Sunday, September 18, 2005

Throwing Things Away Day

Well, as Throw Nothing Away Day approaches (Oct. 1), I watched myself today, consuming and tossing. Here's what went in the can:

  • Lint and floor crap, including feathers from the duster, little pieces from the holes of plastic garbage bags, tiny balls of paper from peeled stickers, courtesy N (2y), etc. This stuff gets tossed when I do my weekly (I use that term loosely) house cleaning. There's no way I'd recycle it, by the way. I do shake my feather dusters outside, though, so the birds and rodents have a stab at using the lint for their nests. I guess I could collect the lint and give it to the woods behind the house.
  • Three dryer sheets. I use unscented ones, but I know that doesn't make them any better for the environment. I don't use them in every dryer load (and never in the kids' clothes), though, only the ones that have polyester clothing that could be static-y.
  • Cardboard graham cracker box. You know, I think we have paperboard recycling around here. I'm going to look into that. We do use lots of carboard boxed food (cereal, crackers, cookies, etc.).
  • Hair. I am six months postpartum, and I am still shedding like a sick dog. And I have long hair, which makes it a particular mess. (Speaking of which, I need to clean out the vacuum beater bar before I finish the floors today.) With all my hair loss this year I could've knit a fine sweater for someone. A small someone, mind you. Maybe I can give my hair to the birds! [I know what you're thinking: how much landfill space do LINT and HAIR take up, woman? Are you nuts? Answer: partly nuts, yes. But also partly just thinking out loud about ways things in our environment go around and come around.]
  • Dirty diapers. Hmmm, this one's a stinker. Had to say that. I have plenty of cloth diapers and covers and liners, but with two kiddos pre-potty-trained, I am in no mood to go back to that way of life, which was barely manageable with only one bottom to clothe. Did you know that disposable diaper manufacturers actually tell you to flush the poo before you dispose of the diaper? Reason being, we are not supposed to put human byproducts in the landfills. Does anyone out there follow this guideline? I confess that I do not, but maybe I'll try it for TNAD on Oct. 1. Couldn't hurt, right?
  • I didn't throw this away, but I almost bought it until I thought about it some more: Sorrento Shapesters cheese snacks. I have three $2 off coupons for the stupid things, and I got all excited about that because N loves cheese. But I studied the package and saw that all the little cheese shapes inside are individually wrapped in plastic. Now, I love me a good coupon, but that was the saddest waste I've ever seen. So, I returned to our usual Sargento cheese shapes, which are on sale for $2 a bag, only slightly more expensive than the similarly named product minus discount noted above. And no extra packaging. If a kid needs to take some to school, then put them in a reusable rubbermaid container for goodness sakes!

It's only 5:00pm, so there'll be casting away galore as I prepare everyone's dinners and tidy up after. Right now, I'm going to the coffee shop for an hour, and I will have my decaf in a mug as I always do, but I also tend to grab a couple of paper napkins while I'm there. Why can't people just grab one napkin when they're at a cafe or restaurant? I'll endeavor to try that today. D has been in charge of the kid care today (except for the few diapers I've changed and the constant nursing of AC I've seemed to do), and I have seen him pitch a few American cheese wrappers (we could buy it sliced fresh from the deli, but it would cost more) and paper towels.

That's the report for this Sunday, September 18. Good day, and good garbage.

2 comments:

Christa M. Miller said...

I didn't know that about the sposie manufacturers. Aren't we supposed to do that as part of potty training? I guess now would be a good time to start since the boy has been showing interest in PT'ing. :)

However, I bet the sposie manufacturers are somehow in league with the formula manufacturers. Don't they know breastmilk-based poop is not exactly conducive to throwing in the toilet??

Mary Louisa said...

Christa - I'm going to have to do that potty training trick with flushing the poo. He'll pee on the potty pretty often, but hasn't pooped on it in a few months. Maybe the old toss-and-flush will get him excited.

Lynsloo - LOL You may be right. I think she will have my nose. Poor thing. It's shaped rather like a pecan (or a football, as my loving spouse once remarked).