days. That’s without really examining everything that goes in it. Sure I ask myself “can I recycle this” before I toss stuff in the trash, but that’s pretty much it. So. I’m going for it. I cancelled our trash service and I am going to figure out HOW to reduce our waste {and how to get rid of what we can’t, for free}.
Annual Trash & Recycling Bill $417.36 {$39.28 per month}
Postage $2.94 {6 stamps}
Annual Savings $420.30
I first read {really skimmed} Bea johnson’s The Zero Waste Home book in 2015. I thought a lot of her ideas were a little goofy. I mean c’mon, I am not going to take glass jars to the grocery store and ask the people behind the deli counter to zero out the scale and put my deli meat in the jar, weigh it and then add a price sticker to the jar {which would have to be thrown away, oh wait, I could compost the sticker right} and then place it {along with a gazillion other glass jars} in my shopping cart and wheel it up to the checkout counter.
Do you know how much effort that takes? On everybody’s part? Would most stores let you do that even if you wanted to?
Places like Winco or Fred Meyer where I buy my bulk spices and other items make you use their bags… Because really, who has time to accommodate the one customer in 100,000 who would actually take the time to do this.
Then, I found myself checking out The Zero Waste Lifestyle again last week and decided to cancel our garbage service. Maybe some of her ideas aren’t so radical after all. We’ll see.
I’m not afraid to tell you I am looking at it from the money saving perspective {shame on me} and not so much from the environmental impact angle. Although honestly, it’s got me thinking about how wasteful we are as a society. What if we could all just carve a few seconds out of our day? Would the impact BE HUGE both financially and environmentally?
I’m curious.
- How much do you spend on trash, recycle, yard waste collection each month?
- Do you feel you could be doing a better job of recycling?
- What do you see as potential problems with getting rid of our trash service?
- Am I total weirdo for doing this?
~Mavis
P.S. I’ll be taking photographs of our trash this week and will post an update next Monday.
Julie says
I would love to get to that point… Problem in Vancouver, wa is that first they give you a tiny trash so only bag fit in it, and we already get pick-up service every 2 weeks (I would love to get to once a month), but I would not be able to get rid of my recycle bin, I recycle like crazy!! I love Winco and hate it at the same time because those bags are such a waste!! We’re gonna start to make compost too so it will help. But I will definitely order that book!!
Connie says
How about making some light weight cloth bags, and using them. Then they can be reused and washed. Even able to easily label them?
Judith says
Most, if not all, WinCos require you to use their plastic bags. It’s unfortunate that there isn’t an option to use your own reusable containers.
Julie says
Yeah that’s annoying… I would better use a reusable pocket that I could wash of and bring back, those bags they have are terrible and rip so easily!
I bring my own grocery bag tho instead of getting plastic bags. They don’t give plastic bags anymore in France so they have pretty awesome reusable bags that you can buy!
Connie says
I didn’t know that myself. I knew they let you bring your own container for I think is for the honey and agave syrup,,,didn’t realize that though for the bags. 🙁
Cassandra says
Our WinCo allows reusable bags (Everett). I didn’t know there was actually anybody in WA who bans reusable bags.
jennifer says
I would definitely start writing messages to Winco if I were a customer. To require people to use the store’s plastic bags is nutty. Grocery stores around the nation, big and small, manage just fine using the bags people bring.
Louisa - The Eco Mum says
I think it’s a GREAT idea! And one I too have been considering. We recycle A LOT which in our area is free to take to the waste facility. It takes us well over a month to fill a bin – one medium bag a week if that. Am going to talk to Council to see if canceling is an option 🙂
Teresa says
We cancelled trash service several years ago. We just weren’t filling the container that cost $20-25 per month. We took our trash to the township dump every two weeks or so for a small fee. We also have to take our recycling there, which is free, so it wasn’t extra work. But one winter the township decided to close the dump for January and February. We asked our bachelor neighbor if we could share his bin and split the cost, and he said we can just use it for free. He puts the bin by the road on trash day, and we add what we have. Our family of six fills about one kitchen bag per week. We share eggs and garden goodies with the neighbor to say thanks.
We compost and feed food scraps to the chickens as well as recycle and cloth diaper to keep our trash production down. Cooking from scratch really reduces our waste from packaging. I also try to throw away anything I need to from the car when I’m at the gas station rather than bring it home.
Just yesterday I threw the paper wrapper from the tea bag in the trash rather than walk to the recycle box. How much does it matter, I wondered. You are not a weirdo for thinking about this stuff.
Cynthia says
We have lived in the suburbs for 19 years. We have never had garbage pick up in that time. We recycle and compost most of our waste. We have raised three children in disposable diapers during this time as well. My husband and I are self employed and our work has a dumpster. We usually fill one to two plastic shopping bags with trash a week and put it in the dumpster at work or sometimes use the garbage can when we fill up our gas tank. We donate most everything useable to our local charities for resale. We buy much of our clothing at resale or estate sales. I wish more of our neighbors were concerned with the environment and their wallets. You are wise to be doing what you are.
Saving_cents_makes_sense says
The one thing…your work is paying for that dumpster pickup, and many places with dumpsters don’t have a set pickup once a week or whatever, they just call when it’s full and pay a fee per pickup. If people are filling these dumpsters with their garbage from home, they fill up faster so the company has to pay more often. You’re taking from their budget. I know this because I was vice principal at a small private school where we always tried to keep tuition low so not just the rich kids could afford to go there we were very cognizant of where each penny went. Add up enough people putting in ‘just a small bag’ and child could lose their scholarship, or have less supplies in the classroom or anything else (field trips, more books in the library, guest speakers) that could help the kids succeed. In practice, maybe your one bag doesn’t do much damage to whatever company pays for that dumpster, but in principle it’s stealing (unless you have permission from the company, of course, in which case give em a hearty THANK YOU)! I’m not trying to put you down or make you feel bad or anything…just something most people don’t think about except the guy in charge of paying for the dumpster pickup… 😉
Jjh says
I think you missed the part where they said they were self employed. That means it’s their dumpster and they are paying for it.
Dellforio says
They Still have trash service they are just paying for through their own company.
Adriana Melendez says
very good comment. I totally agree with you.
chrism says
Our trash, recycling and yard waste pickup is included in our township taxes. No choice for us, but we do try to minimize out trash.
Jane says
Our trash service is $20 per month. I don’t think you are crazy at all and plan to stop our service soon too. We realized most people in our new town haul their own trash to the transfer station. I want to say it’s $1 per ton to make a drop off. If we lived out more, I’d burn most of it. I’m tired if paying for stuff!
jennifer says
Burning plastics puts all sorts of nasty chemicals in the air. Not good! In most areas, I think disposing of garbage at the dump is much more expensive. Cool that you have the choice!
Carla says
I don’t think you are a weirdo for doing this. Currently my sister (lives about 1 1/2 miles from me) and I share trash service. I take my trash to her. We are both single. We don’t have that much trash. It is crazy to pay the prices asked. As a matter of fact, she had decided to switch services as hers had crept up every year. When she called to cancel they offered to take it down again. Is this crazy?? Yes it is. It’s just like cable. If you call them and complain they will lower your bill. Anyway, I take my recycle stuff to a free recycling place. If I could take my trash to a free place I would. The things we pay for sometimes make me crazy.
Alice says
In Kent, the garbage and recycling is MANDITORY. Our two n family home doesn’t need that expensive service. I barely fill a paper grocery bag to the half point each week. I assume you will make some trips to the dump (unless you plan on donating your garbage to someone…hahaha) Gas money and dump charges?
Alice says
*person
Lisa L says
Our garbage service is mandatory as well but we signed up for every other week garbage and recycling. If the can isn’t full then (and it often isn’t) then I will go through a room in our house (like the garage) to find things that need to go. We pay $32 every other month for this service.
Delores says
We can’t do trash pickup, sometimes I wish we could. We haul it ourselves every week: recycling, trash, large household items. The nice thing is that everything is included already with our town taxes, so no extra money. The only thing we have to take separately to the actual dump (as opposed to the collection point) is electronics. Now that my kids are old enough, they load, drive, and unload it all themselves each Saturday as part of their chores.
Maria says
I live in outside the city limits of Podunk South Carolina and we have two choices. We can either pay for a service which is $14.99/month or we can load everything in our cars and take everything to one of five recycling centers located in our county. This is a no-brainer–give me free. I recycle as part of my faith as a Christian (I believe it’s a commandment to be as green as possible but this is just between me and God so no flaming me later). In our county, if it fits in a garbage bag you can just throw it in the trash compactor machine for free. Almost everything else is tossed in the bins marked “commingled which is paper plastic cardboard and cans.” There are also bins for aluminum cans, magazines metal and yard waste. A huge multinational corporation supports our recycling centers as a tax write off and they sort and resell our commingles. Part of the money is funneled back into the school system; they keep the rest.
It seems kind of complex but I have two bins in the back of my truck for the recycled. I have a compost bin for anything the chickens won’t eat and two trash cans. It takes us three weeks to fill it all up and then I drive my truck to the recycling and toss it where it’s supposed to go.
It’s easy and it’s free except for the gas and time to do it. One thing I did notice which you didn’t mention is that when they started the program, I saved on trash bags because I didn’t have to use as many so that was a bonus.
So to answer your question, it’s free around my house.
Kristen says
Totally normal 🙂 We did the same thing growing up, all trash was either recycled, burned in our wood stove, or thrown away a grocery bag at a time in public trash cans.
Lacy says
I applaud you for doing this, Mavis! We own a home in Kansas where we have weekly trash & recycling service but it is cancelled at this moment because we are traveling on a job in Kentucky. I believe our trash service in Kansas is $20/month. We have saved almost all of that money because the tiny town in Kentucky we live in does not offer a trash pickup. Instead, you take your trash and recycling to the local dumps. Each 55 gallon trash bag is $1.50 (they just doubled their price from last year) and we got through maybe one (two at most) bags per month. Recycling is free. We are saving $222 a year by being able to take our trash in ourselves. I’ll be looking for a service like this when we go back to Kansas, even though it is a little more work on my part!
Athena says
I may have to bring this up to my husband. We moved to Texas a little over a year ago and the standard trash pickup is twice a week. We can’t even fill our trash container in a whole week but we also recycle what we can. The town we live in doesn’t do traditional recycling program. Their “recycling” is actually a bin for compostables. We fill that bin in the summer months, especially when we have pruned back all our bushes and trees. We take our recycling to a free location ourselves. I just cannot throw away plastics and cans etc… when I know they can be recycled. I asked the city why we don’t have a traditional recycling program in town they said it is too expensive and they can’t make money doing it! Seems like a pretty ridiculous reason, I mean even if you don’t make money but can break even it is do much better for the environment!
Jeanie says
Our HOA is able to get a deal so we pay 33.00 every THREE months or 11.00 a month for curbside trash pickup using one of their trash cans. We can opt in for recycling and while their is an added fee, it cancels itself out in money back dollars which I take advantage of. For every pound you recycle you earn points and then can in turn earn gift cards which I in turn use for gas or groceries or gifts. It is a win/win. We love on a four home court, we all share the same recycling container, we all pay for a quarter and then I gain all the Benefits since it was my idea in the first place, they don’t want to house the recycling can and so on. So for 11.00 a month, I also can use their trash cans (and vice versa) if I have an abundance of yard waste or a party of something of that nature. Also, quarterly our HOA has a dumpster day delivered for people’s use. We have gotten rid of old junk that we would have had to take to a dump and pay to rid ourselves of. They keep bringing huge dumpsters for a whole day until they are no longer being filled. It is wonderful.
Jeanie says
Live on…can’t type today
Deborah from FL says
So many clever ideas. But I especially love your HOA dumpster day idea! 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing.
Tisha says
We pay $55 quarterly (so less than $20 a month). That does not include recycling. We used to take our trash to the transfer station ourselves where the cost was $4 for our pick-up bed plus the cost of gas. Loading it up plus loading the recycling would take the whole morning and we finally decided that it was worth the cost to us to pay for it to be done. I do wish there was an every other week option as our family of 6 rarely fills the can. The company is a local business and we figure it is also us doing our part supporting the community and providing jobs.
Annie says
Not every store accommodates this, but I used to live in Olympia, WA and the food co-op there actively encourages shoppers to bring their own reusable containers. Some people just reuse clean, empty containers (like from yogurt or cottage cheese) or bring mason jars. They just have to weigh the containers first so the cashier knows how much to subtract. Easy peasy! I also worked at the deli at another health food store and we very often had customers bring their own containers. It really isn’t that much work to put the container on the scale and zero it out before adding the food. Maybe not the best option for meats though, and butcher paper will eventually degrade anyway! At stores that allow it, bringing the container you will use to store whatever you’re getting from the bulk section also saves you the trouble of transferring it from bag to container at home! Just my .02! Love your blog, thanks for another thought provoking post!
Kathy says
Annie, I live near Olympia, WA. Can you tell me the name of the food co-op? Thank you so much. Kathy
Annie says
Hi Kathy, it is the Olympia Food Co-Op and there are two locations- one is on the Westside on Rogers and one is on the Eastside on Pacific. The Eastside location is larger with more selection. You don’t have to be a member to shop there, but after your first visit there is a 10% charge if you don’t become a member. But if you are low income, disabled, or a senior citizen, membership is free PLUS you get 10% off everything. They also have a lot of great sales, case discounts, and have their own coupon book. If you live close enough and have time to volunteer, you can get more discounts as well as some freebies. Regular membership is also reasonable and worth it if you decide to shop there often. Sorry for all the info, but I love the Co-Op and do hope you’ll check it out!
kathy says
Thank you so much for the info, Annie! I will look into it for sure!
Tracey says
We pay $54 a quarter for trash and recycling to be hauled away and they provide the recycling bags. I have thought about cancelling it and recycling what I can and burning the rest since we live in the country and have a burn pile for leaves.
Deanna says
We recycle, reuse, and compost. Sadly here in Ft. Payne, AL they do not accept as many items as we were used to recycling in Kingman, AZ. 🙁 So I try to consider the packaging when purchasing a product. Like one brand of cat food we were buying had the coated insides (not recycleable ) so we switched brand easy fix and the cat is no worse for the wear……. I go the extra step and remove labels off the cans putting them in the mixed papers and the can in tins 🙂 Sadly our egg cartons are plastic that doesn’t recycle but am hoping to find someone that I can get eggs from ( buy or barter) until I can get my coop rebuild and populated. Our dog food bags I cut the top edge off and make handles then use them to transport recycle items. This spring I will be using some for growing potatoes.
Is it an effort……….YES but well worth it!! Once you are in a routine no sweat <3
pamela says
I don’t understand “trash service”. Where I live they township just comes around every week for trash and every other week for recycling. No extra fee involved. Yes I understand its built into the taxes.
pamela says
*the township
Jill says
When we moved to our current home 15 years ago, there was no trash pick-up service available. (When I called they thought I wanted a commercial dumpster – big miscommunication cause I assumed there was trash pick-up everywhere!) So we dropped our trash and recyclables off at the country dump whenever we were headed into town. Still doing it. And we’ve saved $35 a month ever since – well, at least since they started having door to door pick-up.
Lori says
My trash and recycling is included in my taxes so it is not an option for me but if it were I would be doing it also! I could go at least 3 weeks before I could fill my garbage can and I have 3 adults living in my home. It amazes me when I see our neighbors garbage cans overflowing each and every week.
Lisa says
No doubt!
Lisa says
Our trash pickup is weekly. Through the city you can get one of two sizes of bins, or buy special city trash bags for $8/pack. I’m not sure how many in a pack, maybe 4. They’re larger than the usual household trash bag, so you can usually squeeze two (or three not totally filled up) in one of those. We put out about one every three weeks or so. We used to have a larger bin when our son was a baby, but went back to the bags years ago. There is a competing waste company that you can also get a bin from and they also pick up weekly on a different day. We also have municipal recycling which is no extra fee and we were given a large bin for that. They pick up those every other week. We also have a local business that takes in styrofoam for recycling.
I purchased some re-useable produce bags off Etsy. I could have probably made some, but I have a lot on my plate as it is. Sometimes it’s not a bad idea to pay someone else to do something you could do yourself.
Charlene says
We cancelled our trash pickup years ago. Within the last 2 years everyone gets charged even if we don’t use it. The bill is added to our property tax. This sucks. We still recycle and don’t really use it. It is a shame to pay for something you don’t need are want. That would be a big thanks to our county officials.
Kristina Seleshanko says
Our trash service costs kept going up, so we ditched garbage services a couple of years ago. We save at least $375 a year by taking our trash to the transfer station ourselves.
Audrey says
In my town trash service is mandatory. You do have the option of the size of container. Included in the price is recycle pickup every other week and yard waste every other week.
Patty P says
I got rid of our garbage pick up three or so years ago…it seemed crazy to pay the bill when we weren’t even close to filling the bin (not that I had that as a goal). I’m the crazy recycling lady (we have it in our local taxes, so where it’s not free, we don’t choose to pay or not…we have to). We used to have a four bin bi-weekly limit (which I generally pushed….and put out around 6 bins stacked high…afterall, my neighbor only puts out one), but this year we have an 8 bin limit! I was so excited! We do a ton of composting and I used a bunch of cardboard this year to set up my Back to Eden garden. The garbage that we do gather we can take it to the dumping station for a few dollars a bag…and since we only fill a bag every few weeks, it’s not a bad deal. I don’t regret cancelling at all!
Marcia says
I’ve thought about canceling trash service, but it would be too much work. We recycle so many things, our diaper days are almost over. We toss about one tall kitchen garbage bag per week.
Our recycling bin takes almost everything, including plastic bags.
Anna says
You go girl! I can’t wait to hear more about how you will actually dispose of you non recyclables and non compostables. I live in UP, WA. We pay for garbage and recycle pickup every two weeks. Using the smallest can available we pay $24 per month. After recycling everything we can at the curb and at the Tacoma recycling center we are left mainly with dental floss, toothpaste tubes and cat “biscuits” (waste from the litter box). Since we live close to a creek and have a well on our property we are careful about disposing of the cat waste properly.
Renay says
Did you know that used kitty litter is a great deterrent for moles? I had tons of it, didn’t want it in the garbage so started burying it just under the soil along the fence line. Voila! No more moles! Sorry neighbors…
Anna says
Thank you for the tip about the moles. I will tell my Sweet pea about this.
Janice says
WTG Mavis! That is a big savings. You’re lucky that you are not required to have garbage service in your neighborhood. Some places there is no choice.
Aimee says
My city charges $51.20 every other month for trash and recycling. It’s $17 to get a green waste bin for a weekend. I top off my trash bin with green waste every week to avoid that extra fee. Last year, I paid for a dumpster twice in addition to the regular trash. The first was a mix of giant bird of paradise I took down and ceiling lath (a ceiling collapsed in my house.) The second was pruning from an overgrown ficus and some leftovers from the previous owner.
Stephanie says
Our trash is $12 a month. It costs $8 to drop off your own trash at the dump. I’m not sure $4 a month is worth it for the cost of gas and the hassle of driving my trash there once a month, but I’m thinking about it.
Angela D. says
Hmmm….just wondering where to go with kitchen scraps? I thought meat, fat, bones and such wasn’t supposed to go into a compost pile/bin. I don’t want to ruin my “black gold.” We live rurally and in the summer months we can’t get rid of our garbage fast enough, what with the heat making it smell, attracting animals and insects swarming around. Anyone else dealing with a similar situation?
Loretta says
Our fortnightly ‘green waste’ rubbish pickup allows bones, etc. I store them in a bag in the freezer to prevent them smelling (a tip I learnt from my mother-in-law. I am in a small rural town in Australia, but when I loved in the city we didn’t have the organic waste service.
Mavis, I’m LOVING that you are doing this! And after a while it is 2nd nature to bring your own containers to the deli, bakery, etc.:-) I thought Bea Johnson was an absolute nutcase at the beginning too!
Linda says
We live in a house with a very steep uphill drive. Hauling our own trash to the recycling/trash center less than 2 miles away for free was a no brainer. Thank you, Mavis for continually making me think. I am going to read Zero Waste & have subscribed to her blog. I would love to know what blogs you follow, if you wouldn’t mind sharing!
AlysonRR says
That’s our situation, too. If I have to drive the trash to the bottom of the hill (because it’s too steep to drag it), then I might as well take it to the dump that’s less than 5 miles away.
Recycling is free here, though only #1 and #2 plastics are included besides the usual paper, glass, cardboard, etc. Trash costs ~$5 per can (or $15 for a bulk load of <340lb). We go about every 6 weeks, with 2-3 cans for $12. Much cheaper than trash service!
Andrea says
I could see doing this in the country to some extent, but in the small town I live in it would not be possible. First, our trash is included with our water utilities. So there is no choice but to pay it. The nearest recycling center is over an hour drive away. Therefore, recycling is very difficult. My dad (who lived in the country) used to burn most of his trash, threw food scraps to the animals, and used glass jars in the barn/ shop. But in town, it is different as we cannot burn it and during the summer, there are burn bans. I am interested in seeing how you accomplish this as we want to reduce how much waste we create.
Cindi says
I pay $60 a month (yes, you read that right) for combination trash/recycling pickup. We can go weeks without bothering to drag the trash bin up to the road, but we fill the (rather small) recycle container every week. I could ditch the trash but not the recycling, but that isn’t an option — it’s one bill for all. If we cancelled the service, the closest place we could haul our trash and recycling is an hour away — and the trash receiving station is on the opposite side of town of the recycling facility. Home pickup is single=stream recycling, but if we take it ourselves, we have to sort everything. And then there’s the problem of where to store stuff between trips to the recycling center and/or dump. We have bears and in the summer it’s a really bad idea to let anything accumulate that might attract them. Oh — and we can’t burn stuff. Against county ordinance. Sigh. I hate that big bill but I figure it’s part of the cost of living in this gorgeous, but very rural area.
Diana says
Mavis, you have my total attention and support. I’ve been thinking about doing this for so long. In my town, the cost of trash pickup is going up and up, all for a truck to drive by each week and mechanically lift and dump my 3/4 empty canister, and spill pieces of debris in the street in the process, and drive off. Through reading how it works for you and your readers, I suspect I’ll be following your lead. Great topic!
Tami says
I’m in Pierce County and I didn’t have garbage service the first three years I moved here. I’d make about a grocery sack a week and I’d toss that in the grocery store garbage when I went shopping. I never bought garbage bags, just reused the plastic bags I was given. I’d take my recycling to my parents/best friend’s. Then my friend moved, and I started watching dogs (SO MUCH POOP). So I finally sucked it up and got a recycle bin for under $6 a month. And last month I got the smallest garbage bin with once a month pick up. It’s now under $12 a month. Now that I work from home, and I don’t drive often, it’s a pain to transport dog poo. It’s worth that much to be able to scoop all the time and make it go away into the bin. I feel like I lifestyle inflated a little, but I accept it.
Mable says
Doesn’t sound like an inflated lifestyle but the cost of doing business.
AmyWW says
I try to minimize the amount of trash we put out but our trash collection bill is automatically (and without my permission) rolled into our water bill so it isn’t an option to cancel it. It’s about $16 each month. I recycle all our paper, cardboard, and plastic bottles by driving them to the free recycling collection bins on the high school grounds – it’s a fundraiser for them. My husband collects aluminum cans and other recyclable metals and sells them to the scrap metal place. The problem I would have with cancelling trash service altogether is what would I do with the things that aren’t easily recyclable for me? Empty metal soup/food cans, plastic toothbrushes, things that break (like a lamp or a string-style lawn trimmer), old batteries, plastic bags that some foods come in like bread or frozen french fries. I am not quite ready to switch everything to compost-able, like wooden toothbrushes or cleaning scrub/toilet brushes, or put rags and worn out clothing in a compost pile (I don’t even have a compost pile) or make absolutely everything we eat from scratch or search high and low for recycling centers that except old batteries or steel soup cans or broken lawn equipment, and then drive it there. I’m just not there yet. I did read that book and found it fascinating and admirable. There is a landfill near me that accepts whatever you have for $25 a load. But that would only be cost effective if I saved up lots and lots of trash and do I really want all that trash hanging around in the garage until I had a big enough load to justify $25?
Pam says
At my previous home our neighborhood was part of a city test pilot program for compost bins. They were tall and had wheels and a lid. They had to be that big so the automated garbage truck arms could pick them up. We were already fastidious recyclers (the city picked up those bins as well), but when we started composting our household garbage (3 adults) went down to needing the bin to be emptied once a month. Recycling was definitely every week. The city picked up the green composting and blue recycling bins weekly, but only picked up the black garbage bins every two weeks. Where I live now (different city, but this and the previous one were about 1 million people) they have recycling and garbage pickup, but the lines between what to recycle and what to chuck out are less clear, so it seems a lot of recyclables end up in the garbage and vice versa. This is now a household of 4 adults (and 2 dogs) and we generate a lot of garbage! I’m not sure why or how, but I want to reduce it. A lot is food scraps and stuff like that, but we don’t have a compost program here yet. We can definitely do better, though. I don’t know how much those city services cost, but I also don’t know where else we could legally get rid of it.
Aunt G says
We haven’t had a trash service for 20 years. We compost, recycle, and burn our waste. Probably have saved $3500 in that time. Not following the crowd is almost always the thing to do. Trash is no different.
Amanda says
I think you are totally normal! We recycle as much as possible then burn the tiny amount of trash that doesn’t get hauled to the town recycling center. I usually toss the small amount of garbage in with my yard debris.
sclindah says
We have never had trash pick up. We have a huge garden which stops a lot of packaging except for jar lids. Boxes and food scraps are composted. We take maybe a couple of bags of garbage off once a month, more often if we have had family visit. We keep trying to downsize that as well. We take off trash when we are going that direction. Small carbon footprint! This is another plus for gardening that doesn’t get touted very often.
Veronica says
Our trash is $20/month for weekly pick-up, every other week recycling is included for free. We don’t nearly fill the trash bin each week even with 2 in disposable diapers (cloth is not an option according to my husband), but we do after a wind storm and my husband re-shingles the damaged roof (which tends to happen 2-3 times a year and him doing it saves $). I thought about cancelling, but the you-haul location is run by a different company tha t charges for drop-off and doesn’t recycle everything the pick-up company does. The extra recycling items and the fact that I don’t have to save trash in the house and then schlep it somewhere with 3 small kids in tow makes the fee worthwhile to me.
Jen Y says
We spend $0 on trash service but we do spend man hours dealing with it. We recycle all of plastic, paper, cardboard, glass, ect but we have to carry it to town (5 miles away). Food waste is either composted or tossed in a ravine for the wildlife (except bones) & what has to be trashed goes to our son’s house. He lives in a subdivision with weekly trash service but they never fill their can. We fill a little plastic grocery sack about once every two or three weeks – no big deal to toss it into his can.
Big items we do have to pay to take to the sanitation station 10 miles away. Electronics, small appliances, paints, batteries, ect – things that are harder to dispose of – we store for the twice-a-year pick-up at my husband’s workplace. They will take those things & dispose of it at no cost to their employees!
I know this sounds as if we’re really an environmentally conscious family but honestly, we do it for the money. We live in a very rural area at the end of a gravel road. We used to be able to pay per bag & that was great for us – we put out the big 30 gallon can about once every 6 months. Of course, the trash service can’t earn a living on that! So they changed their policy & we would have to pay per month. Something like $30 or $40 a month? it’s been a few yrs & I can’t remember exactly how much.
I do cook pretty much from scratch all the time though we don’t grow a big garden. I shop mostly at Aldi or the farmer’s market, which means very little packaging if any.
So I don’t think you’re crazy at all – there’s a lot I could spend $400 on!
Kim says
Pineapple juice is six times more effective than cough medicine
coleen says
Our trash, recycling, yard waste and bulk trash (TV’s, refrigerators etc) pick up is included in our township taxes…..but we really could be better at recycling and I’m sure we could reduce our trash a bit more. As of right now we put out 1 bag of trash per week.
Nancy from mass says
Ours is part of our taxes but, we asked for the largest recyclable bin , I think its a 60 gallon size (part of trash pickup – automated bins). And a regular size bin for trash. Our recycle bin is always chock full each week and our trash bin usually only has one bag in it! We could potentially keep that bin for a month or longer before wheeling it out to the curb, but I don’t need the squirrels to find it – as they’ve done before. Good luck in your quest!
erin says
My husband just informed me that our county landfill will allow all people who reside in the county to bring in $1500 worth of garbage per year for free. We don’t use a service as we burn what we can and use a dumpster at my work place that gets emptied twice a week no matter what. Most of the time the dumpster is empty except what I throw in there. Last I checked the garbage services for our rural area was $60 month.
mdoe37 says
We pay $17 a month here for pickup. No recycling is offered curbside by any of the trash haulers. My township has nothing available at all. If I want to recycle, the county charges $50 a year per household. The center is a 20 mile round trip….with weird days/hours. I would gladly split costs with one of the neighbors…we usually have just a small amount. All the neighbors, however, have lots of kids and over flowing barrels lol.
I do save up scrap metal and take that in occasionally for cash. Right now I have a broken washing machine in my basement that I will tear apart and scrap…..they wanted $35 to haul it away. not.
SFGKimRoman says
Our water, waste water, trash and recycling are lumped into one county bill and we can’t do it. Too bad because it takes quite awhile for us to fill a small can. I miss Germany where recycling is free and you pay annually for a sticker depending on the size of your trash can – as small as a 5-gallon pail. Oh and in some areas they even collect kitchen scraps (although I’d use it for composting myself).
Erin says
$300.00 per year, includes trash picked up weekly and recycling picked up twice monthly, excluding glass which we deliver ourselves. We half-fill the garbage can each week and mostly fill the recycling can. We could do better, but sometimes I get really tired of trying to be so conscientious. We compost everything possible, but sometimes I toss stuff in the trash just for convenience sake.
Read Bea’s blog a few years ago and was very inspired to change a lot of how we live. There were some things that I couldn’t bring myself to get on board with – primarily the deli meats in jars thing. Looking forward to seeing how it goes for you!
Courtney Thomas says
Totally stoked you are doing this, Mavis. Can’t wait to see what you (we) get to learn. Here in SoCal – we have three bins – trash, recyclable, yard waste. Our waste is bundled with water and sewage. Since removing our lawns and converting to edible landscape, we have zero yard waste. (goal: convert this bin to another worm farm in the meantime We catch the rogue rainstorm in it) We still use the recyclable bin for items that are not beverage containers. (we take those back ourselves at the market for grocery or cash refunds) We switched to the 14 gallon bins mainly for space savings – our city doesn’t offer a discount for less trash. They do however offer a senior discount if anyone in the house is over 63.
Sue V says
What will you do with the dog poop?
Teresa says
I have my son-in-law dig 3 “poop” holes every year or so. One placed on each side of the yard near the fence in an inconspicuous spot. 3′ down and as large as the post hole digger. Deep as not to attract flies and it will compost at a pretty rapid rate. When it is nearing the top of the hole (6″) it’s time for new holes. Big dog? More holes. I’ve done this every place I’ve lived for 30 years. I have grand kids now and need to keep the yard clean. My kids used to scoop the yard when they were growing up for extra money.
Suzi H. says
Zero dollars spent on any sort of trash or waste. We live in the country, compost what we can, recycle or reuse what we can, burn what is burnable and whatever won’t burn I take to town (one or two items here and there) and throw away in the trash bins in front of the stores. It works for us. Good luck in finding the solution(s) that work for you!
Lisa B. says
Wow, that is ADMIRABLE whether you’re doing it for the environment, or to save money. We need to start working on cutting down on how much trash we produce at our house. I don’t think I could cut out trash service any time soon (and we do recycle), but I’d certainly like to cut down on the amount of waste that goes to the landfill …
crystal says
we have free zero sort recycling here (central mass) and our collection service for trash works by purchasing the city bags, which are 75 cents each, sold in ten packs only. so $7.50 every three/four months or so for us!
Sharon says
I wish our trash service worked like yours. I could use one bag every 3-4 months and it would be awesome!
Pauline says
You go, girl! We cut the trash service about three years ago, caught up with the guy on the truck to tip him and say thanks, and he asked where we were moving to! He seemed totally astonished that we were simply stopping the trash pick-up. We’re down to just two of us now, do as much composting, re-using, and recycling as we can, and find that we only need to make a “dump run” about once every 6 weeks, which costs us a little over $2. We had been paying $20/month PLUS $1/bag. For the small amount of stinky stuff that accumulates (e.g. juicy meat wrappers), we keep it in a designated container in our chest freezer and simply add it to the trash whenever it’s going. No regrets here! Should definitely give your neighbors something to talk about! The neighborhood is never going to be the same, Mavis…
Leslie says
Garbage in Portland is too expensive (our opinion!) so we haul it to the dump ourselves. We sort our recycling, so that is free to drop off. MOST of what we use gets recycled, and we make that trip every few months. We store it, sorted, until we have a truck load. Garbage almost never accumulates. We clean things off before putting them in the garage, and it takes MONTHS to fill our two garbage carts. When they finally fill up, a man I barter with hauls them for us. YES! We barter lawn debris and garbage/recycling hauling!
TanyannC says
The cost of our trash/recycling/composting service just went up to $60 a quarter so this sounds so tempting. Do you still get a recycling pick-up or will you have to take that to a separate facility?
Mavis Butterfield says
I will have to take the recycling to a facility.
Amy says
We haven’t had garbage service for years. We recycle as much as possible. Our recycle bin and garbage can are in the same pull out drawer in the kitchen so it’s super easy. Food scraps go to the chickens. The garbage we do accumulate we are fortunate to be able to ‘top off’ a few neighbors cans.
Stormy says
We cancelled our weekly garbage service ($32 a month) a bit more than 18 months ago. We now have “will call” service and pay $ 13.40 for garbage pickup which we call and schedule every 5-8 weeks. I have indoor kitties that use cat litter unsuitable for recycling or composting and that is responsible for roughly 1/3 of our garbage. We live in a rural area with bear and other beasts and we are scrupulous about keeping meat and food waste unsuitable for composting in the freezer until it is time for garbage day. We compost all appropriate food scrapes in the manure pile ( we have a small livestock farm) Our recycling requires a trip to the recycling center 17 miles from home so we schedule recycling in concert with other business to cut out extra expense. The process has taught me a lot about wasteful packaging which we avoid like the plague!
GardenNut says
Use of the dump is included in our property tax, which we’d have to pay regardless. There are no trash collectors up where I live because I live on a mountain deep in the woods. So, for a dedicated trash service? $0. We just take up the load once a month or so and toss it at the dump. We do recycle cardboard, some paper, some plastic, and we sell the aluminum cans. Packaging supplies like foam and bubblewrap tend to get reused in odd ways. I don’t have a compost pile yet because we have too many dogs (poisonous!) but it is a project on the to-do list (with serious fencing around it to protect the dogs).
We also don’t pay for sewage (septic system), water (our own well), tv (no cable, no dish, nada, we do have internet though), and I’m working on power (looooong term project). The no cost on trash, sewage, and water is a really, really nice trifecta. Makes the money go a lot farther. Of course the flipside is footing the whole bill if anything goes wrong.
Julie says
We live in Germany right now and have one (what I used to consider) kitchen sized trash can picked up every two weeks. We also have bins for “packaging,” compost, and paper. When our two littlest were in diapers it took some serious sorting to stick to that one can of trash, but we were able to do it. It blows me away when we visit the States how much trash is put out at the curb each week… and I know we used to do it too!
Beth says
I canceled our container trash service five years ago, but I maintain bag service through our disposal company. I purchase a roll of 25 trash bags at $2 apiece from the disposal service. Our family fills a bag every two weeks or so (except during holiday weeks when we produce additional trash). I also recycle all of our paper, plastic, glass and cardboard myself rather than pay for someone to haul it away from the curb. This means that I clean, store, pack up and haul our recycling to the county recycling center one or two times a month, and the family knows/contributes to the recycling pile. I compost kitchen scraps. I bring larger household/hazardous trash to the recycling center twice a year when they hold collections. It’s a small time commitment compared to the savings (and has the bonus of keeping recyclables out of the landfill). It’s offset some by the fact that the trash bags we buy are plastic. But, I wouldn’t go back to wasting money on full trash service again unless I became physically unable to take care of it myself!
Natalie T. says
Love this challenge! Go, Mavis!
Bea is not proposing we all live like her and her family. Instead, her book and its myriad ideas offer alternatives that we can utilize and try in our own efforts to be less wasteful, for whatever reasons we wish to do that for – wildlife, nature, our own finance, health or sanity in this out-of-control, unsustainably wasteful society.
There are so many of us that I believe even by doing something just a tad bit less wasteful, we will make a collective, positive impact. Bringing my own containers, utensils and cloth napkins when eating out so that my family and I can decline disposable take-out plastic bags, tubs, boxes, spoons, forks, straws and paper napkins is a habit that we have recently solidified (not easy but once a system is in place and you do it a couple of times to get over whatever qualms you have with whipping you own things out in a restaurant), the amount of time/trouble saved not to have to ask the server to pack you a doggie bag is tremendous. That’s on top of producing less trash and we all know harmful consequences of trash.
I look forward to seeing how you and your family fare this year in reducing trash and perhaps never needing a garbage puck up service. The amount of savings (and we are talking about all KINDS of savings) is worth it!
Gardenpat says
Like many others, our garbage, yard waste and recycling pick-ups by the City are a part of our taxes so we don’t pay any fee for them.
But one thing that we have become absolutely habitual about is the accumulation of “trash” in our cars! So, for the past 3 years, EVERY single time we are in our cars and stop- for gas or to any store, we make a quick sweep of the inside of the car and remove and throw away any trash into the trash containers there!
It was automatic when we would stop for gas, but then we noticed that every store- Krogers, Kohls as well as every restaurant have trash containers right outside their entry doors that are meant for customer use!
It may look funny to some as we toss some trash from our car into the container outside the bank, but, I tell you, our cars always look tidy and uncluttered inside!
Tammy says
I’m very curious to know what you’ll be doing with your trash that you do accumulate. Running around town down dark alleys, disposing of your trash bag by bag in other dumpsters? LOL
We pay per tip for our trash, we do fair to middling on the amount of trash we dispose of. We could do better. We do one tip every 2 or 3 weeks. Our recycling is free so we take advantage of that.
Amanda S. says
Well, I assume collection of garbage, recycling and yard waste is included in our taxes, because I don’t pay a separate bill for it. I’ve never even thought about it until now. We usually only have one kitchen bag and one combined small bag (from our bedroom and the two bathrooms) every week for trash. I always recycle as much as I can. The convenience of curbside pickup is great. I’d never want to live in one of the towns where you have to bring your trash to the dump. I don’t have time for that (nor interest).
If you aren’t going to be paying for pickup anymore, what are you going to do with your recycling? And there’s no way you are going to be able to avoid all trash.
Mavis says
I’ll save and drop off my own recycling at recycling centers. And I’m going to try for zero waste, but if I have to take a trip to the dump every few months, I’ll still save. I also just might barter for the use of trash can space! 😉
Cheryl says
Denver City is paid through our taxes as far as I know. Their have been grumblings in the past about Denver citizens paying for these services, but I havent seen it come to fruition. I expect the city would have to justify what they are doing with our taxes first. We have Trash and Recycle and a fee based Compost service. As I am single, I rarely fill up the trash bin…it literally takes me a month or more to fill up the 13 gal kitchen trash can. I do however recycle and that is usually full to the brim every other week. I am almost obsessed with recycling however and have been known to pack it out of places that do not recycle, like work or my sister’s house.
Mavis says
That’s awesome that it’s already paid for, except in cases like yours when you are then forced to pay for a service you don’t need often!
Sharon says
I do not have my own trash service, but, instead, share with a neighbor. She uses my wifi, I put my (less than) one 13 gallon bag in her can. It works for both of us and no additional cost!
Mavis says
That is genius! It’s almost like you’re bartering for trash service. Perfect!
Connie says
I don’t know if anyone will this far down, or if it is already mentioned due to comments,,,but about recycling plastic bags,,,there is a new push, where many people who crochet and even knit, are recycling plastic bags by crocheting/knitting them into bags, sleeping mats for homeless, I have even seen some crocheted sandals! Sooo for those of you who recycle but don’t knit or crochet, you might ask around. Those mats use like 800-1,000 bags each. I myself have started doing that (crocheting the bags that is). So now I have a couple of the neighbors now saving their bags for me. I have read even those plastic tablecloths works too.
Connie says
grrr should have proof read,,,that is I don’t know if anyone will *read* this far down.
Mavis says
I read down that far 😉 And I LOVE those crocheted bags!
Connie says
I do too!!! When I started out to see if it was something I would continue with, I made a bag with a should strap for carrying small packages and mail, when I walked down to the Post Office. They are pretty hardy for sure and so light weight to boot!
Stacy T. says
Awesome! Our family has been on the path to Zero Waste for 6 months now. Through other zero waste blogs I found a website called Life Without Plastic – I couldn’t see bringing glass jars into Whole Foods for meat or deli stuff, so I bought some stainless steel containers from them- they work GREAT! People stop and ask all the time where I got the containers from and it feels awesome to have less trash! Cloth bags and a washable fabric marker work for the PLU#- when done, throw into wash. I shop for meats every 2 weeks, so it’s really not a hassle at all. Just takes a little planning before shopping. Good luck on your journey to zero waste!
liz cauthorn says
We spend about $20 on garbage a month because hubby takes our trash and recycling to the local transfer station. Personally I’d rather have garbage service since, as a family of five we do make a lot of garbage and I hate hate HATE having it sit. That being said we could be doing a way better job at recycling. Its an up hill battle for me just to get them to stop throwing paper in the trash (I mean, REALLY?? the paper recycle bin is right there!)
For the bulk plastic bags you were talking about, you probably could re-use those bags next time you shop bulk at that store and then I think they can be recycled with plastic grocery bags. You have to take them to a specific plastic bag recycle drop off, but they’re becoming more common at grocery stores (our QFC has one).
Cheri says
I adore Bea Johnson’s work and have on my second reading of her book now. Yes, some of her ideas are radical–but they are reasonable, even the glass jars (where allowed). I think it is we who should decide what is reasonable, not the stores or the government. And what is unreasonable is all the waste our society produces. I have a family of seven, so I find it extremely difficult to aim for zero waste, but I have made a lot of progress this past year with replacing disposables with reusables. Now for that darn trash…
Cera says
We don’t have trash service (we live down a narrow private road in town). We usually take trash into the local grocery store, which my father-in-law owns. Otherwise, we take it out to the dump and recycle our cardboard there, too.
Kayla says
When my husband and I bought our house this past July we were THRILLED to find out that our property taxes include the trash and recycling service! Talk about awesome!
Kristi says
Mavis,
I have thought about this for years. With the addition of chickens, there should be less food waste. I have a special composted that you can put meat, fat,and bones in. You can also get compost tea. I’m out of the home for now (long story) but when I move back later this year I will try it. Garbage, recycle, yard waste ~85/month.
Jill says
How is this coming along? You have inspired me!
Do you have an update on your trash situation?
Torsh Johansen says
Where the heck do you live? I live in a mid-sized city in the midwest. You pay $3.05 for a 32 gallon pickup of your city authorized bin. Don’t bring the bin out? No charge. Are you charged to have a bin? Nope. Just pre-pay 3 dumps worth. That’s it.
Oh, and free recycling bin & service, too. You use that, and are real “earth friendly” — you won’t fill your 32-gallon pickup if your kid’s off to college until every 6 weeks.
No need to forgo trash service. It’s run by the city and isn’t there to make $$.
Mavis Butterfield says
In the northwest.