Trying to establish our trash baseline for the Riot was pretty easy. I weiged the garbage as it was being transferred from the small pail under the sink to our boxes outside (handy for taking to the landfill once a month). In one week – and it was a pretty typical week – we produced 3 lbs. of garbage.
That’s 1 lb. of trash a person a week, or 0.15 lb a person a day.
The average American generates about 4.5 lbs of garbage per person, per day. A 90% reduction would mean .45 lbs of garbage so we’re good there.
I’m not writing this to blow my own horn. It’s just a matter of accounting and of showing that while we might sigh over some of the 7 categories for reduction (our weak points are electricity and heating) there are categories where we do well and that give us courage.
Actually, I think our garbage production is nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, it could be less if I also shunned food and things wrapped in un-recyclable plastics. I haven’t been doing nearly enough of that yet.
Composting helps, of course. Imagine dumping all those half-eaten and rotten but still huge and heavy jack-o-lanterns into the garbage bin. There’s a good ten pounds right there!
Thinking about that while cutting up our own two pumpkins for the compost, I thought of an initiative: tomorrow I will deliver into each of my neighbor’s mailboxes a note asking them not to trash their pumpkins, but to deposit them on our driveway so we can compost them. Every evening I’ll collect them and cut them up and put them in the bin. Should be fun (seeing all those Halloween designs), neighborly, and productive as well!
I also contacted the nearest Starbucks and asked if we could have their coffee grounds. No problem! I have no idea how much it will be. The first loot is coming in this evening, so we’ll know soon. It doesn’t even cost us anything to pick it up: DH drives past it on his way to and from the shuttle.
Update: DH came home with 30 lbs of coffee grounds!
My DH can be a funny one. This morning when happening to pass by this here blog (he was so nice to install the new WordPress for me, and that gimicky category cloud to the right), he caught a glimpse of the post on the War on Consumption. And he said:
- What? You passing out economic advice now?
I had to laugh (you would too if you knew my head for numbers). But then I said:
- No! Non-economic advice!
And I meant it.
I was investigating if Freecycle is also active in Europe, thinking I would ask one of my friends there to start a group if it wasn’t. I found Freecycle groups for Antwerp, Brussels, etc., but also found that most hadn’t seen action in over a week. I was shocked and immediately fired off an email to all my friends and family in Belgium, telling them about this wonderful institution.
My dad responded that there already is a way of getting rid of one’s stuff and attaining them as second-hand goods, called the Kringloopwinkel, which means, literally, the Cyclic Shop. From what I understand, there are quite a few of them around. You drop off your stuff at the shop, for free or for some small some, and for some neighborhoods the shop will come and pick up as well, for free. Sometimes they also clean or fix these things up. Then they are sold to the shop’s visitors at a low price. Dad said that that’s probably why Freecycle hasn’t caught on.
Ah, good! But then: wait a minute. It’s not the same. The Kringloopwinkel is a fantastic initiative, but there are some big differences with Freecycle.
(1) For one, Freecycle has no middle man, no shop or organization. It’s just a free and easy Yahoo Group run by a volunteer who scans for spam and once in a while reminds everyone of the rules. No middleman means no costs.
(2) No money exchanges hands. Everything is Free (also free to get rid of).
(3) Takers usually come and pick up the stuff at the givers’ house. No trip to the shop, no trip from the shop. So less gasoline consumption.
Fundementally, the big difference between the Kringloopwinkel and Freecycle is that the first is part of the economy, while Freecycle stands outside it.
What is it that so appeals to me about being “outside” the market? Many things, like it being less costly to one’s wallet and the environment. But it’s primarily this: human contact.
DH and Amie and I have been getting a lot of good, useful things through our local Freecycle and we have started offering too. In most cases there has been an extra: getting to know the people giving it away, chatting with them, in many cases exchanging cards and planning to meet again. There is no money exchange in between, no “professionalism”. We are locals meeting face-to-face and our “thanks!” and “you’re welcome”-s are always 100% heartfelt.
Thanks for Freecycling!
Sit a Spell: Amie and Mama's corner
I just submitted this picture to the Sit a Spell pool at Flickr (started by SouleMama and Blue Yonder). This is where I sit (in the larger of the two chairs) while my daughter draws or writes. I play with her, we chat, or I read my own book, or just look outside at the Fall colors (at the moment), and sometimes I draw her in my journal.
