Do We Think About How Much Garbage We Produce Each Day?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kelly Ann Kortright on August 9, 2009 at 5:14pm

Hi joanna Im glad you brought this up because it is an ecomonic problem. WE all breathe this air and share this air and the garbeage we pollute it with is hidious!!! However I never really realized until I started working from home with my all natural eco friendly store. Everything is concentrated which means less plastic!!! Their cleaning products are even up to 8x the concentrate and you just pour the concentrate into the bottle and fill with water and save the concentrate it will last 8x longer. I also run a lot and dance so I love the pockets of sports drink mix, you just pour it in your sports bottle on the spot. We try and recycle anything that can be reused.

Permalink Reply by Joanna on August 10, 2009 at 10:40am

Hi Kelly,
Yeah, it is definitely a good idea to be able to reuse the bottles and containers we have. So I wonder whether doing this is going to be more expensive than buying the regular stuff? Is there a way to have around the same cost but do it in a eco friendly way?
Joanna

Permalink Reply by Joanna Trusdle on August 10, 2009 at 11:58am

Here's a quandry for me. I am faithful about taking canvas bags when I shop, but I also use those plastic store bags for cleaning out the kitty litter throughout the week. They are really handy for that, and I haven't come up with anything better for that purpose. So, what happens is, occasionally I use the store bags when shopping. Anybody have a different method for the kitty litter?

Joanna, I think that, even if it might cost a little more up front, ultimately, it will save you in the long run. Like those eco-friendly lightbulbs that cost about $10 a piece. In the end, they save on electricity use and not having to buy replacement bulbs for a long time.

Permalink Reply by Cindy Wong on August 10, 2009 at 11:59am

If you look at the cost of reusing containers/bags over the course of a year, you'll likely find yourself saving some money.

For example, Starbucks gives $0.10 discount per cup if you bring your own mug. I have been using insulated mugs I received as swag at either some recruiting event or conference, so the mug itself is free. I drink at Starbucks about 2-3 times a week, that's at least $10 saved a year for doing nothing really extraordinary.

Our city has also started a mandatory charge of $0.05 for each plastic shopping bag. Most grocery stores sell a reusable shopping bag for $1. At this rate, the break-even point is 20 uses per bag. I normally buy 4 bags of grocery every week, so I save $6 for the first year and $10 per year afterward. Again, this is doing nothing really extraordinary.

Saving $16 out of my own pocket over the course of a year may seem nothing, but there are indirect savings: it saves the city money to deal with less garbage (thus lower property tax); it saves the environment because plastic bags--even biodegradable ones--takes forever to decompose; it also saves wildlife because so many fishes and birds are entangled by plastic bags and die every year.

Permalink Reply by Joanna on August 11, 2009 at 12:14pm

Hi Cindy,

Great ideas! It is like the every little thing that we do for the environment makes a significant difference if many of us have the same mentality. We should be more careful of how our everyday life is impacting the environment.

I am also a regular Starbucks wife and, as you suggested, I will bring my mug instead of buying a new cup everyday.
Also, I wonder whether any of you have ideas around how to deal with food compost?
Also, I often see that the recycle bin in our apartment complex is full of the "wrong" type of garbages mixed in. I wonder if this will just render the entire bin not recycleable?

Joanna

Permalink Reply by Joanna Trusdle on August 14, 2009 at 9:55am

I'm impressed that your city was able to mandate that charge for plastic bags. They tried it around here, and it went over like a lead balloon. People were up in arms at the audacity of anyone mandating a charge for grocery bags.

Cindy Wong said:

If you look at the cost of reusing containers/bags over the course of a year, you'll likely find yourself saving some money.

For example, Starbucks gives $0.10 discount per cup if you bring your own mug. I have been using insulated mugs I received as swag at either some recruiting event or conference, so the mug itself is free. I drink at Starbucks about 2-3 times a week, that's at least $10 saved a year for doing nothing really extraordinary.

Our city has also started a mandatory charge of $0.05 for each plastic shopping bag. Most grocery stores sell a reusable shopping bag for $1. At this rate, the break-even point is 20 uses per bag. I normally buy 4 bags of grocery every week, so I save $6 for the first year and $10 per year afterward. Again, this is doing nothing really extraordinary.

Saving $16 out of my own pocket over the course of a year may seem nothing, but there are indirect savings: it saves the city money to deal with less garbage (thus lower property tax); it saves the environment because plastic bags--even biodegradable ones--takes forever to decompose; it also saves wildlife because so many fishes and birds are entangled by plastic bags and die every year.

Permalink Reply by Joanna on August 14, 2009 at 11:40pm

Yeah, Toronto is definitely a cool city when it comes to being environmentally friendly. In the US, I wonder whether it is up to the individual states to decide what and how much they do to help the enviroment or is there some kind of regulation?

Jo

Joanna Trusdle said:

I'm impressed that your city was able to mandate that charge for plastic bags. They tried it around here, and it went over like a lead balloon. People were up in arms at the audacity of anyone mandating a charge for grocery bags.

Cindy Wong said:

If you look at the cost of reusing containers/bags over the course of a year, you'll likely find yourself saving some money.

For example, Starbucks gives $0.10 discount per cup if you bring your own mug. I have been using insulated mugs I received as swag at either some recruiting event or conference, so the mug itself is free. I drink at Starbucks about 2-3 times a week, that's at least $10 saved a year for doing nothing really extraordinary.

Our city has also started a mandatory charge of $0.05 for each plastic shopping bag. Most grocery stores sell a reusable shopping bag for $1. At this rate, the break-even point is 20 uses per bag. I normally buy 4 bags of grocery every week, so I save $6 for the first year and $10 per year afterward. Again, this is doing nothing really extraordinary.

Saving $16 out of my own pocket over the course of a year may seem nothing, but there are indirect savings: it saves the city money to deal with less garbage (thus lower property tax); it saves the environment because plastic bags--even biodegradable ones--takes forever to decompose; it also saves wildlife because so many fishes and birds are entangled by plastic bags and die every year.

Permalink Reply by Joanna Trusdle on August 15, 2009 at 7:47am

Oh, you live in Canada! I did not know that. That explains how they were able to mandate the charge for plastic bags. No, in the U.S. the people really make their voices heard, sometimes. If there is a great deal of opposition to something, it probably won't get done, and yes, usually each state controls what happens in their state. We call it Federalism, or state's rights. There aren't that many laws that come directly from the federal government, and even then, the states often modify to fit their state's needs.

Permalink Reply by Joanna on August 15, 2009 at 11:06am

I used to live in Toronto but now I live in California..
Yeah, I guess US has so many states that it is hard to mandate something that has to happen all across. But there should be a general awareness of doing something for the environment. Although during these times, every state is battling with the economy, it is probably even harder now to get something like that going...
Joanna

Joanna Trusdle said:

Oh, you live in Canada! I did not know that. That explains how they were able to mandate the charge for plastic bags. No, in the U.S. the people really make their voices heard, sometimes. If there is a great deal of opposition to something, it probably won't get done, and yes, usually each state controls what happens in their state. We call it Federalism, or state's rights. There aren't that many laws that come directly from the federal government, and even then, the states often modify to fit their state's needs.

Permalink Reply by Joanna Trusdle on August 16, 2009 at 6:49am

Okay - I feel silly now.

Have you had any success in the town where you live - in California - as far as plastic bags? Yes, I wish we could have an attitude shift about caring for the community, as a whole, instead of worrying about stepping on a few people's toes.

Joanna said:

I used to live in Toronto but now I live in California..
Yeah, I guess US has so many states that it is hard to mandate something that has to happen all across. But there should be a general awareness of doing something for the environment. Although during these times, every state is battling with the economy, it is probably even harder now to get something like that going...
Joanna

Joanna Trusdle said:

Oh, you live in Canada! I did not know that. That explains how they were able to mandate the charge for plastic bags. No, in the U.S. the people really make their voices heard, sometimes. If there is a great deal of opposition to something, it probably won't get done, and yes, usually each state controls what happens in their state. We call it Federalism, or state's rights. There aren't that many laws that come directly from the federal government, and even then, the states often modify to fit their state's needs.

Permalink Reply by Joanna on August 21, 2009 at 10:37pm

OK, I get Starbucks every morning. This week, I have started to bring my own mug to get coffee. Also, I started reusing bottles or using my cup at work. Over time, I hope to produce less garbage...
Joanna

Permalink Reply by Joanna on September 17, 2009 at 10:59am

Another thing that came to mind regarding how much garbage we produce include product packaging. I realized that there are many products out there with individual packaging to make it look really good. As consumers, I think we should look out for these things and avoid products with heavy packaging. In addition, we should find ways to let companies know that they do less packaging in general or use more environmentally friendly materials...
Any thoughts?
Joanna