Trash Day!

It's Thursday, and Thursday is Trash Day at the Stinky Shack. I LOVE trash day for reasons both symbolic and practical. The practical is that I'm not tripping over recycling any more. The symbolics is clearing out the clutter from my life in general, not just what's piled in the kitchen. One of my goals this year is de-cluttering my life. I'm a disorganized person, and smoking makes me even more so. I get creative and try to build things or make little projects, and this always results in scraps of wood, cloth, string, beads, perlite, plant clippings, papers, writing implements, tools, drill bits -the list goes on- on every flat surface. And on Trash Day I clean that stuff up.

Does anyone else love getting rid of rubbish as much as I do?

BTW I'm the recycling queen. My trash this week consists of 2- 36qt bins of bottles and csns, 1 of paper and cardboard, and one of general kitchen rubbish, and that's 2 full weeks' worth!

Tuesday is trash day for us ... we recently moved into a new house, so there was quite a bit of trash stacked up in our garage. We manage to donate all the electronics stuff, which cleared out alot more then I expected. Between recycling and restricting the family's food consumption, we have managed to clear out pretty much everything, plus have a nice full recycling container on the curb each week..

ut oh, I may have forgotten to feed the family last night .. I better go check on them ;)

When we lived in Germany, we had to recycle absolutely everything. Even table scraps, for compost. I never did that though cause it just stank. But by the end of the week you might have left like half of a paper-bag full of stuff you couldn't recycle. Usually less. And it wasn't hard at all once you got used to it. But where I am in Florida, they do none. And even if I tried to do it myself, these redneck yahoos would say, "What's that"? That have absolutely no provisions for recycling dry cell batteries. I still save all my used ones. They're just a hazard. Even when I took a bunch to the landfill they didn't know what to do. Someday they'll say, "Shit, we shoulda done that. Now we're screwed".

Up on the farm we have to cart rubbish half a mile to the main road as the bin men don't come up to the house so we tend to burn as much rubbish as possible and I love bonfires.
Getting rid of rubbish is a chore and in the UK it costs us a fortune, but de cluttering is a good thing we could all do with a little less rubish in our lives.
Cutecalikitty's idea seems a good one though, I can imagine the scenario round the kitchen table at mealtimes,we are going to save the planet, cut down on rubbish so we are not eating tonight LOL think of the saving on grocery bills.

cheers

NCM

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Originally Posted by stinkyattic

It's Thursday, and Thursday is Trash Day at the Stinky Shack. I LOVE trash day for reasons both symbolic and practical. The practical is that I'm not tripping over recycling any more. The symbolics is clearing out the clutter from my life in general, not just what's piled in the kitchen. One of my goals this year is de-cluttering my life. I'm a disorganized person, and smoking makes me even more so. I get creative and try to build things or make little projects, and this always results in scraps of wood, cloth, string, beads, perlite, plant clippings, papers, writing implements, tools, drill bits -the list goes on- on every flat surface. And on Trash Day I clean that stuff up.

Does anyone else love getting rid of rubbish as much as I do?

BTW I'm the recycling queen. My trash this week consists of 2- 36qt bins of bottles and csns, 1 of paper and cardboard, and one of general kitchen rubbish, and that's 2 full weeks' worth!

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That's understandable, stinky. I just walked out four bags(trash)to the treelawn. I wish I could apply these measures to my reality also. Thank's for the inspirational seed, lol.

Crap, now you got me on a damn soapbox. Really, it's probably this damned coffee.
Right after high school I went to the New York State College of Environmental Studies at Syracuse University. Man that's a mouthful for such a small place. They were talking back then that one of the biggest challenges to the environment in the future would be depletion of the wetlands. Largely because so many unique species live in them. They are building a huge-ass airport right in a swamp. Almost 30 years after they were talking how that was bad. Huh?
I don't know how many people actually read that article in yesterday's USA Today about mercury levels. But it points exactly to how our former oilman pro-big business/money/power president has taken us. Mercury levels in the environment actually increased from 2000-2005. We've known for a long time that shit is bad. Why do we shit where we eat? Cause profits get hurt. Profits don't mean much to dead people. We just gotta quit raping mother earth. We're just killing ourselves.

qdavid, is there any room on that soap box so I can hop up there too?
My degree is through my state school's college of environmental sciences as well. I don't want to get into specifics, or what my major was, but I've done work in fish tissue and sediment sampling for mercury and other heavy metals, and coordinated an acid rain monitoring program for a while. Shit where we eat is right. Next time you are in a city on a nice summer day, go drive around until you find a bridge or park or any sort of water access, and see how many immigrants are standing there fishing. They're there getting protein for their families, and those fish are LOADED with mercury, which is linked to autism and other developmental issues, and PCBs, which are linked to endocrine disruption. What are you going to do, say 'you can't eat those because of the risk of something you can't conceptualize', when the reality is, that's dinner? Wetlands for a long time were seen as useless, places to dump rubbish- you ever hear the quote, 'the solution to pollution is dilution'? It's bullshit. Shit slides down hill is more like; EVERYTHING ends up in wetlands eventually.
Okay you can have your soap box back. I'm actually affiliated with the SUNY system as a researcher now... cool!

I hear you. More power to you. I gave up the environmental thing when I saw it was just an uphill losing battle and went into meteorology and then teaching. I'm really disheartened by current trends and have become pretty cynical about the whole damn shooting match. But I've nothing but respect for those who hang in. SUNY is a real good system and probably the best thing Nelsen Rockfeller ever did.
I just don't think people really understand the extent to how bad pollution really is. It could well be the one of the main causes of the huge increase in autism we see in kids. That and vaccines, and all those crappy food additives put in just so the rich get richer by making cheap crap.

We recycle pop cans and scrap. We get back like 30 bucks a month for it.

I enjoy having a clean house. Im a clean freak. Unfortunately John doesn't keep it that way for long.

Want to declutter? Living in chaos? Go to FlyLady.net: Your personal online coach to help you gain control of your house and home.

All my recyclable plastics go in a giant bin in the basement. When it's full, I take it to the dropbox. I compost my veggie, fruit, and hemp trimmings and soil. Yard waste that can't go in the compost heap goes in a bin and the city takes it once a week. And some random guy comes and collects all my aluminum. I also belong to The Freecycle Network.
I recently got rid of a washer, dryer, water heater, rabbit hutch, freezer, and dog crate that the former homeowners left here. Dude took it all and scrapped it. I save my glass jars for making jam and jelly, and curing weed. Junk mail is used as kindling for my backyard firepit. It's all good.

Freecycle is COOL.
I hope Geo stops by- he's a PROFESSIONAL de-clutter-er! HEY! GEO!!!! Where ya at bro?

Geo is in the middle of some damn drama.

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Originally Posted by Mrs. Greenjeans

Geo is in the middle of some damn drama.

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Well of COURSE he is, it's a day that ends in 'y'.
Geo, if you will de-clutter my house, I will go around and knock heads together for you and make your dramas disappear. It's my OTHER superhero skill (the main one is procrastinating). You might have to wait until I get around to it though! :D

I kind of the same type of day you do, on a Monday. I wake up, clear up my personal space (bedroom) and maybe the kitchen if I'm feeling fruity/kind.
The only thing that pushes me to do it is the great feeling after its done, and you can sit in tidy surroundings and just get stoned.

Well. I still got internet...thats a good thing..bad thing is I am going to unplug this computer after I make this post..arggggg..

Stinky, I would clean and organize your entire house for free...just smoke me out..lol..I could have it done it 2-3 days...I think for a lot of people they just get overwhelmed and have no idea where to start...I could go into some kind of tutorial but I really do need to go...I got another old lady Mccrackin who's house I need to completly organize.
Fuck, just got a call, my sister went to the hospital last night and ended up having emergency surgery and they removed more of her intestines..I guess there was a blockage..fuckin chrons..

Ok..back to what I was saying...I dont even know...Life is great! Live it to fullest...everyday, every minute, every second...Peace everyone..:hippy:

Thanks for the offer Mrs. G..that is way cool:cool:

trash day is tuesday for me...aint nothing like hauling trash to the curb at 5.30am stone cold sober, getting ready for work....try to recycle everything....if possible:pimp:

Where I live, they have a great recycling system. A few years ago, Alameda county, CA voted to divert 75% of all solid waste from the landfill, so we have some great programs in place.

You get one small trash bin for anything that can't be recycled.

You get one huge bin for anything that can be recycled: glass, cans, any kind of plastic bottles and plastic food tubs, aluminum foil, any scrap aluminum, any kind of paper or cardboard, and dry cell batteries (put those in a ziploc bag, not loose in the bin). And it all goes in that one bin together, so you don't have to separate it --- they do that later in a huge facility.

You also get a green "orgaincs" bin that most people use for yard waste like grass clippings or leaves, but you can also put any kind of food waste in it, even old prepared meals or meat and cheese (things you would never put in your own compost), and you can also put in any kind of food-soiled paper like old pizza boxes or take-out containers (paper too soiled to go into regular paper recycling). All of that gets composted at an industrial-scale composting facility.

They provide special bags and jugs for oil filters and used motor oil, and will just pick that up at the curb for you on your regular trash day. There is a drive-thru place where you can drop off houshold hazardous waste --- they don't even want you to get out of the car, just pop the trunk and these guys in moon suits take it out of your car. Sometimes they will give you a free bag of compost when you drop off, if you want one.

If you make a call, they will schedule a special free pickup for old appliances, tires, furniture, carpets, mattresses, and electronic equipment --- and supposedly they recycle all that stuff if possible.

They also have programs to promote home composting. You can buy a Smith and Hawken Biostack composter for somthing like 30 bucks (usually over 100 at the store). Or you can get a Wriggly Wranch worm composter bin for under 30 (usually over 100). I've had the biostack for years, and just won a Wriggly Wranch. Just got my worms this week and started feeding them kitchen scraps.

It's a great system!

On garbage day, the regular small trash bin is usually less than half full, the big recycling bin is about 3/4 full, and the big green bin usually only has a few food items, soiled papers, or weeds (I compost the other stuff myself).

If anyone is interested, here's the main website for the great waste reduction program we have here: Alameda County Waste Management Authority

I have a registered Bay Friendly Garden: StopWaste.Org - Bay-Friendly

I want worms. I threw a cup of nightcrawlers in my compost heap this summer. I wonder if they stayed?

Having something organized and in a certain place can give you a great eurphoric feeling...a lot of times people keep items that they just do not need..one is magazines, newspapers, national enquirers..if you havent read it in 5 years..what is it doing there? why do you need it? either sell it for the penny it is worth or donate it to the local landfill. Another is clothing...if you dont fit it, get rid of it..
When starting to organize remember that all items fall into 3 catagories.
1) Garbage
2) things you wanna keep
3)things you will want to sell that are of value

Start in one corner of the room and seperate everything into these piles..with the things you want to keep put in correct place in room..remove or rearrange furniture as needed..thats it, just go in a circle..just going from one disaster to the next..you have to touch every single item in the room to do this correctly..have fun:jointsmile:

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Originally Posted by Mrs. Greenjeans

I want worms. I threw a cup of nightcrawlers in my compost heap this summer. I wonder if they stayed?

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Composting worms are the little red worms. The nightcrawlers and the brown or gray earthworms do not work for worm bin composting --- they may be good for the garden, but not for dedicated worm bin composting. Red worms can live in an environment that is nearly 100% organic matter, like compost or even manure, while the other kinds need to live in soil. Earthworms and nightcrawlers do eat organic matter, but they live in soil. Sometimes you can find red worms living in old compost piles, or in old manure piles. If you want to start a dedicated worm composting bin, they say it is usually best to actually buy the worms from a worm farm, otherwise you might bring in other undesireable organisms with "wild" worms. If you just want worms in your regular compost pile, wild worms are fine, and they will probably find their way there on their own. I bought my worms from a local worm farm.

I like getting rid of stuff almost as much as I like getting stuff. It's great when you can purge something out of your space that you don't use or want, especially if you can find someone else who wants it. I hate having useless crap and clutter pile up. If you haven't used someting in a year, you don't need it.

Our trash pickup is on Monday, so Sunday night is "Garbage Night," which is celebrated in song:

Garbage Night!
La-la! La-la! La-la!-la! La! La-la!
Garbage Night!
La-la! La-la! La-la!-la! La! La-la!
Garbage Night! Garbage Night!
La! La-la! La-la-la! La! La-la!

It's much better when you actually hear it...much better...

I wish their was like a dead body trash day, or eliminate political rubish day, it would Clean the clutter and stop smellin like bullshit so much.

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Originally Posted by MadSativa

I wish their was like a dead body trash day, or eliminate political rubish day, it would Clean the clutter and stop smellin like bullshit so much.

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Dead bodies go in the compost pile, and political rubbish goes to the toxic waste drop-off iste...

The only thing better than getting rid of stuff you don't need is getting stuff you want for free. I got a big load of free mulch today.

I smoked a bowl and went out for a very stoned walk this morning. On the way home I passed by a house that was getting some trees pruned, and they were running the limbs through a huge chipper. This thing was awesome! It would just take hold of the end of a branch and pull it through the machine and blow it out the other side as mulch. I asked the guy if I could have some, and he said it would be fine. So I loaded up the truck with some buckets, bins and wheel barrows and went and got as much as I could take. Some of it was still not shredded enough, so I sent most of it through my own chipper. Then I spread the chips along a new fence in my back yard where there is a lot of disturbed earth just waitng for new weeds to sprout. I put about 4-6 inches on top of the bare dirt to prevent weeds. It will keep weeds from sprouting there next spring and will eventually break down to improve the soil. If I had ordered that much mulch delivered, it would have cost $50 for the mulch and $25 for delivery, but instead I got it for free and kept it from going to waste in the landfill. And I saved the landscaper money too, because he doesn't have to pay the dump fee for the stuff I took.

Some people, including my wife, think I am a crazy freakin' wierdo for asking random strangers for their shredded tree mulch, or the dead leaves off their lawn for my compost, or for going into Starbucks and asking for used coffee grounds for my garden, but I have already collected enough free compost and fertilizer this year that it would have cost me several hundred bucks to buy it all. I kept it out of the landfill and saved myself enough money to keep me in weed for a year. I'm a genius, not a freak. Right? Not a freak?