We have always been good about recycling, but after the teen girl attended a Special Studies Day at the end of 8th grade, we kicked it up a notch. For the changes we made then, click here to read that post. In true 14 year old girl fashion, she started the discussion about the changes she wanted us to make by asking me if I planned on using the straw in the water the waitress brought to our table at dinner that night. The conversation went like this – “mom, if you touch that straw, I will cut you. Do you know how bad they are for the environment?” Sigh. I appreciated her enthusiasm, but like all teenage girl things, it came with drama attached.
Fast forward to late July. I took the trash out to the trash cans and found a note attached saying “last pick up, no more driveways.” We have lived in some version of our home since 1996, and now for some reason the company no longer wants to pick up our trash and recycling. Our neighbor who also owns the rental house next to us, called 15 companies and none will “do driveways.” So it appeared we were on our own for trash and recycling, which actually has made us much better at recycling.I am proud to report that we are down to only one bag of actual trash each week. Everything else is recycled.
I tried using our chickens as our composters, but since there is no giant dog in the back yard, these ladies can roam the entire back yard for treats making our moldy veggies not as tempting. So I decided we would get a compost bin.
Then teenage son (a future engineer) watched me as I tried to assemble the compost bin and gently reminded me that he would be able to put it together much faster than me. Sigh. I explained that I wanted to do it to make sure my brain still worked. He thought that was hilarious.
So I guess, thanks in a way garbage company for getting rid of us. We have one less bill per month and are saving the planet in the process. Win-win!