Last August our family declared war on trash, a war with the express goal of eliminating our household throw-away waste . Naturally, a war’s first anniversary is a good time to assess gains and losses and set plans going forward, especially if it coincides, as ours does, with a municipal garbage collection crisis, a sobering reminder of the continued pertinence of fighting trash.
The overflowing dumpster across the street from our house, an eyesore by any standard, paradoxically gives me an eerie sense of pride and relief. It should be a saddening sight , a symptom of many things gone wrong lately in our neck of the woods. Yet somehow, there is a selfish sense of relief in knowing that, even while deeply affected by this problem, we are not part of it. For we have come a long way from the days of mindlessly throwing “away” bags full of mixed daily trash in the dumpster. This ritual has been all but eradicated from our life routine . And how archaic it now seems!
What little waste we send to the landfill is limited to biodegradable pet litter, and just for now, some sanitary and medical disposables, all in all a negligible fraction of our bulky trash output of less than a year ago. In our little war, this is a BIG victory,and one we are resolved to preserve.
But what comes in must go out-eventually at least. So where does our other “waste” go? For one, organic waste-the largest part of our trash output -goes back to nature. With the compost pile finally stable and in full swing, food scraps, paper, cardboard , cotton, dry garden trimmings, and even pet hair and nail clippings are magically turned into fertile soil, with little effort on our part, and no more stench! Just delightful, except for one caveat! What do we do with all the compost yield? Five barrels full to date and still growing. Any takers?
But not all waste is created equal. In this war, Plastic, our public enemy number one, still seems invincible. On the battlefront “Palastica” as I like to imagine it, we have lesser victories, stubborn stalemates and even disheartening setbacks to report.
To be sure, we don’t just throw away plastic trash anymore . Along with a small amount of glass, and tin, it is collected and periodically sent to the recycling center. This alone should earn us brownie points in green land. But to be honest ,recycling was hardly our original strategy for fighting plastic. We still recycle today only because our original war strategy failed.
For the plastic enemy, our plan was to block its entry into our territory altogether, not face it in combat on the exit. And to be fair to ourselves, we bravely fought and won many heroic battles for this especially in our kitchen. With our food preparation and shopping habits so radically transformed, our eating is now largely a plastic free clean act. Well, as clean as it can get- and only if you turn a blind eye to the eco disasters embedded in modern agriculture. But we need to take this one step at a time.
And we have all but exterminated those most decadent of plastic indulgences, the disposable shopping bag, and the plastic water bottle, without succumbing to plastic kitsch crafts, or blogging on “The hundred ways to make use of your plastic bottles creatively” . Isn’t it just amazing how ingenious industry is in making us well meaning citizens do their green wash?
For a while, we also managed a green and clean regime, relying largely on soap, vinegar and baking soda concoctions. But after euphoric successes came sobering setbacks. This natural regime proved more than what our “modern” kitchen plumbings and equipments could handle, eventually deeeeeeeply clogging them up with hardened soap sludge and emitting an unbearable telltale stench. And our hair eventually suffered visible soap fatigue. You can just imagine the humiliation of having to reintroduce “fairy” back on the kitchen sink, or to admit that eggs may be a great natural cleanser but are hardly the practical way to go about washing your hair these days!
It is perhaps exhaustion from the above battles that weakened our stamina and resolve to find, or even attempt to find, persuasive alternatives to the miscellany of plastic insidiously infiltrating every corner of our life. As in other wars, securing a strategic victory may sometimes be much easier than fighting a scattered guerilla warfare. Where are the eco-entrepreneurs when you need them? (Busy with Mega Projects maybe?). You would think that with so much environmental moaning and groaning, the invisible hand of the “market” would already have reliable and affordable green alternatives for most daily plastic objects! Apparently not. As long as conventional businesses are not asked to internalize the environmental cost of post consumer waste, plastic will remain king of household gore, and an obnoxious one at that!
So we conceded reluctantly to make room for a plastic recycling bin in a deliberately inconspicuous corner of the kitchen patio (embarrassment emphasized). We do so knowing that even when recycling extends the service lifespan of non biodegradable materials, those are ultimately destined to the landfill dead end. But make no mistake about it. We are not declaring defeat yet, just a truce, until we regain our breath and resume the fight with more vigor.
For now then, it does not look like the troops are coming back home soon , as we may have been drawn into a protracted war of attrition. But so be it. Mel Gibson may have starred in “The Year of Living Dangerously”, and we aspire for The Years of Living Trashlessly, or…. of attempting to do so!
So stay tuned for more updates from the battlefront, and happy first anniversary from all of us! MudanDough أبناء طين و عجين
