By Anne Käärid
A few days back I had posted on my Facebook page that I was putting out my first bag of garbage for the year (early May). I was surprised by the response and the amount of people who were amazed, shocked, and simply curious of how such a thing could happen. I didn't realize that that this would cause such a stir, and even a request to write an article on how this remarkable feat came to be! Well, here I sit, still a little bewildered, but happy to share my garbage story with those of you that are interested.
As a single mom raising two boys for many years on my own, I have always looked at ways to cut costs, recycle and upcycle, and to eat nutritiously and on a budget. I feel that the lack of waste that we create as a family is the result of this intention and choice in lifestyle. I believe my shock in people's reaction to my garbage claim is, that for me, it is basic and simple and just the way we live. We eat whole foods, I make our own health and cleaning products, I compost and I recycle. As an empty nester, I wanted to get down to three bags of garbage a year from my one bag every six weeks when the boys lived at home. My facebook status stated that I was on track to this goal. From that post Anne Finlay-Stewart suggested that I share my ways with her readership, so here is a quick Rubbish 101 Tutorial to what it is that I do.
Eat Whole Foods: Buying local is very important to me and our regional growers and producers have amazing foods. Visit the Farmers' Market, join a CSA, go to a few 'pick-your-own' patches. We eat mostly a plant based diet at home. I soak our beans and legumes, grow what I can, and freeze and can as many fresh items, salsas, sauces and jams as budget allows. When I buy meat (mostly for my dog food and pet treat business Sophii's Choice), I buy local of course – and these meats come in wrapping, not styrofoam. For foods that you need to purchase at the store, I bring my own reusable bags. I stay clear of processed foods for a myriad of reasons – but I do not end up with package refuse that I can't deal with and would end up in the garbage.
Make your own products: I am an avid fan of homesteading, and dream of doing more in my coming years. As a natural health practitioner, and daughter of northern European parents, I have been blessed with a world open to herbal medicines, folk remedies, and concoctions for many needs around house and garden! I make our own soap, shampoos, salves, cleaning products, remedies, grow kombucha and kefir, and so on. This, I feel, is healthier and obviously lacks the abundance of by-products that we would not want to expose our bodies to – but also, these endeavours do not bring unwanted waste into the house through packaging. It is FAR cheaper to make your own, you know exactly what is in the products you use, and for me, it is heartfully satisfying to know that my loved ones are using natural products!
Composting: This is such a great way bring your garbage volume down! As a family that eats a plant based diet, we have a lot of compost! I do separate some of my compost to reuse in other ways, such as egg shells (to dry and grind for calcium supplement for the dog food). I also juice a couple of times a day, which produces a lot of pulp. Depending on the juice, some of this pulp is reintroduced into stews, or dog food, with the rest going to compost. I clean the juicer out by putting a cup of water through to clean the remaining pulp out. I use this water to water my houseplants and my herbs in the summer. What a great nutritious drink for them! Any bones or skin that I have, I put in a bag in the freezer to keep until I am putting a bag of garbage out. This way it doesn't stink, attract pests, or grow maggots or worse. We also deviate a little from the 'common' composting by undertaking alternative methods such as dog waste composting. There is much to learn, and many things that can be composted. Just do some research for what works best for your household.
Recycling: I think we are pretty on the ball as a community with recycling. Perhaps we just need to be more diligent in separating some items that are multi recyclable (such as paper from plastic/glass packages), and take the 30 seconds to do it and put it in the blue boxes instead of the garbage. My sons often had bandmates at the house, bringing in fast food. They were quickly schooled on not putting the used bag with packaging into my garbage, but to separate the styrofoam burger box, paper chip box, napkins – well you get the idea. I can only imagine what amount of garbage would be collected if this simple exercise wasn't done. Some items such as styrofoam and metal aren't picked up at our curbside recycling, but we can take it to the transfer station and dispose of it there. I do that, maybe once a year. If you live in Owen Sound it is free. Other items can be upcycled, with an abundance of ideas available online for projects. All well worth taking the time, in my humble opinion!
So that is about it people. It is not rocket science. It is just a conscious decision to not produce a lot of waste. If this is not your lifestyle, this may seem like it would take too much time or perhaps even overwhelming. Start small, and choose one thing to do to help reduce your garbage. Even if it is a little thing, it will take more time to fill the garbage bag, and will save you some money. Personally, I am not offended by garbage bag tag prices, as it only costs me three or four tags a year and I feel better as a citizen of earth about putting less into our landfill sites. But truth be told, it has just become such a habit that I don't even think about it too much anymore. I feel that if we start getting back to basics, and choose to undertake a lifestyle that is simpler, more grounded and intentional, that simple things like less garbage would be a natural result of the lifestyle we lead. As stewards of the earth, we were "put in the garden to work it and keep it" (Gen 2:15). Keeping it clean is a big part of the responsibility, and one that we are all able to do every day, in a big or small way.
Anne Kaarid, with Sophii, the small dog entrepreneur; Sophii's Choice The Field to Bowl Barkery
