Monday, May 13, 2013

Lets talk trash and a dog picture

I have been experiencing some frustration latley and well, its frustrating. And stinky. And wasteful.
Its our garbage, and it stinks. P and I have been eating well and relativly cleanly for a few years, but we have tightened up since January. We eat organic meats, fresh produce, nuts, and the occassional snacks of course.

One thing that I have noticed since January is that our garbage is smeller than normal. Its bad, really really bad. I think its the organic meats. I think because they are not treated with any chemicals or hormines, the natural odors are more potent. I have noticed that if I throw out the packaging, within a few hours, it stinks up the house so badly that we have to throw the garbage bag much more often.

For a frugalista like me, this becomes so annoying because I am throwing out a 1/2 used bag. Argh. I buy the flex bags because I really like to pack them full of trash, almost to the point they are going to burst.

We have even gone to the point of buying a new trash can with a lid to keep the smell from perminating through our house. On a side note, has anyone been in the market for a new trash can latley? Those suckers can cost over $100.00 bones.....seriously, to hold my trash? Needless to say, we certainly did not buy one of those space age, gold lined, purchse from Sky Mall cans.

We have also started composting, but our compost pile is very small, and we are throwing out a good amount of our produce roots into the pile, but our compost pile is not yet ready to get so much.
Does anyone else have this problem? What do you do? I really do hate throwing out a 1/2 bag of trash.

And on a random note, I have been wanting to show you something.

I know this picture is hard to see, but a few weeks ago, I pulled up to the house after work and noticed our gate was wide open. I have no idea how long it was open, or how it was opened, but look at those dogs. I was so proud. They know they are not allowed to go in the front yard without us, and our dogs sat right by the gate and waited for us to be home!

8 comments:

Holly KN said...

This may or may not appeal to you, depending on your trash set-up...But in Singapore, it's way too hot (and buggy) for us to leave the trash in the can even overnight.

So we start by bagging anything with a high stink potential in a small bag (we get them a lot out here - but I guess maybe like the bag the newspaper comes in?), then toss it in the trash. We have a small kitchen trash can and line it with a simple plastic bag (like you're given at a store). Every night, we tie that up and take it out to a larger trash receptacle.

At first, this seemed like a silly amount of work - but given the bugs and smell, it's worth it. Bonus is that if the bag isn't too full, you genuinely CAN use those plastic bags to line the can (and they're free!). [We actually use reusable bags for our groceries, so we collect the plastic bags from friends!]

Live Simply- Live Well said...

Holly you are so smart! I never would have thought of that.

I will have to collect from others b/c I use my own bags at the store, and we don't get the paper so I will have to see if I can get some from friends, but great suggestion Holly. Thanks!!!

~Carla~ said...

That's weird about the organic meat... I eat all organic meats and have never noticed that. What I would do then is find an old lidded container and put all leftover bones, scraps, etc.. in it, tuck it in the fridge till you take the garbage out then toss out all at once.

Jeano said...

What?!??!?! I don't think I'll ever have dogs that well-behaved. My dog sees an open fence, she's going for it. I'm jealous.

I'm with Holly on the stinky trash! That's interesting that organic smells more, it's not something I've ever thought of.

nicole said...

We have the same damn problem. My garbage smells SO BAD sometimes. When you have a small apartment, there's really not much you can do except throw it out. I hate this too because bags are so bad for the environment, but it's just totally unbearable. Maybe get a smaller garbage can and thus, smaller bags? Or, maybe there are biodegradable trash bags?

Denise said...

that picture!!

no stink bugs here :) I do like the suggestions though. good luck with that!!

Brooke said...

i typically use reusable shopping bags, but when i get low - i "forget" them and stock up on plastic bags from the store. when i'm cooking at night, i throw my gross stuff in the bag and have jay take it to the outside can. of course you have to line that can with a bag too, or else you'll have to deal with maggots. blech!

lesley: the dream tree said...

aww, look at the cute babies! how well behaved (:

i use the force flex ones too because you can cram so much in and the only meat i ever notice a smell from is chicken, but we don't use organic. shame on us. good point though bc i never would have thought of that.