Garbage 101 Ways to Reuse Paper Waste Around Your Home

In our first Garbage 101 article, we discussed it was best to keep paper and other biodegradable materials out of landfills as much as possible.  We are lucky enough to have a recycling service that picks up our recyclables every two weeks, but we really try to reuse as much of our paper waste as possible before we even consider recycling it.

It all starts with our recycling bins where all of our paper waste is sorted.  We added labels to the bins for the girls.  We even had a LANDFILL sign on our trash at one point.  It was a good reminder to us all. 

The trick to sustainability is viewing your trash as a resource instead of garbage, and we have found lots of re-uses for paper around our home.

Cardboard makes great landscape fabric.  It keeps the weeds out, just lay the mulch right over it.

We have had a problem with rabbits eating our new bushes and trees.  So we reuse our paper towel and toilet paper rolls and wrap them around the base.  It has worked like a charm!  The SSL Family Dad has a post and video on this topic.

After we have weeded out the boxes for landscape fabric & storage, and the paper towel rolls for the trees, we then shred everything else.  But first we separate the glossy paper out.  The non-glossy paper and non-glossy boxes are shredded separately and used for the outdoor compost pile and worm bin. 

The glossy paper and boxes are then shredded and soaked in water for up to a week so that it all breaks down.  The SSL Family Dad then takes that soggy paper mess and turns it into paper logs with this paper log maker that he burns in our outdoor wood burning stove.  We use this stove to heat our pool in the summer and heat our garage in the winter. 

Here is the contraption my wonderful husband put together for the shredding and soaking of glossy paper.  He mounted our old paper shredder on top of a 55-gallon barrel that he cut in half.   Yes, were weird.  And yes, some things around our house are weird.  But because marriage is all about balance, I would like to think that I balance things out and keep things from getting TOO weird around here.  (Lets just not ask the SSL Family Dad about that, okay?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This post has been shared at:  Homestead Barn Hop, Homestead Blog Hop, The Backyard Farming Connection Hop

 

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Garbage 101 Paper or Plastic It All Depends on What Youre Going To Do With It

We all want to be environmentally friendly and do the right thing for our planet, dont we?  But how do we know which choices will leave the smallest footprint, and which items to throw away and which items to recycle?  Finding the right answers are hard and when you do, they may surprise you.

The SSL Family Dad and I love to watch Ted Talks.  If you havent heard of Ted, click here.  Ted talks are available on all different topics but we seem to migrate to those dealing with sustainability and farming.   One talk we watched earlier this year really changed the game for us, and I just love it when that happens.  I love it when information just hits you over the head and changes the way you look at life forever. 

This talk is so powerful, I think you should watch it right now and then finish reading this article because I will never do this topic the justice it deserves by trying to explain it to you myself.  For those of you who are worried about burning up your data for the month like I would be, click HERE for the transcript of this talk.

And for those of you who didnt have time to watch or read it, Ill recap for you but only if you promise to watch or read it later.  Its seriously THAT good.

The speaker, Leyla Acaroglu, states that "everything at some point comes from nature, and its how you use the material that dictates the environmental impact....what we need to do is we need to learn to do more with less."

Biodegradable materials, such as paper bags, do not decompose in a landfill the same way they would in nature.  Landfills are anaerobic (meaning no oxygen) and biodegradable materials emit methane gas when they degrade. Some facilities actually capture the methane gas and use it to generate power, which is a good thing, and gives us an alternative to fossil fuels.   Bottom line is, if youre going to pick the paper bag but take it home and throw it in your garbage destined for a landfill that does not generate power with its methane gas, then youre not picking the best choice for the environment.  Landfills should be our last resort for items we cannot reuse or recycle. 

Reduce, reuse and recycle.  Sounds so "elementary", doesnt it? 

So the best answer to the great paper or plastic debate is actually neither.  The best option is to use reusable bags instead.  But if you really need to pick one, pick paper.  And reuse that paper bag, and then compost it.

Writing this article has forced me to look at everything were doing now with our waste as a result of this talk we watched, and I have to laugh because it seems that a majority of what we do here at Simple Suburban Living is centered around our trash.  That surprised me, a lot.  But it also reminded me that we are being good stewards of our planet by being good stewards of our garbage.  Here comes Luke 16:10 again, "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much."  Its so true, isnt it?

Weve made some serious changes around our little homestead this year with regards to what we do with our trash.  So this week, well be sharing how our family reduces the amount of our waste that ends up in a landfill.

Were calling it Garbage 101.  (And dont forget to watch that video!)

This post has been shared at:  Homestead Barn Hop, The Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Homestead Blog Hop

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