Too much waste

kennyp2339 said:

You mean like out west, My sister lives near Seattle and they do free recycling pick up, the only thing is once you start the program you have to separate your trash no matter what, its pretty strict, if you get caught throwing recyclables away in the trash you can get a surcharge.

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We don't sort anything here... the town contracts with a single stream recycler.... EVERYTHING (well besides obvious compostables like lawn waste and brush) goes through industrial scale sorting...

In my house, most paper products are saved for lighting the wood stove... and most food wastes go to the chickens... the rest goes into the recycling stream.

Same here. We get two 96 gal rolling cans. One is all recyclables, other is trash. Unfortunately, they keep changing rules on what is recyclable, and put zero effort into notifying public. So, anything debatable goes in recycling, for them to sort out.

Ashful said:

Unfortunately, they keep changing rules on what is recyclable, and put zero effort into notifying public.

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We get a booklet every year with the different categories trash can fall into and how to properly discard each one. Of course, there is an occasional odd one that is unclear. (Like a broken handmixer we had recently.) The recycling has not changed much here for years but food waste will soon be collected separately. I am curious how they will implement that one.

Ashful said:

So, anything debatable goes in recycling, for them to sort out.

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We do the same although I am pretty sure if we cannot identify whether something is really recyclable the workers will not spend any time on it and just chuck it. At least we remove the lids before dropping bottles in the recycle bin; many people don't.

begreen said:

Google is your friend.
http://www.philadelphiastreets.com/recycling/how-to-recycle

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I list Philadelphia, not because I'm in Philadelphia proper, but because no one mor than 20 miles from my home has ever heard of "Upper Salford". [emoji3]

Jags said:

I would like to point out one issue that can play into the food supply and waste that hasn't been mentioned. I am using a food/non-food product as a simple example:

Wheat - wheat harvest...no brainer. Now - the straw. Everybody knows that cows, horses, etc. use straw as bedding. What many don't consider is the value of the straw when left in place, to go back to the farm ground. Every bale of straw has a "worth" in the replacement value of the nutrients that are being removed from the farm ground. This "can" be the same reason that unsold apples will be allowed to rot and hit the ground, or asparagus left unharvested, etc.

Just pointing out that sometimes the food cycle isn't always as simple as harvest - sell - or dump. If there is a glut in straw with low pricing it may actually be a better business decision to leave the straw where it lay. Not always the case, but just showing another side of the food cycle that the farmers have to take into consideration. Putting a "free" sign on those bales of straw or giving those unsold apples to needy does actually have a cost associated.

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Absolutely. Straw, in fact, has most of the exact nutrients necessary to grow (wait for it) straw. The same goes for wood left in the forest. I have seen arguments about it being so wasteful to let trees rot, but in addition to making the soil better, it's a crazy habitat enhancer.

Now, on the topic, much of the food waste is in plastic bags, sent to a landfill- it would be better left in the field, but overproduction is meant to ensure that there's enough...

Ashful said:

So, anything debatable goes in recycling, for them to sort out.

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I used to work in local government, admittedly in the UK, but I think this principle applies everywhere - if you don't know, put it in the garbage or call and ask! What happens with ours was that a certain amount of 'contamination' was allowed at the sorting plant (IIRC <5% but it was a while ago now...) and anything more than that can cause a whole truckload to be rejected. Oh, and increased fees for the local government if it was a regular occurrence.

We now have an 'environmental recycling fee' added onto most electronics here - I think that is a British Columbia thing. I kind of like it because we have great recycling for electronics now (including small kitchen appliances such as hand mixers), and the fee is pretty minimal (paid on purchase) but the European model would be better. 'Planned obsolescence' of things like toasters and coffee makers drives me bonkers and should be discouraged at a higher level. I once got into a 'debate' with an older gentleman who was hassling the clerk at Staples about the recycling fee - he said he would give his new printer to a friend when he didn't want it anymore - but what about when the friend wanted to get rid of it I asked him? Or if it broke? That quieted him up pretty quick.

We have pay-to-throw (landfill garbage still goes in a small bag) which provides a monetary incentive ( one or two dollars a bag depending on size ) to recycle at maximum rates ( it has proven to work very well ).
Yard waste and compostables go in paper bags not in the trash bag.
No one compares to San Fransisco, Portland and LA supposedly though:http://grist.org/cities/why-seattle-still-has-a-huge-garbage-problem/

Want to be disgusted by the amount of food being wasted? Go work in a restaurant for a while...

I also have 2 large trash cans, one for single stream recycling, one for general trash... I usually put them out every other week, and they're rarely more than half full then. Some of my neighbors fill theirs up to the brim every week. Even if you are recycling, that's no good.

Stop drinking bottled water. I still don't understand how that ever got so popular in the first place... seems like it didn't really exist except for needs (camping and whatnot), then exploded in the late 90s.

Bottled water is as convenient as a jello cup or a disposable diaper.

If you live somewhere that the tap water smells like a public swimming pool that reeks of chloramines or where Pathogen Boil Water Advisaries are constantly mandated bottled water is indispensable.

No jello cups or Depends here but even though it is often not recommended we refill the convenient bottled water we get elsewhere with our own fairly nice tap water.

I rarely buy bottled water . . . that said . . . I bought some this past weekend as I had forgotten to pack some water for a bike ride. My fault.

Ever see the Dirty Jobs episode where he goes to the place near Las Vegas feeding pigs leftovers from casinos/hotels? A good program, but it really does show crazy waste

The one thing that will not be going on forever with our current way of food production is the loss of nutrients that is happening on our farmlands. Every time food is shipped over hundreds or thousands of miles that land just lost a part of the soil nutrients the plants need to grow. Some of it comes back through air (CO2) and water but anything that is dumped in a landfill (before or after digestion) is essentially lost. Currently, we make up for that loss artificially with fertilizer but those deposits have also natural limits. I am sure there will be a generation that will regret our decision to dump valuable nutrients together with harmful or even toxic wastes in one giant hole while trying to grow their food on depleted farmland.

begreen said:

Often bottled water is city water run through a filter. If the tap water is not great, a good activated charcoal water filter will clear up that chlorine smell. Add a filter to the faucet or a counter top water filter jug.

Keurig cups are another disposable we can do without. Our coffee maker is a Bodum press pot. No filters to replace.

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back when I lived in Worcester, MA in the early 90's... city water had a green tinge... and smelled of diesel.. no lie... nobody drank it.

I have a permanent filter for my coffee pot.... I never use it, because it sucks, and always let "the fines" through into my coffee.. I'll use a paper filter... til somebody comes up with something better.. that actually works.

I put an R/O filter in my sink. Same as bottled water in some cases. For carry convenience I use washable sealable cups.

I moved to the country, and have a well. Get it tested every 5 years, and all looks good. Doesn't always work for everyone, as I know some have found naturally occurring arsenic in their well water, but I'll take those odds against city borough water.

Peak phosphate is coming. There are limited stocks of mineable rock phosphate.
We are taking the phosphate from the soil and peeing it into the oceans, where it is nearly infinitely diluted.
We need to get smarter with closing our nutrient loops.

dougstove said:

Peak phosphate is coming.

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There's always something new to worry about.