Comments on: Garbology

By: Sustainability Jrnl

Sustainability Jrnl — Tue, 29 May 2012 15:33:06 +0000

Also see “Talking Trash in America. Book Review” from SSPP Blog
http://ssppjournal.blogspot.com/2012/05/talking-trash-in-america-book-review.html

By: CyberGusa

CyberGusa — Sat, 19 May 2012 18:31:38 +0000

Actually, so long as you're using Real biodegradable plastic and not just the kind that breaks down quickly then it should just be sent to a commercial composting
facility, where it will spend its final days being eaten by microbes.

Conventional landfills are the main problem, along with the type of materials being dumped, but there are a growing number of solutions.

Like some places even use composting facility to generate electricity and helps pay for itself. Along with better dealing with green house gas emissions like methane from the decomposing materials.

By: Brad Linder

Brad Linder — Sat, 19 May 2012 14:32:20 +0000

Those are among the items that get dumped into landfills and stick around for centuries, locked between layers of other trash.

Recycling is an imperfect solution too, because many items you throw in the bin actually don't get recycled for one reason or another, or can only be recycled a few times.

Re-using products is better (which is why I don't feel guilty about listing so many refurbished items in liliputing deal posts), but it's actually not that hard to simply reduce trash by using your own bags and giving preference to items with little or no packaging.

I'd have a hard time going zero waste, but *less* waste doesn't seem that daunting. I just wish I had started sooner.

By: CyberGusa

CyberGusa — Sat, 19 May 2012 04:09:07 +0000

Many stores use bio-degradeable bags now, maybe check with yours to see if they are using those?

Alternatively, there are also plastic bag recycling centers and you can see if any of the drop off locations are near you?

By: Brad Linder

Brad Linder — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:46:08 +0000

The parchment paper would kind of defeat the purpose of generating less waste. I tried the microwave once just using a normal plate, but as you'd expect the chips got stuck to the plate and were pretty difficult to pry off.

Plus our microwave is pretty small so we can do far more chips at once in the oven.

By: Fazal Majid

Fazal Majid — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:43:55 +0000

You can do chips in the microwave in a fraction of the time. Spray parchment paper with oil, slice the potatoes and pat them dry, lay them on the sheet and it shoul take between 30 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on your microwave and how brown you like them.