LIVING WITH ONLY ONE GARBAGE CAN OF WASTE PER YEAR
Did you know Jeanne Roy and her husband have managed to cut their waste production to one garbage can - per year? If you are interested in reading more about her programs and the Center for Earth Leadership, check out her site Center for Earth Leadership. But here are a few tips I learned from her on Wednesday:
1) Americans make up less than 5% of the world’s population yet consume 25-30% of the resources;
2) 1992-2006 recycling more than doubled but landfill usage (waste generated and deposited in the metro region) has gone up;
3) You have options for garbage collection: you can use either a 32 gallon can, 22 gallon can, have monthly service, or even on-call service;
4) In Oregon, the amount of energy saved by recycling is equivalent in energy used by 470,000 cars. So essentially, by recycling, it’s like we’re keeping 470,000 cars off the road;
5) And if you recycle you are cutting your garbage production by about 40%;
6) If you compost, you boost that number to 75%;
7) By carrying your own fabric or net bag with you to the grocery store, you will save about 500 bags per year;
8) Most cities offer composting classes through community classes – here, in Portland, you can find a class through Metro: (503) 234-3000.
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YOU ARE HERE EDUCATOR’S GUIDE
7 months ago
5 comments:
Wow! One can of trash a year? Hubby and I are blessed to have a recycling center that takes just about EVERYthing; glass, paper, newspaper, plastic, tin, aluminum, styro, etc. Just last week was a hazardous waste drop-off day. We bury veggie matter in our garden or throw it out for the deer. We burn some paper, but not much. But we still produce about one bag of garbage every 10 to 14 days. And here I thought we were doing good! :)
I know . . . I felt soooo wasteful 'cause I'm not nearly as good as you, Bish.
I'm quite proud of the fact that we manage one bag of trash a week. Now I'm not quite so proud!
Kim, I had a friend at Hollins who did a research project on worm farms. She raised these worms in large plastic trash bins. The school cafeteria threw their left over food to the worms, reducing the amount of trash thrown into the dumpster. The money that the school saved was astounding! After her presentation, there was a line of people waiting to talk with her about how they could start their own farms. Isn't that cool?
I love your green posts, Kim!
One garbage bag a year is AMAZING! My hubby was impressed that our family of five had 1 1/2 bags for the week yesterday.
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