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Devin Lavign
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So this is 3 yrs worth of trash on my homestead that finally accumulated to 13 45 gallon bags, enough to finally take a trip to the dump. *edit to add (oops, this is an earlier pic of only 10 bags, I seem to have trashed the 13 bag photo)



Most of this trash came from styrofoam, bubble wrap, and other packing materials from moving out to the property and from online orders for items I needed. After the 1st yr my trash accumulation slowed down a lot. I think I added only the last 4 bags in the next 2 yrs.

Sad thing is my area does not have a good recycling set up. Especially big issue for me is glass is not recycled in the area. I tend to opt for glass over plastic bottles due to glass being able to be recycled infinite times. While plastic just a few times. A few neighbors and I are considering pooling together to make a 3 hr one way glass recycle trip worth it.

"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)

 
Carrie Nicole
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That's really impressive and aspirational!  My recycle bin always fills up 3x faster than my garbage but I have a long way to go to reducing even further. The set up at my new property will force me into that a bit but this was a good reminder that I could definitely be far more mindful now in reducing all forms of waste, even recycling, so that it will be a much easier transition once I move.
 
Devin Lavign
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Thanks Carrie, funny thing is I wasn't even trying to minimize my wastes when I moved on to my property. It just become a matter of practical considerations. Everything that can not return to the earth must be taken back down. So I always was thinking about having to haul anything I brought up to the property back down.

I think my repetitive discussions at the grocery store about paper bags being better for living on top of the mountain due to being burnable/compostable/and renewable might have converted a few checkout folks to paper over plastic.

"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)

 
Marie Grace
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My first question when climate and environmental conversations come up is "How much trash do you take to the curb every week?"  A lot of people have never thought of that. My question for you is how to get hubby to pay attention to how much trash is going out, especially before it become trash?
 
Mandy Launchbury-Rainey
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Marie Grace wrote: My question for you is how to get hubby to pay attention to how much trash is going out, especially before it become trash?



And remember - It is only nagging if he listens.......

I saw a video about marriage guidance and the speaker was trying to impress on the audience that men need to hear things three times, and women think they should only have to say things once.  So true.  So just keep telling him - he will either catch on or stop listening to you.  Could go either way!

To lead a tranquil life, mind your own business and work with your hands.

 
Trace Oswald
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Mandy Launchbury-Rainey wrote:...men need to hear things three times,...  



I would agree with that except that I would have said "at least three times"...

A build too cool to miss:Mike's GreenhouseA great example:Joseph's Garden
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Devin Lavign
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Marie Grace wrote:My question for you is how to get hubby to pay attention to how much trash is going out, especially before it become trash?



While not perfect, the only thing I can think of is taking a week to collect the stuff he brings in and show it to him. Literally save up his contributions then go through his trash and show him the excess packaging and single use items etc... that could be cut out.

This is one way I have seen that tends to really wake people up to the trash they create.

But to get him to notice before it becomes trash? That is hard, you either notice these things or you don't. I know plenty of people who watch documentaries or youtube videos about the trash problem and for a week or so try to reduce waste, but it never lasts. They fall back into the rut of out of site out of mind. As well as convenient over packaging that is so common in stores.

Another idea of getting him to notice is to shut off the trash pickup service, and actually have him take the trash to the dump. You don't have to have the curb side trash pick up. You can do it yourself. So having to handle and haul the trash himself might help him get a grasp on the volume of trash you are dealing with.

"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)

 
Devin Lavign
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BTW at the 2019 PDC I went to, Jennifer (the OP of the linked thread) showed us her Styrofoam eating beetle larvae.  
https://permies.com/t/103412/critters/Superworms-bioremediation-polystyrene-ideas-extending

I don't know much about this topic yet, but starting to research it as another way to reduce my waste. From my understanding from what Jennifer said, it doesn't completely break down the styrofoam into earth friendly stuff, but it becomes a lot less of a problem stuff after the beetles have eaten it. Since a lot of the bulk of my 13 bags was styrofoam, if I could get some beetles to munch that stuff down to a lot less volume and at least partially turn it back into a more earth friendly substance then I would be a lot happier with reducing my waste.

Some videos I found on the topic



"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)

 
Xisca Nicolas
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Are mealworms really edible after such a diet?

Now my waste mostly comes from some food packaging I can still not avoid. And I do not keep meat and fish packaging for long! I have also been wondering how I can freeze my own meat without plastic… Glass is not feasible because too much too heavy and meat sticks so you have to leave it in the jar. Paper? It sucks the water…


I reuse bottles I find as mini plant warmers, and protection against lizards.

Xisca - pics! Dry subtropical Mediterranean - My project
However loud I tell it, this is never a truth, only my experience...

 
Mandy Launchbury-Rainey
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Xisca Nicolas wrote:I have also been wondering [b]how I can freeze my own meat without plastic[/



Beeswaxed cloth keeps frozen meat well.

To lead a tranquil life, mind your own business and work with your hands.

 
Xisca Nicolas
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I still have to find organic bee wax... and make these... I am concerned about liquids coming out before it is frozen though...

Xisca - pics! Dry subtropical Mediterranean - My project
However loud I tell it, this is never a truth, only my experience...

 
Devin Lavign
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Xisca Nicolas wrote:Are mealworms really edible after such a diet?

Now my waste mostly comes from some food packaging I can still not avoid. And I do not keep meat and fish packaging for long! I have also been wondering how I can freeze my own meat without plastic… Glass is not feasible because too much too heavy and meat sticks so you have to leave it in the jar. Paper? It sucks the water…


I reuse bottles I find as mini plant warmers, and protection against lizards.



The styrofoam eating larvae aren't meal worms exactly. I am not sure how edible they are without eating styrofoam. From what Jennifer was saying is they pass the material through them and start to break it down. So there is still some plastic materials left in their waste, but it is a lesser material than it was before.

So could you or your chickens eat these larvae after they have eaten styrofoam? I personally wouldn't. I would only raise them to maturity and then maybe feed the adults to animals.

"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)

 
Sue Reeves
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Xisca Nicolas wrote:Are mealworms really edible after such a diet?

Now my waste mostly comes from some food packaging I can still not avoid. And I do not keep meat and fish packaging for long! I have also been wondering how I can freeze my own meat without plastic… Glass is not feasible because too much too heavy and meat sticks so you have to leave it in the jar. Paper? It sucks the water…


I reuse bottles I find as mini plant warmers, and protection against lizards.



exactly, even if they eat it. isnt it then microplastics ? Which is in the food chain and is likely a bad thing to have in the food chain ? certainly, we just dont know.  Already we do know that microplastics are incorporated into animals and people now.  Likely this is not a good thing.  SO to me having the plastic eaten and put into the food chain isnt a good solution, the solution is to not make and use teh plastic

out in the garden

 
Sue Reeves
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By the way, locally styrafoam is recyclable, it is used to make new surfboards.  The inner parts of surf boards is styrafoam and they can do this with used syrafoam, so maybe other users of sryrfoam could also re-use, likely they have no incentive to do so and are not making a market to do so.  Surfers do not like trash ending up int eh ocean and like buying surfboards made from recycled

https://iquitplastics.com/blog/2016/8/7/recycled-surfboards

https://greencitizen.com/recycle-styrofoam/

https://www.homeforfoam.com/waste-waves-creates-surfboards-out-recycled-polystyrene-foam

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