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Re: [greenyes] Bans



Jeffrey Morris <jeff.morris@no.address> wrote:


"That's my hope for eventually getting rid of both landfills and incinerators
as we aim for zerowaste."

We agree with these concepts wholeheartedly!



My wife and I practice zerowaste at home and this is precisely how we do it. We find that by keeping our waste source-separated, we have very few disposal issues in terms of mess, hassle, or pests.



First (and most important) - We are careful in our buying habits (ECR - Excessive Consumer Responsibility) We know that anything we don't bring into the house won't need to be dispositioned when we're done with it. We buy much in bulk, flour, sugar, spices, etc. We only buy food that comes in glass, aluminum or compostable paper or cardboard - period. We buy our produce at the weekly farmers market or the organic food store - no lettuce in plastic bags!



Second - We have a covered, 2 gallon, indoor compost bucket that feeds our outdoor pile that we empty at least daily. To this we add paper towels, small cardboard, food scraps, beer-making tailings, etc. We also add the bathroom wastebasket where tissue we use to blow our noses goes.



Third - We stage our recycling under the sink in a small kitchen can - rinsed bottles, steel cans, and aluminum cans. We won't buy anything in plastic - not drinks, cooking oil, jam, or ketchup - period. Since we rinse everything promptly when we empty them, this bin can get emptied weekly without a problem, no ants or anything else.. We take the material down to our local recycling center on the way to work about once a week.



Finally, we end up with well less than one cubic foot of landfill per week. It consists mostly or interior packing from boxed or frozen goods - little plastic wrappers, bottle tops, foil packages and the like.



We have been following this regimen for the last three years and actually found that our shopping and cooking became much easier, due to the simplicity of the ingredients we buy.



Most people think that being responsible for their own consumption patterns and waste is something that is hard and should therefore be mandated by their local government. We encourage others through demonstration to try some of these techniques and see how simple, and rewarding personal waste management can be.



Here?s a link to a photo-essay we compiled when we started this in April 2002, we have refined our methods as we?ve gone along and it just keeps getting easier!



http://www.troutsfarm.com/ZeroWasteindex.htm


Bob & Camille Armantrout



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