The cute guy and I have been talking about the garbage. The first time I brought up the conversation though, he left the room.
Garbage is his domain; all of which I'm appreciative of however cliche' our roles can be. I simply brought up that, perhaps, maybe, with a little sugar, we could not put the trash in plastic bags. Ah jeez, you would have thought I'd asked him to put it in his socks before it went to landfill.
My idea was to get a small container to empty into the outside trash can. It wouldn't have to be big; we generate about a plastic grocery bag of landfill a week and we collect the plastic bags from co-workers. We put our recycling in reusable canvas bags. Not using a plastic bag for garbage didn't seem like a big deal.
Two days later the cute guy called me at work to say I was right. We shouldn't use plastic. He'd finally realized I wasn't asking him to wrap the trash in newspaper or his socks. But he explained he didn't want to toss the garbage loose into the outside can. "It has to be in something."
"Why?" I asked.
"Otherwise it will be a mess for Lance." (Our legendary garbage man.)
I fell in love with the cute guy all over again. But I didn't give up on getting rid of the plastic.
Yesterday the answer came to me in a bag of tortilla chips he walked to the store to buy on a crave. The empty bag fit perfectly in the cupboard garbage rack. And tonight I realized the bread bags I've saved would also be a good fit. We don't need to buy a new container or collect other people's garbage; just look inside our own.
And we all lived happily ever after.
9 comments:
hehe. aussies are going to have to deal with this issue very soon when our plastic bag ban goes into full swing. most people use the plastic bags from the store for their garbage, not store bought bags for bins. Im afraid we just do the dump in the bin, not my favoured option, but 'my cute guy' does the gabage and thats what he chooses. we have atomatic trucks with arms that do the job so no lance to worry about!
Great idea! I've been struggling with garbage bags myself! And like your cute guy, I did not want loose garbage in the outside bin... Thanks for this post. I just stumbled upon your blog today while going through fake plastic fish site. Both great blogs to read. Love your photos!!
Love that idea. No reason not to use the plastic we have accumulated for keeping the mess down. I also use the plastic dry cleaning bags. I hate those and we only get them once every couple of months but I tie a knot in them at the bottom and they make a great garbage bag liner. Still not perfect but good enough for now.
What a good solution. I have a canvas bag full of interesting plastic bags for garbage. There are postage bags, cat biscuit bags, bread bags and I also realised yesterday the small bags I buy quinoa, pasta and oats in could also be used. Even when you don't use plastic, there's still a lot of plastic round - if you get my drift.
I also like Green Beans suggestion - of dry cleaner bags. It's once in a blue moon we do dry cleaning, but I was just looking at one of those huge bags yesterday, trying to think what to do with it.
Love this one!
This year we started dumping our garbage directly into the can--no plastic liner.
I must admit, it took awhile to break through the idea that we needed to have a liner-- but the truth is, we don't. Saves money and the planet--beautiful!
It was my job when I was a kid, way before plastic bags, to wrap our household garbage in news paper. That went into the outside can, also lined with news paper. I guess that's why I love to wrap gifts for family and friends. In news paper.
kel - Is the entire Aussie country banning plastic bags!? Even a regular town is exciting news. I've talked to so many people who say we get the bags because we use them for our garbage or recycling. But as your comment proves, that's changing!
kumi - Thanks for the nice comment and you have some quite nice photos at your place too. Your cats are beauties.
green bean - I have the dry cleaner bag guilt too. I now actually take the plastic off the clothes while still there and nicely give it to the lady to reuse. I've known them for years and they happily oblige me even though they don't see me nearly as much as they used to.
kathryn - I love that - a canvas bag full of 'interesting' plastic bags for garbage. If only our packaging could be a lot more intersting and less plastic. I get your drift about the plastic too. It's drifting it's way to our oceans.
tamara - The cute guy might change his mind about liners if I tell him you don't use one. You have more green clout than I do.
sailing guy - You lined the outside can with newspaper? That was your Mom's doing I'm sure. xoxo
yup- were having a major national struggle about plastic bags..can you believe it? if we cant get our @#!* together about a simple plastic bag... crikey! and heres a thought- most clothing companies use dry cleaning only labels as a disclaimer for fabric shrinkage ( a just in case scenario) even if the chance of shrinkage is tiny. Use a damp sponge or just throw it in a gentle cold wash and iron it- the world did manage before dry cleaners!
I tend to agree with the cute guy that the garbage should be contained in something besides the can, because otherwise it gets all strewn around the neighborhood when dumped into the truck, whether by hand or automated. One little gust of wind, and the street is filled with blowing garbage. It is a major source of litter and a huge pet peeve of mine. It sounds like you guys may have found a good solution though. Congratulations!
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