On 5/2/2016 2:09 PM, Arthur Cresswell wrote:
For the past two years I have not put out a trash can at the
curb while my neighbor's trash cans are filled to the brim.

What gives?

Here's what I throw out:
1. Everything that is "food" gets composted, so, there's no actual
food in the trash (and yes, bones and meat and oils are food
just as much as carrots and spoiled ketchup or mustard is food).

We don't have a compost pile as it leads to "unwanted critters" in
the yard. So, any food waste goes into the trash (in sealed bags).

2. Every "container" containing food is rinsed out, so, the container
itself is clean (for the most part), and the container goes into
the "blue" recycling bin (which is 60 gallons I believe).

Only certain containers are recyclable, here. If the container has
a lid, it does NOT get rinsed -- the recycling facility can more
efficiently rinse (and recycle the water!) than we can (we live
in the desert; how you use water is something you think about
consciously).

3. Every box or piece of paper or wrapper or envelope or anything
whatsoever with printing on it goes into the recycle bin.

Ditto -- unless there is potential for "information leakage"
(credit card offers, financial statements, etc.). These get
shredded (confetti-cut) and the bags of confetti get placed
in with the recycles.

We also recycle a fair bit of cardboard.

Strangely, *aluminum* is not harvested -- but "tin" is! :

4. I almost never have electronic waste (once or twice a year?) so
let's forget about TVs and refrigerators and batteries and
broken cellphones, etc. since they're so rarely put in trash.

I recycle a *lot* of electronic gear. But, do so via appropriate
venues (electronics are considered a form of hazardous waste, here).

5. About the only place there is anything even remotely resembling
"trash" is the bathroom. But even there, all biologically soiled
tissues go down the toilet, so, the trash contains bits of
cotton balls or q tips or nose-blowing tissue paper, all of which
goes into the blue recycling bucket (it's not pretty, but it's
recyclable).

Bathroom waste we treat as food waste. It wants to be disposed, not
recycled.

6. Everything that pays the CRV of five and ten cents goes into
a special bucket for dropping off to get my CRV back, so, there
are very few bottles other than clean food bottles and jars in
the recycling.

We have no "deposit" containers, here (other than things like propane
cylinders, etc). Some places will allow you to bring in aluminum cans
to be compacted and weighed in an automated collection machine -- which
then pays cash based on the recycled weight.

We don't buy anything in aluminum cans. Glass containers (that aren't
suitable for reuse) get recycled.

7. I almost never have clothing trash, although they're recyclable
anyway, so, the once a year I throw out a pair of jeans would go
into the recycling bins anyway.

I go through jeans at a much faster rate. But, they go in the trash.
Our recycling service won't accept them.

Nor will they accept plastic bags encountered at many stores. If
our reusable bags prove insufficient (or, scrap boxes), we are
forced to use them.

For some items, I seek out these bags (e.g., my holiday flour/sugar
purchases benefit from the plastic bags as I can use them to wrap
the flour/sugar sacks for placement in the freezer until needed)

8. Of course, all yard waste would go into the green landscaping
bins, so, let's not even discuss leaves and branches here.

We don't have a facility to collect yard waste -- other than the
twice annual "bulk pickup" (at which time, they will collect
damn near any sort of green material and dispose of it in the
city's green waste program). It's not legal to drop off your
"bulk/brush" items at some random neighborhood that is having
THEIR twice annual collection this week. So, the only other
alternative is to drive it to the city's facility (which usually
requires more than a "pickup").

We, for example, discard probably 30 pounds of pine needles every
few months from our neighbor's trees.

9. No babies for quite some time, so, there are no soiled diapers
to worry about (and anyway, we always used the cloth ones
so there's nothing to recycle except the wash water which goes
down the drain).

10. Motor oil is a separate thing, which happens two or three times
a year, as do tires and mechanical parts, all of which are
recycled in their own way already (e.g., tires go to Costco
while motor oil goes in jugs set alongside the trash bins).

So, given that my brown trash bin is never used, what on earth do
people *put* in their trash bin, that can't be recycled otherwise?

What is the relative *cost* of recycling items?

I've been involved with a local facility that recycles dropped off
items (i.e., no "collection" service).

Anything plastic just goes into the trash (e.g., that cheap printer
that you purchased).

Books are reclaimed for their paper content.

"Tin" is worth a penny a pound (i.e., the crappy case on that little
tower PC that you purchased).

Copper and aluminum get cherry picked for special handling (more value,
there). As do circuit boards (precious metal recovery).

There are "second-hand" stores in town that will take clothing and
other assorted goods and try to "flip" them for a quick buck
(caveat emptor) -- but, you'll have to haul the items to these
places.

Building materials either get carted off to the dump (at personal
risk to the tires on your vehicle) or tossed in the trash.

That said, we typically "throw out" less than 10G of material in a
week. Yet, keep our oversized (more costly) waste container for the
times when it is repeatedly filled (e.g., last month, I filled it
twice with wildflowers pulled from the front yard).

I maintain a "pile" in the garage where I "stage" items that will be
recycled. And, we've another pile in the house of items that will be
donated to local thrift stores (e.g., Humane Society) -- *if* we
think they have remaining life/utility.

(many people treat these sorts of places as glorified trash cans)