Cut your Trash by 85% or More Using Our Method
I recently called my local trash / garbage pick-up company and told them to cancel my service. They asked if I was moving or found a better rate through their competitor. I replied that I no longer generate any trash!
I don’t think they believed me.
The truth is, that I still generate some trash, but it’s such a small amount, I don’t want to pay for a giant truck and 2 employees to drive to my house every week to pick up what basically amounts to a plastic bag half full of plastic containers and an occasional bottle.
Anyone can easily do this, and I’m going to walk you through the steps:
Look at your trash to see what is actually in it.
Here’s what is in your trash:
- Garbage (i.e, food waste).
- Plastic containers from things like milk, yogurt, juice, soda, etc.
- Paper towels, cardboard, and other forms of paper.
- Glass containers
- Plastic film and plastic bags from things like plastic wrap, bags of chips, grocery bags, packing materials from online purchases, etc.
- Junk items that you no longer want such as broken kid’s toys, broken household items, etc. that are made out of various materials.
- Metal cans like empty cans of beans, tomato sauce, pop and beer cans, etc.
And then there is the yard debris, which often requires a separate removal service or fee for stuff like leaves, weeds, branches, pine cones, grass clippings, etc.
And also there are the 1 time large items like old furniture, torn out carpet, broken bicycles, etc., that may also require an additional fee from your trash company.
Slot all of the trash into categories
I’m going to tackle the above things one at a time (most of which are easy fixes) so this may be a long article, but if you are willing to read carefully through it, you will likely be able to do what I did and eliminate your trash service!
But even if you don’t get that far, you will be able to save money and improve the quality of your lawn and garden, while significantly reducing the amount of crap you pay to have whisked away to the local landfill.
Food garbage
Food garbage is disgusting and attracts raccoons, rats, skunks, crows, cats, etc. to your property.
I used to have all sorts of ingenious ways to keep raccoons from getting into my outside garbage can, but these days, there is nothing in there that they want.
Do you ever have to take the garbage outside before the kitchen bin is full because it is so stinky?
I don’t throw any food into the garbage (well, maybe a fraction of 1 percent). Let me break down food waste into categories and what I do with them, then later I’ll explain how I do these things.
Raw vegetables, fruit and the cuttings from them, like leaves, husks, rinds, etc., go into the compost system.
Egg shells: compost system
Paper towels: compost system or fire box
Grease: diy fire starters
Cooked food: garbage disposal, or to the dog
Bones: Rinsed off and thrown into the trash (but could be buried if you wanted to really get serious)
Other Garbage
plastic containers: trash / reuse
Anything paper: burn box or compost system
Glass: trash or reuse
Plastic: trash
Grocery bags: reuse, or don’t have in the first place
Packing materials: reuse
Junk items: curb or trash
Aluminum cans: recycle
Steel cans: trash
Yard debris: compost system
1-time large items: curb or trash
Set up your processes
As you can see from above, all of the trash that my household generates is dealt with by the following 7 solutions.
- “Compost system”
- “Garbage Disposal”
- “Burn Box / Fire Starter”
- “Curb”
- “Reuse”
- “Recycle”
- “Trash”
Let’s tackle these one at a time.
Compost system
Step 1, Kitchen Compost Container
The items destined for the compost system will ultimately turn into lush compost that will be top-dressed onto the garden, landscape, and lawn. Here’s how you set up this system.
First, get a kitchen compost container. I have reviewed them all and show you the best ones in the link. The purpose of the kitchen compost container is simply to hold all of the compost-able items on your counter-top, so that you don’t have to constantly make runs to the outside compost bin.
These containers do not do any actual composting, they just temporarily house the scraps and make sure they don’t get stinky.
So, as you are making breakfast, lunch, and dinner, toss all of the following into the kitchen compost container:
Raw vegetable cuttings like peels, husks, nut shells, seeds, used coffee grounds, paper towels, egg shells, rinds, old fruit and vegetables from the refrigerator that went bad, cuttings from indoor plants, leaves, etc.
Pretty much anything that was once living, and is not meat or has been cooked in oils or fats.
So basically, when I get out the knife, peeler, and cutting board, I also grab the kitchen compost container and peel carrots and potatoes directly into it. I toss all of the celery leaves into it, all of the garlic paper and husks, etc.
Step 2: Outdoor compost bin
I have several articles about outdoor composting, so I’ll not go fully into it, but basically, once the kitchen compost container gets full, carry it out to the outdoor compost bin and dump it in.
I show you how to build my system for less than $50, but there are bins that you can buy that cut down on the work involved in turning the compost pile into actual compost.
A compost pile can be a literal pile on the ground, or a very impressive barrel that spins the food and yard waste into lush compost for the garden, or somewhere in-between…it’s your choice!
The outdoor compost bin is not only for holding the scraps from the kitchen compost container, though. It also is the place where you deposit all of your leaves, fire ashes, weeds, grass clippings, and even paper as long as it is not dyed, such as paper towels and shredded up brown cardboard boxes.
All Yard waste stays on the property.
See our articles about soil fertility and never raking leaves again (navigate through the menu…you’ll find them.)
Garbage Disposal
For the food waste that is meat, or has been cooked in oils and fats, you can’t / shouldn’t compost that stuff.
I run it ALL through the garbage disposal, except for what the dog eats.
If you don’t have a high quality garbage disposal, you should buy a very good one and install it or have it installed.
Some people may think this is a weird thing to do, but I wholeheartedly disagree. Investing in a high quality garbage disposal makes sense. The good ones are very powerful and will last for decades.
Burn Box / Fire Starter
Another thing the backyard enthusiast needs is a high-quality fire pit. You should get a very good one, or else it will be going into the “Curb” category in 1-2 years.
An outdoor lawn or patio fire is so wonderful! Why not take all of that paper and save it in a water-tight trash can or other container and use it to start outdoor fires, or indoor ones if you are lucky enough to have a fireplace or a wood burning stove ( I have both).
Grease should not go down the garbage disposal, but it can and should be used along with dryer lint to make really cool fire starters, so check our article about that.
Cardboard can only be composted if it is shredded up, but it can go into the burn box. It can also be used for sheet-mulching, which I’ll have an article and video coming out soon.
Curb
It depends on where you live, but for me, I can put almost anything out to my curb and in 1.5 days someone will take it.
I have gotten rid of old furniture, broken appliances, scrap metal, carpet, rugs, you name it. If no one takes it, I’ll put it on Craigslist free (curb alert!) and that almost always works.
I once put out a disgusting coffee table that NO ONE would want, and a college kid picked it up after about 3 hours! My friend put a dirty, rain-soaked mattress out to the curb and someone took it, so try it, if that sort of thing is allowed where you live.
Reuse
Plastic bottles can be cut in half and used as self-watering planters (see our Facebook page for this). Milk jugs can be used for all sorts of things, glass bottles can be used, etc.
Check Youtube and Google, but a lot of stuff can be reused. Also, it’s important to note, that when you are shopping, consider not buying things that you will have to throw away later. Paper cartons vs plastic, reusable shopping bags vs those plastic ones, etc.
With regard to shipping materials like bubble wrap, Styrofoam, and the like, I have an eBay vintage business so I reuse all of that stuff. I even use plastic shopping bags for this purpose.
Maybe you know someone who ships a lot of items, Those packing materials actually cost a lot of money to buy, and there is, no doubt, someone around you who could use them. Ask around, or save up a bunch and post them on Craigslist free. You might be surprised!
Recycle
Aluminum is worth kind of a lot of money. I have a can crusher and save all aluminum cans, and every couple of months, I load them in my car and drive them to the local aluminum recycle center and they cut me a check.
I do not, however fall into the trap that many municipalities have set up, where you pay for a recycling bin, and you separate out certain types of plastic and glass, and they pick it up, often for another charge, and then they drive it to the dump and throw it all in with the rest of the garbage.
Often times glass and plastic go to the same landfill that your garbage goes to, and is actually not recycled, so beware.
Previously I said that I route steel cans to the trash, and that is true, because I rarely buy food in cans (I’m a backyard farmer!) but if you have a lot of steel, you can save it up and drive it to the local recycle center as well. It is actually recycled, as is often not the case with plastic and glass, despite what they might say.
Trash
At the end of the day, there are still things we have to actually toss into the trash. But why does everyone on my street have to pay a separate fee for it, and why does the giant truck have to stop every 20 feet to pick up each, individual household’s trash?
This is insanity.
Consider going in with your neighbor (or 3 neighbors) and splitting the cost. The trash company won’t like it, but it’s the right thing to do!
Thanks for reading, and please share this article if you found it helpful.