I was setting up to paint the trim work in our bathroom yesterday when I ran out of painter’s tape. Instead of running to the store to buy another roll, I just rummaged through the recycle bin and grabbed some newspaper and tore it into strips.
Luckily, I have steady hands and so when I was finished painting, I was able toss the newspaper back into the recycling bin. I couldn’t do that with the painters tape though because everyone knows you can’t recycle tape {unless you know something I don’t}. Then it hit me. It’s the little things, some of us can do without them, and others wouldn’t even consider it.
The more resourceful we are, the less stuff we need to actually buy. And the less stuff we need to buy, the less we have to throw away.
This week’s trash:
Potting soil bag
Painter’s tape
Butter wrappers
4 Lotion bottle lids
Sample size Q-Tip wrappers
Foil like cookie wrapper
Plastic bags, plastic wrap, plastic meat wrappers, plastic strips from packages
Tea wrapper, cocoa wrapper, salami wrapper,
Floss, dental pick, museum tags, junky printed ribbon
Salmon skin {I suppose I could have tossed it on to my compost pile but I didn’t want to attract critters}
This week I was able to stuff all our non recyclable trash into a quart sized baggie. Not too shabby if you ask me. This silly little challenge of mine, having an almost zero waste home in 29 days or less is going WAY better than expected. So well in fact I am beginning to feel a little guilty for all the stuff I was shoving in our garbage cans before I made a concentrated effort to recycle like a mad woman.
Maybe next week I should shoot for a sandwhich size bag. 😉
Have a great night everyone,
~Mavis
Lesley says
Why not use the soil bag as your garbage bag for the week and save that shiny new baggie!? Perhaps it had holes in it (and didn’t lend itself to the photograph of all your wrappers stuffed within).
LOVING this series, Mavis! Totally look forward to these zero-waste posts. Thought I was the only crazy.
Lydia says
Too bad your municipality doesn’t recycle plastic film. Ours does, and we always have a grocery bag filled with baggies and little bits of plastic film that you get from packaging…it helps us cut down on our trash.
Janice says
One way I cut down on plastic film is to use shower caps we get from hotels. Companies actually make and sell these in the store as food covers. The elastic around the outside helps to make it fit almost any container and it is washable and can be reused.
Joanna says
I used to color my hair, and still color my kid’s, so I bought a pack of 100 shower caps on Amazon. I’ve been using them to cover food and my bread when it rises too.
Patty P says
You definitely do have me thinking every time I throw something in the regular garbage (ie can I compost this, recycle it, reuse it, do something else with it?). We do compost extensively, so I think I have that down, but sometimes things sneak in there when I’m not looking (we won’t name any names). I also have thought twice about using plastic wrap on things for the fridge and have opted to use my glass storage containers, which creates another dish to wash, but eliminates using plastic wrap…
Chris M says
If you decide to wait to dispose of your trash until you can take it somewhere, I’d suggest the freezer to keep that salmon skin from smelling too bad 🙂
suzanne says
Salmon skin gets the thumbs up for dogs to eat. It should be cooked or frozen at some point to kill the possibility of parasites though. I tend to keep a freezer bag full of weird stuff (google for safety) and dehydrate it when its full. My poodle is going pretty good at 19.
Lisa says
Yep, our dog too LOVES salmon skin.
Sue says
I’m loving this project too!
One thing I’m wondering — is this just *your* trash or is it your family’s trash too? Either way it’s super impressive! I’m guessing it’s just yours since the boys might not be up for this extreme of a project. But I hope they are becoming inspired by it!
You’ve also got me really thinking about how few things can be recycled where I live out in the boonies.
Hazel says
That is inspiring- well done!
I was reading Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s leftovers cookbook at the library the other day and he suggests making fish skin into bacon. I’ve found instructions on The Kitchn for it too:
http://www.thekitchn.com/great-idea-turn-salmon-skin-into-bacon-video-183579
Might be worth a try?!
Maria says
You’re making me think, Mavis. I realized that I had never actually read the instructions on the recycling program in my county and I learned that they will accept clothing and fabric scraps. This past weekend, I cleaned out my scrap quilting bin and cut up some old Tshirts for rags. This left the upper part of the shirt and I was hating the idea of putting a kitchen sized trash bag in the trash. I checked the list and I can recycle these items.
Thanks for making me think. Everyone interested in this should read the list of approveds for where they live
PS–is you tea wrapper and butter wrapper paper? Won’t they accept that there?
AshleyAshley says
It’s funny to see how the most predominant thing in your trash (mine as well) is plastic. We just cant seem to get away from it in this country. All of our food is wrapped wrapped wrapped in plastic and put in plastic containers, then put in large boxes wrapped in plastic….we have so much packaging it’s astounding.
Mavis Butterfield says
I totally agree!
Brenda says
First time commenter, long time lurker 😛
Mavis, this blog is amazing. I am constantly inspired by you and your adventures!! I am especially loving the Zero Waste series. Speaking of waste, I’m wondering if there will be a post in the future of your solutions for those daily items that can’t be recycled? Like the meat packaging, butter wraps, etc? I’d be interested to know if there were viable options out there that would help lower our trash output.
Also, about your floss. What kind do you use? I’m just wondering because most floss types burn pretty well, and you had that other post about making fire starters…You could insert your floss sort of like a wick and POOF!! One less thing to toss out.
Thanks again for all this amazing content!! And much love to Lucy Puggle!! She’s beautiful!!
Mavis Butterfield says
Great idea on the floss! I am going to toss it in my next batch of firestarters!!!
Tami Lewis says
I am loving this series!
So far, I have been using glass jars for leftovers and as always the chickens and compost bin get scraps.
I painted used veggie cans and store silverware in them.
I’m using Cereal bags as wax paper.
Painted scratched dvds and made a suncatcher for the porch.
Yogurt containers became seed starter containers.
That’s just a few.
Keep the ideas coming!
Mm says
I believe you can put the plastic in the plastic bins at stores like central market. If not then you can do what I do. I melt the plastic in a old toaster oven and then make tool handles. The condensed plastic hardens into a nice multicolor. It can be cut and sanded to finish.
Jumbe says
If you scratch out the scales with a knife when you prep and then fry the skin to crispy after you have cooked/eaten the salmon it is quite good. The bacon of the sea. Salmon skin sushi is my favorite. Yum.