There is no such thing as 'away'.

 

I'm not talking today about Lockdown and travelling when I make the above statement - no, I'm talking about everything we use/produce/buy/ditch.

When it is thrown away, does it just 'go'? We don't tend to think about it once the bin has been collected; but we live on a planet that doesn't have a trash chute to a massive furnace...we are living on a globe with ALL.THE.CRAP.WE.HAVE.EVER.THROWN.AWAY.

I don't know about you, but I love a good clean-through.

I have a little part-time job - it's not work, or a paid employment, so I guess I should call it a task really? Twice a week, I clean GD's house.  (Don't get me wrong - she doesn't live in a pit: it's just she and son-in-law both work long hours and one of the grandkids is disabled.  When they are at home it is very important they spend every minute they can with the kiddies, and rather than worry about anything domestic-y, I want them to be able to do that.)

Our wee house is easy to keep clean and tidy as there's just the two of us and we live very simply.

But.

The number of items both households throw away is scary.

Recycling bins are always full - that's good - and garden waste collection bins are used year-round.  The brown (rubbish) bins, I am pleased to report are never full.

Both households give to charity or sell on local selling pages.

Both ladies sell handmade items.

Now.

Once something is not needed anymore, where does it actually go?

Here are five random not-needed items from today's cleaning:

1. Plastic packaging that housed fresh spinach.
2. Egg shells
3. An empty shiny-coated box from an Easter egg
4. Vegetable peelings
5. Too-small underwear from grandchildren's weekend sort-out

I can hear you saying - COMPOST for 2 and 4, and you are right; that is where they went...but they don't disappear...

2. Eggshells in fact do not decompose.  They just get ground into smaller and smaller pieces by us turning and digging the compost, and they get small enough then to be dust - but they are still there.

4. Vegetable peelings are eaten by worms who then poo out compost, this is a good thing as it can be used.  But again; they don't disappear...

1. Plastic packaging goes to landfill.  Lightweight plastic can be blown into the sea and this is just hideous.  While we try to avoid as much as we can: we have a veg box that is delivered in a wooden crate and the company wraps in paper bags...we use a flower delivery company that uses completely recyclable packaging..

I am not brave enough to unwrap items in the supermarket and leave the plastic behind as a mini protest; even if I do that, there is still plastic waste - it just becomes someone else's responsibility to bin it. So it doesn't go away, it just goes somewhere else.

3.  Guess what happens to coated cardboard like this box - or glossy, glittery Christmas cards?  Yep. Landfill and /or the sea...Hideous, isn't it?  Incidentally, some shredded paper can't be recycled either..

5. Many clothes we just don't need anymore can be sold or given to a charity.  This does include underwear that is still wearable.  But clothing that really cannot be worn as a garment again can be recycled and reprocessed into cleaning cloths and industrial rags.  

Now there is a happy note to end on!

Take care,

Tracey xx