I don't have a lot of trash and I have a compost bin. I use old plastic or layered-paper bags from things like chicken feed or potting soil or pet food, things that come in 30-50 lb. increments. There's always something that comes in a smallish trash-bin sized bag. It works for us because, while we don't buy a lot of cat kibble or potting soil, we also have so little waste that our need matches the supply. We don't line the trash can that goes out to the street because it's often just the pet kibble bag inside. We staple the bag shut so it doesn't spill out into the street.
Like Laurie, we re-use the plastic bags that come into our house because there wasn’t another purchasing option for garbage. When I don’t have a large plastic bag to re-use, I use a paper grocery bag. I clip another smaller plastic bag — like an emptied food item bag from the grocery store that I save at the bottom of the trash can — to the paper for the few wet things I don’t want to put in the compost, usually things with seeds so I avoid volunteers later in the garden.
The point is to start somewhere. Avoiding all plastic is hard. Reusing what comes into the house for garbage is one easy step.
We live in bear country and lots of wildlife in general. How to dispose of compost type waste is a challenge. We cannot compost in our open land around us because it attracts wild animals. Keeping compost in garage causes bears to break garage doors. How would you manage this? Currently we only separate recycling.
We don’t eat much meat, but when we do we put our scraps on what we call the “coyote rock” at the back of our property. Takes about a day or two and everything has been kicked clean! I’ve been trying to come up with a solution for kitty litter waste, but haven’t found a good solution. Any ideas?
You can use pelleted horse bedding (you can get a 40lb bag at Tractor Supply for $7) and it is the best cat litter in the world. The cats pee on it and it turns to saw dust. Compost it as you would humanure. When it’s finished, use it to fertilize non-food plants.
Thank you! I wouldn’t have thought I could compost in the winter, but that makes sense. Thank you for helping the rest of us continue into these better living practises. I would never do this by myself.
Hi Cindy. My sister lived in Northern Ontario for a long time and composted all year. In winter, the scraps she tossed onto her open bin froze but they thawed in the spring and broke down. (She later had chickens that ate most of the scraps.) If you have a yard, you could try that. If you don't have a yard, you could try vermicomposting indoors with worms. It doesn't smell at all. I saw someone on Instagram who made his bin into an ottoman! You would have never known from looking at it that it was actually a worm bin. (Most people keep their worm bins under the sink or in a closet though.) I hope those ideas help.
We have green bins, so I was able to reduce my trash can size to a round metal IKEA can, some 12 cm in diameter, maybe 20 high? I still buy packaged food, so I save the packaging to line it. Our city has fee trash bags, and I have a 40 L IKEA plastic outdoor container where I put the 35 L fee bag and take the little trash bags out to that till it’s full.
I don't have a lot of trash and I have a compost bin. I use old plastic or layered-paper bags from things like chicken feed or potting soil or pet food, things that come in 30-50 lb. increments. There's always something that comes in a smallish trash-bin sized bag. It works for us because, while we don't buy a lot of cat kibble or potting soil, we also have so little waste that our need matches the supply. We don't line the trash can that goes out to the street because it's often just the pet kibble bag inside. We staple the bag shut so it doesn't spill out into the street.
hi! my Roomate does not use a diva cup like me and therefor we have wet bathroom trash -- how do you recommend handling it?
Like Laurie, we re-use the plastic bags that come into our house because there wasn’t another purchasing option for garbage. When I don’t have a large plastic bag to re-use, I use a paper grocery bag. I clip another smaller plastic bag — like an emptied food item bag from the grocery store that I save at the bottom of the trash can — to the paper for the few wet things I don’t want to put in the compost, usually things with seeds so I avoid volunteers later in the garden.
The point is to start somewhere. Avoiding all plastic is hard. Reusing what comes into the house for garbage is one easy step.
We live in bear country and lots of wildlife in general. How to dispose of compost type waste is a challenge. We cannot compost in our open land around us because it attracts wild animals. Keeping compost in garage causes bears to break garage doors. How would you manage this? Currently we only separate recycling.
We don’t eat much meat, but when we do we put our scraps on what we call the “coyote rock” at the back of our property. Takes about a day or two and everything has been kicked clean! I’ve been trying to come up with a solution for kitty litter waste, but haven’t found a good solution. Any ideas?
You can use pelleted horse bedding (you can get a 40lb bag at Tractor Supply for $7) and it is the best cat litter in the world. The cats pee on it and it turns to saw dust. Compost it as you would humanure. When it’s finished, use it to fertilize non-food plants.
Thanks Shay! I’ll give this a try.
Thank you! I wouldn’t have thought I could compost in the winter, but that makes sense. Thank you for helping the rest of us continue into these better living practises. I would never do this by myself.
How would I compost in Northern Canada during the winter months?
Hi Cindy. My sister lived in Northern Ontario for a long time and composted all year. In winter, the scraps she tossed onto her open bin froze but they thawed in the spring and broke down. (She later had chickens that ate most of the scraps.) If you have a yard, you could try that. If you don't have a yard, you could try vermicomposting indoors with worms. It doesn't smell at all. I saw someone on Instagram who made his bin into an ottoman! You would have never known from looking at it that it was actually a worm bin. (Most people keep their worm bins under the sink or in a closet though.) I hope those ideas help.
The newspaper bin liner is such a good idea! Thank you for the tutorial. I’m going to try this. :)
Also, this made me laugh: “(Hopefully, this doesn’t sound too much like Who’s On First…)” 😆
Great minds...
Zero Waste Gardening: Building Soil with Kitchen Scraps
https://www.sustainablelivingtucson.com/2023/02/zero-waste-gardening-building-soil-with.html
I stopped buying newspapers decades ago. Any other suggestions for bin liners?
We have green bins, so I was able to reduce my trash can size to a round metal IKEA can, some 12 cm in diameter, maybe 20 high? I still buy packaged food, so I save the packaging to line it. Our city has fee trash bags, and I have a 40 L IKEA plastic outdoor container where I put the 35 L fee bag and take the little trash bags out to that till it’s full.
= Use trash for trash