The Incredible Shrinking, Stinking Trash!

We hit the two-week mark with a single bag in our tiny trash can!

Here, for size reference:

11" x 8" x 15"

It feels fantastic not to have taken the trash out for two whole whole weeks! Not a single time!  And, there's still room for more stuff in the bin!  I bet we could actually go another whole week before we need to take it out. Except for one little thing...

It really starts to smell after a couple of weeks. 

Eww! 

Gross!

As excited as we are with this major reduction in household trash-- thanks primarily to composting food and composting diapers, in addition to making smart shopping choices-- it hadn't occurred to us (obvious though it is) that the longer trash sits in the house, the stinkier it gets.  

Mostly, what's left in the trash at this point is wrappers. 

And, fortunately, most wrappers don't smell too bad, like packaging from toys or a bag of cereal.  However, some food packaging smells really bad, like meat wrappers.  What it boils down to is a need to refocus on even smarter shopping choices.  We are really happy with SPUD groceries, especially the limited use of food wrappers that the company uses (all produce wrappers are recyclable, and there are very few wrappers at all compared to a traditional grocery store).  However, the meat does come in single-use plastic (at least it's not styrofoam) and tackling this problem may prove to be the next big challenge, especially if we are to continue to be successful to the extent that we can go a month, or upwards of that (imagine!) without taking out the trash.

A Farewell to Diapers

Today we took another significant item out of the trash forever: diapers. We have always used some disposable diapers (weekends, outings, overnight) although we have primarily used cloth diapers.  And, as of late (as in the past month or so), we have exclusively used disposable diapers due to:

a. Ruby's bigger toddler body
b. my personal fatigue regarding the never ending laundry
c. cloth diapers starting to fall apart after 2+ years of hard use.

We enrolled in compostable diaper service with Tiny Tots, and for $80/month, we receive pickup/delivery and composting service as well as four packages of diapers.

Today was the maiden voyage, and Ruby did number two within five minutes of putting on the first compostable diaper.  Apparently, to her, this new diaper felt just as comfortable as any.  And really, the diapers do look like ordinary disposable diapers.

 

Just like SPUD, our diaper pickup day is Wednesday.  What luck!  So far, the Tiny Tots customer service has been amazing.  The first drop off went smoothly, which is pretty impressive considering almost every driver who has delivered pizza to our house has called multiple, exasperated times because our front door doesn't face the actual street where our address is listed.

With any luck, Ruby won't be in diapers too much longer, but she is providing much needed research for little brother's diapering, which looms long and large ahead.  And even a few months' worth of diapers diverted from the landfill is absolutely worth it.

SPUD

Today our first batch of groceries from SPUD arrived. 

SPUD, or Sustainable Produce Urban Delivery, is a company based in San Francisco which provides grocery delivery.  SPUD offers primarily organic and locally harvested or manufactured food, and keeps costs low because the business operates out of a warehouse.  It's a great business model, and we have been meaning to try it out for months!

Unlike Safeway delivery, you don't have a choice about when your order is delivered.  For example, if you live in Union City, you get your food on Wednesday.  This also keeps costs low (go affordable organics!) and allows the delivery vans to operate according to the greenest delivery routes possible.  Also unlike Safeway delivery, SPUD uses no bags whatsoever; everything comes in reusable crates.  And there isn't a delivery charge for orders over $40!  Who with a family of four spends less than $40 on groceries per week?  At least where we live, that would be nearly impossible.

Usually, for a week's worth of food, we spend about $180 at the store (yes, even at Sunflower with the amazing bulk bins selection).  However, our total bill for the first week of SPUD delivery was $140, and we got a $20 coupon toward our next order.  $20!  That's a lot!  And they carry Strauss milk in the glass bottles.  I could go on and on.

You can also build a locally farmed produce box into your order; however, we still get a lot of stuff from our garden, so we aren't ready to commit to that yet.  But it's enticing enough that we will probably try it at some point. 

The only thing SPUD does not carry that we buy regularly is diapers.  (Ruby has officially outgrown her cloth ones and we are too close to potty training to buy new ones...and too pregnant to care for washing them all the time right now, let's be honest).  I actually consider this serendipitous because we just found a great compostable diaper service and plan to start it within the next couple of weeks.  That, however, is another story.