The folks at Frogdesign have launched a challenge:
“For the next two weeks, I will be living without a garbage can. Where will my trash go? I am going to start needing to think about that before I buy something because, according to the rules I have set up for myself, I’m going to have to live with it. My own garbage must be within five feet of me at all times”
Read the entire challenge here. The idea is to see how much trash you actually create by not being able to throw it “away”. Every two weeks a new person blogs about their experience keeping their trash:
“At the end of my two weeks, another frog will continue the project, experiencing his/her own two-week stint of trash-free living. The transference of this blog will highlight the differences in environmental consciousness across cities, environments, governments, and economies. And, ideally, it’ll mean a few hundred less pounds of garbage in our landfills – a small step, but a measurable one. “
Ryanne and I try to be smart about the garbage we generate. Whatever your political persuasion might be, it just makes sense to be more self-sufficient. So food waste goes into a worm bin or compost pile. Paper and cardboard goes into recycling. But what about all the plastic wrapping and bags that come with all manufactured goods? There’s nothing reasonable we can do but throw it “away”. A two week experiment where you must keep your trash near you at all times is a good way to demonstrate this problem.
We have a little compose bucket in the house that then goes out to a larger tumbler. We didn’t have a garden last year but put the compost up on Freecycle and some happy folks came along and took it off our hands.
Also in our city, Grand Rapids MI, you have to buy garbage bags from the store instead of paying a flat monthly bill. It’s a great incentive to produce less. It’s just cool when you don’t have to take the garbage out every week.