I just notched down my 20 gallon garbage service from every week to once a month.
The reasoning was both environmental and financial. The change would force us to be super-finicky about how much garbage our family is producing, (always a good thing) plus it saves us five dollars per month. I know the money difference may seem minimal, but I feel a $60 per year savings is nothing to sneeze at.
What I didn’t consider, was how the added stress of “Oh crap, it’s Sunday, I gotta’ do the garbage” would suddenly become a monthly pain instead of weekly.
Ahh . . . .
We got home from our trip to Seattle at 10:15 last night. I saw that the neighbors all had their bins neatly lined up, ready for garbage day. After the schlep of luggage and sleepy kids, the last thing I wanted to deal with was garbage night.
But then I remembered that I didn’t have to put our garbage out!
I was happy, deliriously happy that our 3-1/2 hour drive was not topped off with the tedious chore of garbage gathering.
Garbage happy!
So many changes made in the name of frugality and green living can bring about extra household work.
For example, I love hanging clothes on the clothesline, but am fully aware that it takes longer than throwing everything into the electric dryer. I love my clothesline, and am willing to make this change because I know it’s better for the environment, makes the clothes last longer and saves money. Plus I really enjoy it.
I now get to delete the garbage chore from my mental to-do list 75% of the time.
And those are some numbers I can stand behind.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Check out myzerowaste.com for more information about reducing your family’s garbage/rubbish output.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
that’s such great news! We don’t yet have a scheme in place where we can pay less for having less rubbish collected, but I would like to see it happen. It’s a good incentive and I’m happy dancing with you on this one – a clutter free landfill and a clutter free chores list – what could be better?
I’m deliriously happy about garbage, too (ha!) I just moved to a rural property about 10 miles out of the nearest town, and garbage service here is $78/month! I created my own challenge to see how little garbage I actually must produce, and it is amazing that through concious buying and composting (including shredded paper/mail), I have been taking 1 bag of trash to the dump per month, and each time I do, I feel I’ve just pocketed $78. And, in our part of southern New Mexico, we have no where to recycle plastic or glass, and it must be discarded. What a cryin’ shame.
P.S. You blog is totally inspiring! Thanks
Nice! Like Mrs. Green, we don’t have the option to pay less for less trash. Although if we did, I wouldn’t be paying nearly as much as some of my neighbors. I don’t manage to produce as little trash as Mrs. Green does, but I’m not setting out 5 bags each week either.