Zero Household Waste Challenge

[1littlething]

This is a great idea! We alrady do a few things, such as having reusable shopping bags and recycling. We don't have a compost yet either, though I have been looking into getting one. I'm not sur that we could go to zero, but I would certainly love to try.

[Thursday Bram]

I'm really interested in this challenge but I'm facing a bit of a dilemma when it comes to my kitchen waste: I'm in an apartment and composting just doesn't seem to be an option. Any suggestions?

[khorrell]

Great post. I, sadly, don't see that we would get to zero trash...even with copious recycling and composting, we still somehow generate nearly a bag a day. (There are six of us.) Some of it is packaging that our local government doesn't recycle, some of it is uncompostable food waste, and goodness knows what else is in there.

Another idea for a compost bin, not inexpensive but very durable and reuse-y: We had a lovely hard plastic play yard that my in-laws purchased to put around the Christmas tree when the kiddies were small. Once we got past the ornaments-in-the-mouth stage, it went to the garden as a toy corral, where we put all our outside toys at the end of the day. It got pretty grungy in that job and wasn't really reusable as an indoor playyard. So I took four sections, made a square, and it is our compost bin. It gets tons of air, I can open a side if I need to, and about once a year I pull the bin off the compost, move it to a new location, and transfer the still solid stuff to the new place. The old compost I put in the vegetable garden, and the little bits that remain nourish the ground right there. The other four sections went to a friend as an outdoor play space for her bunnies.

I welcome everyone's ideas as I'm appalled by the amount of trash we produce in our family.

[jkuo13]

Originally Posted by Thursday Bram

I'm really interested in this challenge but I'm facing a bit of a dilemma when it comes to my kitchen waste: I'm in an apartment and composting just doesn't seem to be an option. Any suggestions?

I'm in the same situation. Our complex also doesn't have recycling, so I have to drive our recyclables to the recycling center, which is a bit of a hassle.

As to composting, you could potentially get one of those tumbler style composters if you've got a balcony/patio. Small vermicomposting setups can be made that will fit under a kitchen sink. I don't have direct experience with either, so I'm not entirely sure how well either of those options would work.

[amandajane]

It's great to see so many people interested in this :0)

I'm back at Uni in a weeks time so have been really busy getting ready for that and my zero waste challenge has been put on the backburner for now. I will sort it out, I just need a little more time.

[Megan]

I've really been doing my best to reduce my household waste, and so far, it's been going great. I watch what I buy and either try to buy with the least amount of packaging or at least the most recyclable packaging. I'm still getting funny looks when I put my fruits and veggies into my mesh bags rather than using a plastic bag, but I like that I'm not creating more waste.