the garbage is gone...

a month's worth of trash was set out for pickup on friday. good riddance!

the whole trash-watch thing didn't take shape entirely as expected, but it was educational for us nonetheless. in all, i think we did very well:

2 trader joe's paper bags, semi-tightly filled with non-recyclables--"true trash"
2 trader joe's paper bags overflowing with recyclable plastics #3-7, which are not accepted by our local curbside pickup company
we filled 1 & 1/2 of our 2 recycling bins--each container holds 65 gallons
a lot of compost. how much? well, we couldn't really keep track, but i'd say enough to have filled our 25-gallon curbside trash can at least halfway
7 toilet paper rolls

what did we learn?

it shocking how much of our trash, recyclable and otherwise, comes from food packaging. one of the benefits of whole-foods septemeber was a sharp reduction in this kind of waste. having fallen off a good bit from baking and from-scratch cooking, the packaging is back--cereal bar wrappers, tortilla chip bags, my trader joe's lemonade boxes--most of which falls into the "true trash" category.

i think we're way below the norm for how much we're sending to the landfill, at least around these parts. i regularly see trash cans overflowing when set out for pickup. we've opted for a liner in our can (a plastic insert which reduces the capacity of our trash can from 35 to 20 gallons). it's rarely--even in this month-long case--ever filled to the brim. i know we're only 2 and a baby though, and i might be comparing myself to households filled with a lot more people.

with christmas drawing nearer by the day, i'm thinking more about all of the garbage that comes with it. i'm trying to come up with a clever (yet inexpensive) way to package some of my gifts. i won't be buying any wrapping paper or ribbons this year, though i've probably got enough stored out in the garage to get me through several holidays with ease. i've heard of wrapping smaller gifts in a tea towel or something similar, but doing so for all gifts might be cost-prohibitive. not to mention most guys wouldn't be thrilled with a tea towel.

there's much to think about, but i happen to be totally exhausted. so that's it for now.