Weekly Green Audit Challenge: Trash!

Daily Green Audit Tip: Trash Control

Daily Green Audit Tip: Trash Control & What Can’t be Recycled

Update: Aerosol Product Recycling

Now, let’s add the audit all up and see where we stand. The key point is that this audit should have made you aware of what you’re throwing out vs. what you’re actually recycling.

If you noticed that there was an excess of paper, cardboard, cans, and plastics in your trash the fix is easy – recycle those suckers. Why? Well, first of all the earth will thank you. You’ll save energy and resources by making sure your recycling-ready trash is being recycled rather than lounging in a landfill.

Another benefit is you’ll save money; if you pay for garbage. Some of you don’t I’m sure, in that case please refer back to why you should recycle for the planet. But if you do pay for garbage you could lower your bill by having one less trash can. I do know families with two or more – so I know this is an issues. If you have that much trash something fishy is going on (besides the smell).

There is no way you’re recycling all you can if you have more than one trash can. Period. Families simply don’t buy, on average, that many non-recyclables. And if by some off chance you are; think about why. Do you really need those non-recyclable items? Really?

If you are buying some items that you know are recyclable, yet, your local recycling center won’t take the items, you can stop buying those products and look for new packaging options OR convince your local recycling center to take said items.

Did you look at your trash this week? If so, what did you learn? Is your family tossing recyclables? What about compost items?

Following are some Tree Hugging Family resources that can help you make the most of a trash audit:

Two Weeks Worth of Reuse

Are You Recycling?

One Small Step: Refillable Liquid Hand Soap

Seven Trees A Year

Get Your Recycling Under Control

How To Recycle Prescription Bottles

One Small Step: Remove Plastic Beverage Lids

Following are some outside resources that can help you make the most of a trash audit:

The Recycling Center: Enter your zip code and locate local recycling centers. I tried and got more than 10 centers.

Recycling facts from the EPA.

One of your best recycling resources is going to be your local trash or recycling company (often the two are associated, if not the same company). Call or visit yours to find out what’s accepted in your community.

Don’t forget – tomorrow is kid day here at Tree Hugging Family.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Yesterday we looked at items you should not find in your trash; items you can recycle. Today let’s look at what cannot be recycled.

Aerosol cans made from combined plastics and metals.

Squeezable plastics – in the past none of the squeezable plastics were recyclable (think mustard bottle). However, I’ve seen news that some are now. It’s still sort of iffy though.

Depending on where you take them, and what area you live in, the following may not be recyclable: Light bulbs, crystal, plastic silverware, foam, window glass, pottery (like old clay pots), carbon papers, plastic bags, and more. You need to check with your local recycling center to get the whole run-down. To find your local centers visit Earth 911 – they have a form you can fill in and it will locate you a center.

Juice boxes – some are not. Some are made from recycled materials and some can be recycled. However, if you’ve got a juice box that’s a mix, such as one made with plastic, foil, and cardboard, it may end up not being recycled. Once you mix materials it becomes tough to sort them out again.

Tomorrow’s tip; what to do instead of throwing items like these in the trash.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Today’s tip is a rundown of what’s recyclable. Almost everything is somewhat recyclable. Of course, some things more than others.

As you audit your trash this week, here are some items you should not see in the garbage can. All of these items have the potential to be recycled. Later this week we’ll look at how.

Paper: This one is obvious. Don’t throw paper in the garbage can. That means – basic white paper, notebooks, sticky notes, index cards, newspaper, junk mail, magazines, food packaging, old homework assignments, books, toilet paper and paper towel rolls, and more. If it’s paper-like at all, there’s a good chance it’s recyclable.

Plastics: There’s limited recycling possibilities here. Plastics, because of their properties, are very hard to recycle. Still, you should not have plastic soda, juice, or milk jugs in the trash. If you’re seeing a lot of plastic in the trash, your best bet is to quit buying items that come in plastic.

Glass: Highly recyclable. Glass is easily melted down and reformed. For every ton of recycled crushed glass we can produce we save around 30 gallons of oil – it takes less energy to recycle glass into new forms than to make new glass out of sand (glass is mostly sand).

Metals:  Tin foil, soup cans, soda cans; really almost anything made of tin, steel, and aluminum can be broken down and re-made into something useful. Make sure you don’t have this in your trash.

Misc garbage:  Batteries, clothing, old paint, solvents, tires, some food, and old cds are some misc things you can recycle.

So far, we’ve eliminated almost all trash items. If you do a real trash audit this week – a complete audit – you should be down to almost no trash. Some of this involves extra steps though. Later this week we’ll look at more solutions.

Now, how is your trash looking?

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

If you aren’t sure what a green audit means you’ll want to read Green Audit 101.

This week’s green audit focus will be on your…. Trash. Woo hoo, trash. Did you know you can run a green audit on your trash? Well, you can. It’s not pretty, but it sure is useful.  Also, this is an audit the kids might enjoy.

How to run a basic trash audit:

A trash audit is pretty simple. This week you’re going to need to take a look at your trash. There are two ways to go about this.

1. Write a big old note to yourself (and the family). The note should say, “STOP! Before you throw that ________ out, jot down what it is.” Of course the second part of this option is to have a notepad (recycled if possible) next to the trash can. Before you throw something away write down what it is.
2. You second option is to skip the above option all together, wait for the end of the week, get a pair of gloves, and sort through the trash.

I don’t know about you, but I like option one better.

The point of this audit is to see what you and your family is tossing each week and to see if any of it can be recycled. Believe me, something, you’re tossing can be recycled. There’s even stuff I can work on this week.  To be really useful, you should do this for all the garbage cans in your home. However, being the understanding blogger that I am, and also being a believer of small steps, let’s just focus on our kitchen garbage can this week.

Look for a new tip, daily, Mon-Fri that relates to this trash audit. Hopefully, we can get more of your trash recycled, and less of it in that outside bin.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

how long will it take to decompose…

Cotton rags
1-5 months

Paper
2-5 months

Rope
3-14 months

Orange peels
6 months

Wool socks
1 to 5 years

Cigarette butts
1 to 12 years

Plastic coated paper milk cartons
5 years

Leather shoes
25 to 40 years

Nylon fabric
30 to 40 years

Tin cans
50 to 100 years

Aluminum cans
80 to 100 years

Plastic 6-pack holder rings
450 years

Glass bottles
1 million years

Plastic bottles
Forever

If you aren’t already recycling (composting counts!) all you can, you need to, or your great grandkids 10 times over are going to find your trash from yesterday. Here’s some help: How to Recycle Practically Anything.

Get the kids involved:
Trash 4 Kids has a great online recycling game for the littles in the house!

Bonus info you’ll love:
To learn more about how scientists date the decomposition process read Will My Plastic Bag Still Be Here in 2507. It’s a great article.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family