The 3 R's, We are pretty darn good

Looking through an old book to see if I want to get rid of it. From Good Housekeeping magazine September 1989. In 1989 a typical suburban American household of 3 generated about 40 lbs of garbage weekly. Broken down as:

Polystyrene foam meat trays, cups, egg cartons, and packaging, 3%

Aluminum, 1%

Disposable diapers, 3%

Wood, textiles such as household repair debris, and old clothing, 5%

Metals such as food cans and nails, 5%

Plastic such as soda bottles and bags, 5%

Glass, 8%

Misc. mixed items and conglomerates, 10% (I assume this means packaging)

Food, 11%

Paper such as newspaper, boxes, mail, and magazines, 21%

Yard wastes and grass clippings, 23%

Wow, how wastefull these 800 households in Phoenix AZ were 20 years ago!

In comparison, we are pretty good-

We do not eat meat in the house, so no foam trays, egg cartons get recycled or given to small egg producer.

We rarely use aluminum foil at all, except when camping.

Diapers, not an issue here.

Scrap wood and textiles, all freecycled, reused, or donated.

Metals-all recycled except for a very little amount that cannot be recycled.

Plastic bottles and bags, all reused or recycled.

Glass-all recycled.

Packaging, is our biggest challenge and the bulk of our garbage.

Food, all wastes composted.

Paper, all recycled or in the case of magazines, some freecycled or given away.

Yard wastes and grass clippings, all composted or left in place to be reabsorbed.