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10 Bright Stars
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| Posted: April 21 2009 at 8:09am | IP Logged
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I was wondering how other large families handle a very mundane subject. Trash. We do a lot of bulk shopping at BJ's or Costco. We end up with a lot of packaging that is large and just a lot of "stuff" in general. I just had to sign up for another trash can for our twice a week pick-up since we always have so much stuff that needs to be thrown away! (Equaling $58 a month!!!!! Just to throw stuff away  ) There must be a better way to unload this stuff.
We do not live near a recycling center and we do not have recycling pick-up. The dump is so far away from me and we rarely go "that way" that it would waste more in gas than it is worth to take it there. I figured other large families must do bulk food shopping and do something with all the cardboard, plastic, etc. that goes along with this lifestyle. We do burn some of the cardboard in the woodstove during the winter, but it isn't winter anymore. Creative suggestions? (I am not talking about crafts or anything creative ladies!  ) There most be a better way to dispose of all this stuff in a way that is not so expensive. If the bulk food stores had recycling dumpsters outside of them, I would probably just unwrap it all, put my food in plastic totes, and leave it there, but they do not as far as I know. What do some of you all do?
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Kim married to Bob (22y)
Mom of 11 blessings:
Bobby 19, David 17, Noah 14,
Mary 12, Gracie 10,
Isabelle and Sophia 8,
Gabrielle 6,
William Anthony 4, Joseph 3 and Luisa Marie - born in M
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LisaR
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| Posted: April 21 2009 at 9:04am | IP Logged
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we have unlimited garbage. 
any given week we have between 1-3 large cans. That being said, I don't shop Sam's Club super often, maybe 6x per year.
it seems that the trash from smaller packaging is no better, though. I do break everything down flat. They charge for recycling here, and I won't pay the price.
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Lisa
dh Tim '92
Joseph 17
Paul 14
Thomas 11
Dominic 8
Maria Gianna 5
Isaac Vincent 9/21/10! and...
many little saints in heaven!
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molly
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| Posted: April 21 2009 at 9:06am | IP Logged
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All of the cardboard boxes break sown into wonderful mulch, or to be used in lasagna gardening.
Are you on your local Freecycle? If you post that you have plastic jugs, cardboard boxes etc, you will be amazed what some people need/want.
Personally, I have been called several times from people wanting me to save plastic bottles and or jugs.
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10 Bright Stars
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| Posted: April 21 2009 at 10:58am | IP Logged
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Molly,
What is lasagna gardening??????? Sounds yummy. I hadn't thought about putting it (cardboard) into the garden. I did see a show on gardening where you can just set the cardboard over an area on the ground, without digging at all or removing the grass, and then just place the potting soil on TOP of the cardboard and square foot garden that way. I liked that idea a lot as I have terrible clay soil that is really hard to dig. The cardboard became a mulch in this situation. That would be a good idea for some of the cardboard, but what to do with all the rest of it??? (and all those large bottles that dishwashing liquid or dishwasher liquid comes in???)
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Kim married to Bob (22y)
Mom of 11 blessings:
Bobby 19, David 17, Noah 14,
Mary 12, Gracie 10,
Isabelle and Sophia 8,
Gabrielle 6,
William Anthony 4, Joseph 3 and Luisa Marie - born in M
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LisaR
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| Posted: April 21 2009 at 11:05am | IP Logged
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Eight Wonders wrote:
| That would be a good idea for some of the cardboard, but what to do with all the rest of it??? (and all those large bottles that dishwashing liquid or dishwasher liquid comes in???) |
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I don't know how important this is to you, but we only get the dishwasher powder from Sam's Club or ALDI. the box is easily broken down, then.
I tried some cardboard in the garden, once. it never broke down all the way, maybe it was not supposed to, or I was not patient enough, but I ended up trashing it after all.
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Lisa
dh Tim '92
Joseph 17
Paul 14
Thomas 11
Dominic 8
Maria Gianna 5
Isaac Vincent 9/21/10! and...
many little saints in heaven!
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 21 2009 at 11:27am | IP Logged
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I don't think I could use anything like that in my garden either.. desert conditions don't lend themselves to layerinig stuff in the garden.. it just never breaks down.
But actual composting might.. even if it doesn't help with the plastic and cardboard, if you could reduce other waste then it might not be too bad.
also you might stack the carboard behind/between the trashcans until trash pick up.. that way you don't have layers of cardboard holding up bags and such.. taking more space than really needed.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 21 2009 at 11:28am | IP Logged
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oh and crush the plastic bottles as well.. they can be crushed pretty flat with some effort.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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molly
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| Posted: April 21 2009 at 11:45am | IP Logged
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Eight Wonders wrote:
| (and all those large bottles that dishwashing liquid or dishwasher liquid comes in???) |
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Make a collect of them, then offer them free on Freecycle!
YOu can google lasagne gardening, it is a quick easy way to garden, now!
Lisa, you are correct, some boxes have wax on them, those make great fire starters, and ripped up (child chore) go directly into the compost bin. So does all (except meat) food waste!
I offer glass jars and metal cans, washed out of course on Freecycle and they are always picked up. All these measures, which may seem labor intense at first, greatly reduce our trash.
Plus, you can feel good, you will be "going green"  and saving that 58.00 bucks a month!!
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LisaR
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| Posted: April 21 2009 at 11:53am | IP Logged
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molly wrote:
I offer glass jars and metal cans, washed out of course on Freecycle and they are always picked up. All these measures, which may seem labor intense at first, greatly reduce our trash.
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ok, i don't want to veer OT here, but have to admit- I use freecycle extensively to "get" stuff, but it totally creeps me out to have strangers see my kids/know where I live, etc.
does this bother you at all?
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Lisa
dh Tim '92
Joseph 17
Paul 14
Thomas 11
Dominic 8
Maria Gianna 5
Isaac Vincent 9/21/10! and...
many little saints in heaven!
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 21 2009 at 11:57am | IP Logged
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another alternative to extra trash every week..
do true bulk shopping. buy enough for 6 months to a year.. that would make a single trip to the dump worth it when you only have to do it once every 6 months.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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molly
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| Posted: April 21 2009 at 1:48pm | IP Logged
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LIsa, I meet people at certain places. Not here!
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folklaur
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| Posted: April 21 2009 at 2:26pm | IP Logged
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JodieLyn wrote:
| oh and crush the plastic bottles as well.. they can be crushed pretty flat with some effort. |
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Oh, this is true. My DH is a huge recycler - and every two weeks he goes in the garage with J & A and they stamp-stamp-stamp those plastics down flat.
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Red Cardigan
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| Posted: April 21 2009 at 2:34pm | IP Logged
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Just a thought--do any of your local stores offer recycling drop-offs?
When we lived in small town NC my DH would bag bulky recyclables; outside our local Super K-Mart there were huge colored bins for cans, paper, plastic, glass etc. Anyone could drive up and deposit recyclables. This saved us a lot of time/money on trash pickup.
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JennGM
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LisaR wrote:
ok, i don't want to veer OT here, but have to admit- I use freecycle extensively to "get" stuff, but it totally creeps me out to have strangers see my kids/know where I live, etc.
does this bother you at all? |
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Lisa, we don't Freecycle because of this very reason. Dh is very worried about this.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: bulk shopping = bulk trash?
