Nothing Wasted: Trash the trash

To continue along Mrs. Child's introduction:
"Nothing should be thrown away so long as it is possible to make some use of it, however trifling that use may be; and whatever be the size of the family, every member should be employed in either earning or saving money."

Here there are actually two thoughts, of which I may only treat one today. The first is that you ought not to trash useful things. She uses the phrase "however trifling that use may be." We have slipped into an encompassing society of waste. We don't want to be bothered by the trifling things, we want to be alerted to the convenient way. Thus in the mindset of ease, we have veritably trashed the useful. Something that could easily be used, if not saved for a time in which we could use it, is thrown away.

Most households these days have two trash bins, one for the unrecyblables and the other for recyclable material. That may be just the mere beginnings of the sorting. Think of it this way - if someone else can recycle your trash and make it in to something useful, why shouldn't you get in on the bit? It used to be (and still actually exsists in rural areas wether you want to believe it or not) that there was no trash disposal! No collection day to put anything smelly or unwanted to the curbside and forget about it until after the roaring monster of devouring trash rolled by. People actually had to find a way, and most often a very environmentally friendly way, of taking care of their own trash. Sure, they had pigs for slop and large fields for compost, a burn barrel in the big backyard and a junk heap behind the barn. Yet, they items that actually went to such sundry places were few because their own economy prevented excessive waste.

You and I do not live in the restful rural lifestyle in which people recycle out of necessity. We chose to live in the bustling neighborhoods of planned communities and city garbage pick-up. But don't our minds work as creatively and practically as our country neighbors? Isn't there a way in which we could also have so little to trash that we wouldn't have to pay the extra fees for another large garbage bin (for really, the rake you over the coals nowadays to take away what, trash). May I illustrate.

This last spring as we were starting to plan for our garden, we decided to use as much economy as possible and start all plants from seed. We thus started our own plants indoors using the cheapest planter trays we could find. Only after we planted our first crop did I look at the planter trays and remember something I had done in kindergarten. Do you remember the times that you teacher skillfully cut apart the old egg cartons she had asked you to bring from home, then she gave each of you a bit of dirt and a seed. Then Walla! you had a mini-nursery in your windowsill right there in you kindergarten class! Having the vivid picture of a prideful 5 year old in my mind, I looked again at my grown person windowsill. Now that was no fun. I had spent $3 for someone else to fabricate what I already had at hand. I had to pay the dumb $1.50 for the eggs, which we can assume is at least 50% priced for the packaging. Why then had I not used what was useful and in my own trash can/recycle bin. It was a that very moment that I was thinking how I would like to start some more seeds that I remembered a simple principle, oddly enough, that had already been taught to me yet, like so many useful thoughts or things, I had thrown it out of my convenient head.

Just a bit further down the road, when those indoor seedlets had grown a bit, it was time to transplant them outside. I was a bit wary of letting the pretty little things out of my protective egg carton care in the destructive wild. They still needed a bit of tenderness to surround them. Luckily this time I thought of a genius (and altogether unoriginal) way to keep the protected; milk cartons! haven't you seen them in the old-timer gardens around small towns? It looks so cute to see the mini-greenhouses lined up in the dirt. So I lopped off the bottom of my hearty half gallons and filling full gallons and careful put them into their resting beds. Ha Ha recycle bin! We fooled you again! I found a much better use for them than just some 50% recyled materials water bottle. Not say they wouldn't get there soon enough, but they first would live out a long and dirty life through the nasty spring sheltering my starts. Once they had done a duty there, I did put them in the recycle bin, although now I wonder if I could have used them for more?...

So there is a bit on the recyclables. Anything in the recycle bin has a at least 9 lives to give you before it actually hits the curbside for its own reincarnation. The list is endless, and if you can't think of something, just remember your elementary days. Elementary teachers are on a tight budget, thus they have been handing down the art projects made of trash for years! If you don't have kids, find people near you who do and borrow them for an art project one afternoon. Really folks, you can even weave strips of plastic milk cartons or the like into new baskets. In Brazil, I saw a fence, and a very sturdy fence, made of 2 liter pop cans filled with water laying one on top of the other the noses held in place with chicken wire. It was a sturdy wall, kept the neighbors out, looked better than cinder blocks, and they had their water storage at their disposal if there were a drought! I knocked at the door just to meet the people who had come up with the idea and pick their brains a bit more.

Now to attack the big black bin. The rest of the trash that is filling up vast spaces of our great land. I recently heard that some states actually have to ship their waste to other states to hold it. I haven't verified that at all, it was just an interesting thought to me. If you have every heard the old camp fire sing with the round chorus "Don't throw your junk in my backyard, my backyard's full" you'll understand my side-punted jab at that one.

Anything you put in your regular trash can be thought of in country terms: compost, burn, heap.

First, Compost. Yes, even in the city, you should compost. Heck, where ever you are you should compost. Why? Because you should have a garden as well. When you have a garden, you need to replenish the nutrients. How you compost it is your buisness, based on your space. There is the classic chickenwire and 2x4 approach, or there are turnable barrels you can get. I'm no expert on them, I just know you should have a place in which to put bio-degradable items. What are those? Basically anything you would have thrown out the car window on a long car ride across the unihabitable stretched from one destination and when your mom gave you the stink-eye in the rear-view mirror as she heard the sucking of the air past your window with a high pitched rush as you thrust your hand out, you replied in full confidence "it's biodegradable mom!" Let's not get technical people, just practical.

Second, Burn. Now I know that there are city ordinances in most communities against open flames. That really is a shame, for a good bonfire is the best entertainment for teenagers on a dull weekend. But, we are instructed to keep on the good side of the law, so let's re-think the burn issue. What are the things you can burn? Anything that is non-toxic and non-recyclable. You have already sorted out the compost items, so mostly what you are going to be left with are household items that have been broken, worn out, or spilled on. Such things that are wooden or fabric, maybe the occasional metal or glass. All fabric should go to a rag bin. No kidding, I did use the absolute ALL. There are countless things you can do with scraps. Think of pioneers. Quilts, rugs, drapes, children toys, etc, etc, ecetera! If you think it is icky, throw it through the wash and hang it out to dry. A kid won't care if the stuffing for their doll has a stain on it as long as it smells 'spring fresh.' Wooden items have a thousand lives in a little boys' world. How many inventions have come to life with a little scrap of wood? Science projects in grade school are masses of the burnable trash type. Just use it and save New Mexico the hassle of shipping in your burnable trash, it is hot enough down there as it is.

The last type of black can trash, heap. This stuff is generally toxic or otherwise would be a hazard to allow anyone to touch again. Perhaps that is why they have made the big garbage trucks these days equipped with large metal arms that just grab you can from the curb without the friendly guys in coveralls. Trash it. It is obviously less than one-third of your regular garbage at this point anyway.

Before you start believing that your home will soon become that be-gnomed shack of the trash collector, set with faded plastic flowers from old memorial days, seasonal flags that are tattered on the end and a bird bath that tips to one side, remember, the trash in your can you once used anyways. You should be proud to use what you spent your hard earned money on in the first place. If it is still useful and you just don't want it (wants and needs are a whole other subject) than give it to someone else who does want it, you can even make a buck off it at a grage sale, on ebay, or craigslist. It may feel trifling at first to categorize everything you automatically deposited under the sink in days past, but it will not stay that way for long. You will find a purpose in your 'throw-outs.' In the end, your purposeful frugality will be a joy for you will know that nothing was wasted, not to mention you saved the planet. Go Green! ;)