so, i got my new green bin delivered to my house. and we’re only on day #1 of this, and i’m already sweating.
a little while back, i got a notice in my mail. each househole would be allowed a 4-item limit on garbage. 4 items! in a week! i have three kids, for god’s sake! so, i panicked. and i started becoming the recycling nazi. ask anyone. i became a loon. I researched and printed out notices for our fridge. What could be recycled. what couldn’t be recycled.
and the new me, the recycling me, jumped head-first into a new adventure. Sure, i recycled before. newspapers. and flyers. and pop cans. but that was about it. everything else went into the garbage. it was just so much easier. garbage = inside the house. recycling = in the garage. clearly, a lazy person would choose door #1.
I was the recycling nazi for only about a week, though. a friend came over and told me – point blank – it’s 4 items, not 4 bags. 4 items means that you can stuff 4 garbage cans full, with extra on top, and that counts as 4 items. Eureka! i needn’t drive my family nuts anymore (well..it allowed me to drive them nuts with something else!).
well, now i have this green bin. and a 3-item limit. every other week. i’m a little scared. i now i know i am on the verge of becoming both a blue bin AND a green bin nazi. i guess it’s because i can’t do these things half-assed. it’s either all the way or not at all. thank goodness they sent a cd with my bin!
but now i’m starting to stress. we decided to go the fill-the-little container, that will be kept in our kitchen, and then every day transfer the small plastic bag into the large green bin in the garage. tell me, is this how you do it?
i’m so nervous about smells. diapers? what do you do with your diapers? it’s all well and good that these can go in the green bin, but what’s the best way to handle? there’s no way i’m stickin the stinkin’ diapers in the bin in my kitchen. that’s sooo not happening. do you take them straight to the garage and dump them in the green bin?
and what about the garbage in the bathrooms upstairs? do you weed through it (um, ew) or do you just put all that in the garbage, even though some of it can be recycled and composted?
anyone have any good green bin tips? or even recycling tips?
Public Service Announcements:
song of the day: Move on by Jet. Anyone else excited about the return of the OC?? i mean, truth me told, i think the show – sans Marissa – can only go in one direction….downhill. but, i miss me some Ryan in a wifebeater and Seth. ah, Seth.
i’m off, folks, to pick up my bunnies from school and enjoy my day as a stay at home mom. you can read all about it here. and if you want an update on what i’ve done today…i went to the gym to cancel my membership, i went to work to pick up some book, i went to wal-mart to buy some undershirts and paper goods for joshie’s birthday (the movie Cars themed. his choice. not mine). came home. both Isabella and i had lunch. and now she’s watching Dora. and i watched Prison Break. no real relaxing. but it’s been a great day. my god…i actually miss being a stay at home mom!
have a happy halloween everyone!
We have a sort of diaper genie thingie for diapers downstairs – anything poo-ey goes in there. The odd wet diaper goes in a separate bin upstairs and then is added to Green Bin garbage later.
It’s complicated. makes my head hurt.
Wait! WAIT! I just saw your OC thing! When? When does it start? Tell me I didn’t miss!!! Please!? I know I asked before but I forget and I don’t want to miss! It’s the ONLY show I watch. Yeah, sans Marissa will suck, I’m sure. But the whole her and Ryan not being together thing was beginning to piss me off anyway so maybe I’ll get over that with her gone. Problem is I didn’t like any of the other girls he dated so I hope they bring someone new in…just so I don’t harbour resentment.
Sorry for my enthusiasm…did I mention this is the ONLY show I watch?
Urggggh. I just had a comment all typed out and it disappeard.
In PEI, we have been recycling for years. Each household has a black bin for waste – collected every two weeks; a green bin for compost – collected every other week; and, we use blue bags for recyclables (one for paper, one for plastic, glass and cans) – collected once per month. It was really scary at first. But it’s totally second nature now. All of my kids know what goes where. We don’t use the little green kitchen can. I buy compostable garbage bags and use a normal size can…but anything potentially stinky goes right outside to the bin.
I remember being really panicky at first knowing that I could only have one bin full of waste and one bin full of compost every two weeks. But, seriously, my bins are never even half full – it’s amazing. Even if I forget to take the bin out one week, it’s still never full when it’s picked up two weeks later!
Here’s a link to PEI’s waste management site. We’re way advanced – our system has been up and running for years!
http://www.iwmc.pe.ca/
i know, i know…i’m just a big stresser about these things.
also, big loser, it seems, since i’ve done research…
We’ve done the green bin for a few years now and it is great. Other than the small bin in the kitchen that needs to be changed regularly, it is very easy. Once you get in the habit you’ll have no problem!
I can’t believe you’re just starting this now. We’ve been doing it for 2 years! So, I’m a pro. We stick our diapers and kitty litter in the green bin — so that goes out every week. We have piles of recycling that ends up blocking the stairway to our basement by the time recycling week comes around…It sucks, really….Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it and figure it out fast — without any outside help (you researched this!?). 😉
By the way, the every other week thing doesn’t start until next November. You can have all the garbage that three garbage cans can hold every week. For the next 12 months anyway.
wehi ali,we are avid recyclers here.all my doing at first but everyone pitches in now.we used to rent a house and my garage was stacked with yogurt containers just waiting to be recycled.until my sons class went to the dump for a field trip and the nice man told me we don’t recycle yogurt containers yet.so i don’t know anything about greenbins.sorry.we also compost stuff here.its easy once you get into that routine.well good luck figuring it all out.