How to Slash Your Trash and Save the Environment

Waste-Less Lessons

In the fight to save our environment, I'm a decent suburban foot soldier. I -schlep my own bags to the supermarket, opt for ecofriendly products when they're not too pricey and cram my family of four into the smallest, most fuel-efficient car we (and our sports equipment) can fit into. I'm also -pretty good about garbage. At least I thought I was until I heard about families who composted all their food scraps, washed and reused their plastic bags and even went without toilet paper to cut their contribution to our nation's overburdened landfills, sewers and incinerators.

Granted, some steps -- like giving up toilet paper -- seem a tad extreme for most mortals. But all that ecotalk inspired me to challenge my clan. If we put our minds to it, would it really be possible to waste less, recycle better, reuse more and reduce our three-cans-of-garbage-a-week habit? My teenage sons quickly signed on to the project when they realized less trash would mean less lugging for them. My husband, who's not quite complete without a disposable Dunkin' Donuts cup in hand, took a little longer to come around. Eventually, though, we all got on board and began our great garbage diet. It was not easy at first: At times I think my guys were ready to mutiny. But now that we're 12 weeks in I'm shocked by how well things have turned out. And we've learned some important lessons along the way.

1. 1 Most of what's in the garbage isn't garbage. I wasn't at all sure where or how to get started. So I asked for help from expert Katie Edwards, director of the waste-reduction and recycling program for the Philadelphia-based Clean Air Council. Her suggestion? A garbage autopsy to determine exactly what my household has been throwing away. And I was shocked when she offered to come over and do the job with me. As Katie and I donned rubber gloves and sorted through my family's icky mess, it quickly became obvious that the lion's share fell into two categories: compostable organic stuff like pineapple tops, eggshells and coffee grounds and paper scraps that I could have been recycling. Then there were the curious little groupings Katie made: an old key to who-knows-what door and a bedspring, which are both apparently candidates for the town's scrap metal recycling bin, and a sad single sock with a hole in the toe. I was surprised to learn that clothing charities aren't insulted when they get stained, useless garments like this. They earn a pretty penny selling them to textile recyclers. The small tangle of true garbage that remained -- maybe one-sixth of the original bulk -- included used paper napkins, a chicken carcass and some non-recyclable plastics like frozen vegetable bags. And even these, suggested Katie the Garbage Lady, didn't really have to be there. But more on that later.

2. Cutting down on garbage doesn't have to be all or nothing. Eyeing the biggest pile in front of us -- made up mostly of veggie and fruit scraps -- Katie uttered the word I was dreading: "compost." Ugh. I half expected her to write me off when she saw me grimace. But Katie's response was reassuring. "If composting doesn't work for your family, no problem. Do you think you can try to get that paper out of your trash?" she asked. Smart environmentalists, I soon learned, don't disparage those who aren't as hard-core as they are. If they do, people like me will feel so intimidated they won't bother doing anything at all. Any change that works for a family's lifestyle and budget -- reusing Ziploc bags, recycling plastic -- makes a difference.

3. Earth mothers aren't the only ones who compost. I actually did cave on the composting issue, but only because I cook so much that I knew this was where I could really make a dent. Besides, the flowers in my garden would appreciate it. And now that I've been composting for a few months, this decidedly non-Birkenstock-wearing, somewhat-germaphobic mom is here to tell you, it's no big deal! I simply dialed up one of the many online sites that sell composting equipment, and customer service people helped me pin-point exactly what kind of composter bin and paraphernalia would suit my needs. The options range from around $40 for a simple wire bin up to $400 for a weather-tight insulated container. When my goodies arrived, the nice folks at gardeners.com walked me through the setup, advised me where to put my com-poster (most people opt for outside, though some bins are specially designed to be used in garages or on back porches) and talked me through the basics of what would go in it. If you want to save money, check to see if your town sells composters at a discount. Or skip the bin altogether, keep a scrap heap in a corner of your yard and turn it every so often with a rake.

4. Convenience is everything. No kid, no husband -- heck, no mom -- is going to walk halfway across the house to properly dispose of a toilet paper roll or a gum wrapper. So I knew I had to create satellite recycling stations, especially on the second floor. I hit my local discount store and snagged $3 baskets for every room, which I designated for scrap paper. The night before the recycling bin gets dragged to the curb, my younger son now simply rounds up newspapers, catalogs, discarded mail and other stray pieces of paper from around the house and dumps it into a regular, lidded garbage can marked "paper" that I've conveniently placed right outside our back door.