Garbage cans

A few weeks ago, we got our new garbage cans from the company our city contracted with. I thought I wouldn't like them and I'm right. First of all, they are HUGE! 95 gallons! And we've got three of them, one for trash, one for green waste, and one for recycling. All good right? Except a few years ago, our garbage fees increased to build a new processing center to recycle at the dump. Now our garbage fees have increased to pay for this new system, and we're the ones doing the sorting.

I consider us better than average reduce/reuse/recyclers. If you use number of garbage cans as an indicator (the 32 gallon size), we're doing way better than our neighbors. We average less than two garbage cans a week, including yard waste. Much of our yard waste and all of our kitchen scraps are composted. Bottles, newspaper, and cardboard are recycled. Still usable items are donated. Even the dreaded Styrofoam peanuts get reused (FYI, many mailbox/shipping places will take your clean Styrofoam peanuts off your hands).

But now, I have to work even harder at sorting. I have to remember to throw my paper into the paper recycling bag (and not toss something like a food wrapper or plastic wrapper from a magazine on top of it). Cans and non-CRV bottles? Forget it! There is no way I'm going to take the time and energy to rinse them out and take them out to the recycle bin. Easy you say? First of all, I don't have a lot of counter space and I'd rather use that space for food prep or storage. But, let's say I get with the program. Now I have wet cans. I can either dry them (a waste) or let them dry on the counter since I don't want to carry wet cans through the house and out to the yard (plus, nothing wet is supposed to go in the recycle bin). Oh, but I can store the cans in a plastic bag you say? Oh no I can't. Plastic shopping bags go in the trash, not the recycle bin. I don't want to store wet items in a paper bag for obvious reason. See why I'm not with the program yet? But let's say I can get beyond this. Since I don't want empty cans taking up space in the kitchen, I've got to take them out to the recycle bin. Which is on the side of the house since the three huge cans won't fit in the garage. So I either have to go out the front door and through the side gate or out the sliding glass door (which involves opening the shades and unlocking the double locks and reversing the process when I come in). Am I lazy? Maybe.

But on to more venting. Heaven help you if you put toss the wrong item into the wrong bin (like I did this afternoon). I had swept the porch and accidently tossed the bucket into the recycle bin, instead of the trash bin. I did reach in and pull out some leaves and such, but the dirt and everything that fell to the bottom is gonna stay there. With the bin being about four feet high, I had a hard time reaching in. Truth be told, I'm kinda scared of the bins since they're so huge. I keep telling A, you could stuff a body in them and no one would know (I've obviously been watching too much crime TV).

Anyway, yes, recycling is a good thing. I just wish it wasn't since a hassle around the house.