How have you reduced your garbage/landfill footprint?

[gtaus]

You could get a butcher. They use butcher paper no trays.
I recycle all paper even mail.... cutting my postal code and address off.

Years ago, I lived in a small town and we had a local butcher that did indeed wrap the meat in paper. Now we have to buy our meat from big box stores and they all use trays. I don't know why they need to use trays that cannot be reused or recycled. I understand their need to display the meat on a tray covered with plastic wrap, so you can see what you are buying, but I think the trays need to be more environmentally friendly.

Recycling paper is great. Even better is shredding that paper for use as coop litter for the chickens. This winter I am using paper shreds instead of wood chips in the deep bedding of the coop. The idea is that if paper shreds works as well as wood chips, come spring when I clean out the coop deep bedding and throw it into the chicken run compost system, the paper shreds should break down into compost in no time outside compared to wood chips which do take much longer.

 

[gtaus]

It's not perfect, but I try

Yes, I think we are better off aiming for improvements, not perfection which may never be achievable. I like how you are repurposing those items that you cannot recycle. I try to do the same.

 

[gtaus]

I must say for living in a city with an apartment those are some very smart ways to use things that would otherwise go to waste.

+1

 

[gtaus]

I have to throw out electronics because we DO have an electronics recycling depot, but it's at the dump and no-one I know drives.

There's so much I try to do

Well, we do what we can.

BTW, I just gathered up 3 Android tablets that we have used over the past - maybe 5 - years? They still work as good as new, however, none of them are compatible with the new apps I regularly use. I was thinking/hoping that I could just update the apps, but no, they will not install because the OS on the tablet is "too" old. What? I just bought it yesteryear! Now it's not much more than a paperweight.

We do have an electronics recycling center in our nearest town, and that is also where we bring our household garbage and recyclables, so it's easy for me to get rid of electronic devices. Just kind of breaks my heart to throw out tech that works perfectly fine but has just aged out of the market. I don't have a problem throwing away tech that is busted and no longer works. But too much of our devices just age out and end up in a landfill somewhere. I don't have a solution, but we should make more things with their end in consideration, so we don't have to pile everything in landfills.

 

[gtaus]

you can pur your used tea bags in the garden?

I don't drink coffee or tea, but I have read many times that you can compost those items - at least the organic parts. You don't want to throw plastic Keurig pods into the compost bin, but the cloth filter and grounds should be just fine.

I have also read here on the BYC forums that some people dry out coffee grounds and use them in the coop to smell better. Well, maybe smell like coffee anyway. At any rate, some people pick up buckets of coffee grounds from their local Starbucks, or whatever, and reuse the grounds with the chickens and/or composting. Perhaps someone reading this thread has a better understanding of how they repurpose those coffee grounds.

 

[gtaus]

If you like crafts you can make a lot of things out of plastic bags. Some people make sleeping mats and donate them to the homeless. My aunt makes rugs.

That is great. Never heard of making rugs or sleeping mats out of waster plastic bags. Any links?

 

[STACEYH]

That is great. Never heard of making rugs or sleeping mats out of waster plastic bags. Any links?

Sleeping mats
https://thesavvyage.com/turn-your-plastic-bags-into-sleeping-mats/
Here is a rug I couldn't find one the way my aunt does it. She braids and ties them nothing needed to make them. They turn out to feel soft.
https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Make-a-Rug-from-Plastic-Grocery-Bags/

 

[STACEYH]

I don't drink coffee or tea, but I have read many times that you can compost those items - at least the organic parts. You don't want to throw plastic Keurig pods into the compost bin, but the cloth filter and grounds should be just fine.

I have also read here on the BYC forums that some people dry out coffee grounds and use them in the coop to smell better. Well, maybe smell like coffee anyway. At any rate, some people pick up buckets of coffee grounds from their local Starbucks, or whatever, and reuse the grounds with the chickens and/or composting. Perhaps someone reading this thread has a better understanding of how they repurpose those coffee grounds.

I use coffee grounds for plants that need more acid soil. Blueberry bushes, carrots, egg plants, and azaleas are some I put grounds on. It really helps the acidity of the soil.

 

[gtaus]

Thought I'd mention this. Have you seen the Reencle in home composter? VitaMix also makes one. They these neat food compost "bins" you can have in your home. They churn any food waste and turn it into compost in a matter of hours. You have to add a microorganism packet or something like that, but it looked pretty cool.
I stummbled upon one when I was researching composting today. Yet another item to add to my list.
Can you tell I enjoy shopping?
They're pricey, but I thought it was pretty cool. I sure can't justify the price, but thought I'd mention it anyway. Kind of a fun item to add to a list.

I checked into those type of machines a number of years ago when I was just getting more serious about composting. I liked the idea of putting my kitchen scraps into the device and having compost in a few hours. What's not to like about that system?

Well, evidently, lots of things. First, and foremost, for me was the cost. We are talking about ~$500+ dollars for the units I looked into at the time.

Secondly, the devices do not really compost the material. What they do is dry it out and grind it up. So, you end up with crumbly material that resembles compost, but in reality, is just dehydrated food products. I read a university study that used that "composted" machine products in some garden beds around their campus. When it rained, the material rehydrated itself and begin to rot and/or mold, smelling pretty bad IIRC, and they ended up discontinuing the practice. True compost will not smell if it gets rained on. And I cannot remember any compost that rots or grows mold like that.

Third, all the home units I was researching at the time had gone out of business. What appeared to be used were commercial units in restaurants where the business got charged by the pound for their garbage. In that case, a bag full of dehydrated food products weighs about 50% less, or more, than fresh food waste. A business that pays for garbage removal by the pound has an incentive to remove all that water before they pay for someone to haul it away.

In any case, I ended up getting chickens which eat almost all of my food scraps. What I cannot feed them, I just toss into my pallet compost bin. But I don't live in town and I know some of my options are not available to those living, say in an apartment building.

I still like the idea of those machines, and if there is now a way to overcome the shortcomings I discovered when I researched the issue, that might be a great solution for some people.

I'm pretty happy with my composing chickens. They eat the kitchen scraps and turn it into chicken poo for the compost pile in just a few hours. They don't require any additional electricity for their effort. And I also get fresh eggs as a byproduct of the composting they do. Pretty sweet deal for those of us that have a backyard flock.

 

[gtaus]

Sleeping mats
https://thesavvyage.com/turn-your-plastic-bags-into-sleeping-mats/
Here is a rug I couldn't find one the way my aunt does it. She braids and ties them nothing needed to make them. They turn out to feel soft.
https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Make-a-Rug-from-Plastic-Grocery-Bags/

Thanks for the links. Will check them out later tonight when I get a chance.