Suburban Permaculture Project

Having finally done a bit of rearranging that has been waiting for a second set of arms (yay, barter!) I am ready to take the next step in my resource management.

I have set up the recycling center again: brown glass, clear glass, aluminum, tin/steel, and plastic #1 and #2, all of which the recycling center takes. I already shred all paper for use with the chickens, and I've set aside a space to keep the green and blue glass, which isn't accepted at our recycling center, but I've found several people who use it for crafting, so when it fills up, I call them. The hazardous waste container is also there, although I fill it so slowly, usually just batteries and fluorescent bulbs, that it is fairly small.

I previously had a recycling bin in the kitchen, along with a trash can and the chicken bowl. Now, however, I have three bins, plus of course the chicken bowl. The previous trash bin, which I bought specifically because it had a solid liner and a step lid (with this future step in mind), is now the "compost". All biodegradable things that I can't feed to the chickens (or that, as in the case of coffee grounds, they reject...along with anything said grounds touch). Those will be going in the midden  (to be done next week with more barter help in the space where the chicken pen USED to be). The recycling bin is still there, with an added sign to remind folks to rinse them first (I'm grateful those who visit my house are so cheerful about my waste management practices, but sticky cans are ew). Added to the kitchen is now a *small* (a bit less than half the size of the first two containers) wicker laundry hamper, sans liner or lid, for all "other" garbage.

Couple of thoughts behind this: first, if all of us handled the biodegradable waste we produce on site, we wouldn't be dealing with so much waste inherent in the disposal system of huge trucks, and we'd get to keep the compost that results, in this case good for ornamentals (I use what the chickens process on edibles- the midden, being open, will probably have cats pooping in it, and not just my cats), but still making happy soil. Second, there is an awareness that seeing my garbage brings. At this point, the only things leaving my property are the items that cannot biodegrade and cannot be recycled or reused. Which means those items are true waste: they came once into the system through chemistry, and they will NEVER go away. I don't want to drop that in a bin, close the lid, and ignore it until I close up a (non-biodegradable) bag and drop it in my trash can so it can be magically taken away on Tuesday morning. I want to be AWARE of exactly how much true waste I'm generating. I want to know what I need to eliminate to close the loop. I want it staring me in the face, and making me deal with it twice as often as before.

That has to have an effect on a person and her habits.