No More...Garbage Bags
My dilemma is this: when I run out of plastic garbage bags, where am I going to put my trash?
I have three options right now:
I do want to compost, though. I guess I'm just scared.
Another quandary
In order to recycle in my Chicago ward, you have to put recyclable items into blue plastic bags. But I HAVE to recycle, so I guess that means I won't be able to totally avoid plastic garbage bags no matter what I do.
Fortunately, the city of Chicago is planning to adopt a new Blue Cart Program, but unfortunately, it's been delayed until July 2008. Once the program is in place in my neighborhood, I won't have to use blue plastic bags anymore. I can't wait.
I have three options right now:
- Continue to buy plastic garbage bags
- Buy biodegradable plastic bags, which will take many, many years to decompose in an airtight landfill
- Start vermiculture composting so that I can use paper bags for the garbage that doesn't go in the bin
I do want to compost, though. I guess I'm just scared.
Another quandary
In order to recycle in my Chicago ward, you have to put recyclable items into blue plastic bags. But I HAVE to recycle, so I guess that means I won't be able to totally avoid plastic garbage bags no matter what I do.
Fortunately, the city of Chicago is planning to adopt a new Blue Cart Program, but unfortunately, it's been delayed until July 2008. Once the program is in place in my neighborhood, I won't have to use blue plastic bags anymore. I can't wait.
Comments
I'm not against worms; they're great. But I don't have them myself because I'm afraid to try and keep small creatures alive (which is why I don't have kids!) A composter is so much easier because you can ignore it for months and still get great compost from it.
I do encourage you to compost your food waste in some way. If you can get rid of the wet stuff from your garbage, you won't need plastic garbage bags, either petro- or bio-based.
Is that that just for local pickup?
Most cities have a drop-off center where you sort the items into separate dumpster like containers yourself.
As for the worms, a few of my friends are worm composting and it seems to be going great for the one who went all out and spent the money on a pre-made bin. I'm hoping it will go well for me if I buy a pre-made bin (made of recycled plastic), too. I have to admit that I am a bit worried about keeping those worms alive and happy. We'll see...
We just switched to BioBags. (http://www.biobagsusa.com)
I'm not sure how long they take to biodegrade, but the company claims that they begin to biodegrade upon contact with the microbes in the soil. They are 100% corn.
I'm so glad you joined The Great Plastic Challenge! I'm looking forward to reading more of your blog.
As for Beth's concern about killing small creatures, I have trouble keeping houseplants alive and yet my worms are thriving on a mixture of veggie scraps, newspaper and neglect. In a fit of abition/guilt I sat down over the weekend to harvest compost and make fresh bedding. While sorting out the vermipost, I found at least three different sizes of worms and numerous egg cases, which I take to mean 4 generations at work. So if my black thumb can keep the little guys happy, anyone can!