Author Topic: Taking out the Trash?  (Read 6039 times)

smalllife

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Taking out the Trash?
« on: May 16, 2013, 05:32:38 AM »
I wanted to see if anyone here had a creative and cheap/free solution to taking out the trash.  I had been doing the paper bags from the grocery store for a while but caved and got plastic bags for a get-together because I knew the liquids would overwhelm the paper.  The environmentalist in me hated it, but Kroger just stopped having handles on their bags in my area so that avenue is gone (complainypants? yes, but still).  I don't have much trash as I don't waste much, but there is still a need for *something*. 

What do you guys do for trash bags?  Do you forgo them all together for a recycling/compost combo?

anotherAlias

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Re: Taking out the Trash?
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2013, 05:55:46 AM »
I just use plastic grocery bags.  I usually use cloth bags when i get groceries, but every now and then I forget to bring them and wind up with a small stash of the plastic ones.  I only use 1 or 2 a week so it's not something I worry too much about.

Nudelkopf

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Re: Taking out the Trash?
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2013, 06:07:27 AM »
I use about 1 plastic grocery bag a week. Which does me pretty fine for things that (1) don't get thrown straight into the big bin (like meat packaging), and things that (2) don't get put into recycling.

So, you could just skip the kitchen/bathroom/study bin and put it straight into the recycling or curbside bins.

nktokyo

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Re: Taking out the Trash?
« Reply #3 on: May 16, 2013, 06:28:59 AM »
After compost and recycling I find I have very little "trash" these days - good thing!

Spork

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Re: Taking out the Trash?
« Reply #4 on: May 16, 2013, 08:48:34 AM »

I live in the boonies.  The trash is picked up "old school" -- they pick each bag out of the bin and put it into the truck.  (Yeah, seems labor intensive and a little icky to me, too.)  That said: trash company requires a reasonably sturdy plastic bag.

hybrid

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Re: Taking out the Trash?
« Reply #5 on: May 16, 2013, 10:54:21 AM »
Here's a thought.  I work downtown in a mid-sized city and I pass a couple of dumpsters every day on the way into the office.  If you are recycling most of your trash then "borrowing" someone elses dumpster (which never gets close to full) is a possible solution.  It may not be 100% ethical, but its akin to taking a bucket of water from someones lake.  No one cares in the long term.

Having said that, I haven't brought myself to do it.  My trash service is $13 a month and I have a lot of yard debris they haul off for me.  I live on 1/2 acre with a lot of old oak trees and bushes and although I mulch leaves and use a woodstove for supplemental heat there is simply a lot more debris than I can handle effectively.

Dynasty

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Re: Taking out the Trash?
« Reply #6 on: May 16, 2013, 11:10:15 AM »
Here's a thought.  I work downtown in a mid-sized city and I pass a couple of dumpsters every day on the way into the office.  If you are recycling most of your trash then "borrowing" someone elses dumpster (which never gets close to full) is a possible solution.  It may not be 100% ethical, but its akin to taking a bucket of water from someones lake.  No one cares in the long term.

I wouldn't worry about the ethics of it. But more the legality of it. A gum wrapper or a plastic water bottle is probably fine. But a big bag of garbage might get you into trouble, if caught.

foobar

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Re: Taking out the Trash?
« Reply #7 on: May 16, 2013, 11:36:33 AM »
I would be worried about the ethics of it.  When you start stealing (and yes it is stealing) to save money you should start reconsidering your life choices. If you really want to do it, walk inside and ask the owner if he minds. If no one cares, you will have no problem getting one to let you do it and then there is no moral issue involved.


Here's a thought.  I work downtown in a mid-sized city and I pass a couple of dumpsters every day on the way into the office.  If you are recycling most of your trash then "borrowing" someone elses dumpster (which never gets close to full) is a possible solution.  It may not be 100% ethical, but its akin to taking a bucket of water from someones lake.  No one cares in the long term.

I wouldn't worry about the ethics of it. But more the legality of it. A gum wrapper or a plastic water bottle is probably fine. But a big bag of garbage might get you into trouble, if caught.

Zaga

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Re: Taking out the Trash?
« Reply #8 on: May 16, 2013, 12:27:01 PM »
My job will occasionally allow you to add trash to the dumpster, but only right before it's going to be emptied anyways.  So in that case it's not stealing but rather making optimal use of the service.

hybrid

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Re: Taking out the Trash?
« Reply #9 on: May 16, 2013, 12:34:27 PM »
I would be worried about the ethics of it.  When you start stealing (and yes it is stealing) to save money you should start reconsidering your life choices. If you really want to do it, walk inside and ask the owner if he minds. If no one cares, you will have no problem getting one to let you do it and then there is no moral issue involved.


Here's a thought.  I work downtown in a mid-sized city and I pass a couple of dumpsters every day on the way into the office.  If you are recycling most of your trash then "borrowing" someone elses dumpster (which never gets close to full) is a possible solution.  It may not be 100% ethical, but its akin to taking a bucket of water from someones lake.  No one cares in the long term.

I wouldn't worry about the ethics of it. But more the legality of it. A gum wrapper or a plastic water bottle is probably fine. But a big bag of garbage might get you into trouble, if caught.

Oh, it's a gray area to be sure and as I've said I've never done it.  Wait, no, I take that back.  Buddy of mine years ago had some major project and at the end of the day he had a whole truckload of garbage to deal with, well more than what his trash service would haul off.  So we used the half empty dumpster where he worked - without permission.  Holy $%^&, were my ethics compromised and I wasn't even aware????   ;-)   

Oh, please.  No harm, no foul.

This is not a slippery slope to hacking banks and stealing from ATMs all over Manhattan.  This is a lot closer to jaywalking than robbery.  But yeah, I'll gladly cede to the authors this is not legal.  Just as jaywalking is not legal.   

So here is perhaps a better idea.  Your neighbor has a trash service, right?  Split the cost with him.  Provided there is nothing in the contract that says you can't.  There, problem challenge solved, conscience clear.

Dynasty

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Re: Taking out the Trash?
« Reply #10 on: May 16, 2013, 12:48:51 PM »
Like I said a gum wrapper or a water bottle or something equally as trivial is not something to be worried about ethically or probably even legally...

But a whole truckload of crap??? Years ago getting caught would be far harder. But now with more people everywhere all the time, security cameras everywhere.

Believe me, I've thought about it. I got a bunch of crap now I'm slowly filling my garbage can up with every week. And I'd love to find a dumpster somewhere and be done with it in one fell swoop. But getting caught scares me more than anything. Far more than my ethics being compromised..

I'm looking into just paying someone with a truck to come haul it off. People with trucks looking for work don't charge too much.  A lot less than it would cost me to rent a truck, and the hassle involved.

hybrid

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Re: Taking out the Trash?
« Reply #11 on: May 16, 2013, 01:28:18 PM »
Like I said a gum wrapper or a water bottle or something equally as trivial is not something to be worried about ethically or probably even legally...

But a whole truckload of crap??? Years ago getting caught would be far harder. But now with more people everywhere all the time, security cameras everywhere.

Believe me, I've thought about it. I got a bunch of crap now I'm slowly filling my garbage can up with every week. And I'd love to find a dumpster somewhere and be done with it in one fell swoop. But getting caught scares me more than anything. Far more than my ethics being compromised..

I'm looking into just paying someone with a truck to come haul it off. People with trucks looking for work don't charge too much.  A lot less than it would cost me to rent a truck, and the hassle involved.

In all honesty, I think it would have gone down like this....

"Dave, please don't do that again."

"OK."  End of story.

It was an S-10 (not  a C-30) truckload of crap, and it was a very big dumpster.

But then again, these days, who knows.  Maybe it was a simpler time 20 years ago.