Things I hold onto because I am unsure how to dispose of them
In addition to hoarding boxes for donations, I have other things I hoard due to not being sure how I want to dispose of them.
Plastic bags.
Not all plastics are recyclable. This hold true for bags too.
these are bags of plastic bags. Considering how I try to minimize what I bring into the house: still. A lot of plastic.
One bag for sure I can recycle. The other I likely need a terracyclebox.
Shredded paper.
Shredded paper isn't accepted in recycling (here, not sure if this is a nationwide thing). I have to trash this, but it still sucks.
Empty reusable beauty containers i have yet to repurpose.
I buy most beauty products from etsy because of zero waste packaging (or zero ish waste) and more natural ingredients. They usually just live here instead of being repurposed. The goal is repurposing if I can avoid recycling seeing that recycling takes a lot of resources and if a batch of recycling is contaminated the whole batch is trashed.
Stuff in the process of being rinsed out.
You have to rinse out recyclables. I rinse with shower water. I am going to shower anyway. A boss said recycling uses a lot of resources, like water when you rinse it. Very true. So I place them in a container and use the water from the shower to help in cleaning them out while I am taking a shower.
Many times I just have stuff I hoard because I need to figure out the end game for the item. I don't want it to end up in a landfill. Same with clothes. Even if I donate that doesn't guarantee they will sell it and if they don't sell it they will likely throw it.
Vicious cycle of hoarding and not making moves.
I am wary of going to donation spots in fear of it being crowded since most goodwills are stores as well as donation centers with COVID-19 and Texans not giving a shit about wearing masks.
I barely go anywhere so I don't want to make extra trips or go out of my way. I shower coming home after every time I leave the house. Whatever I wore outside goes straight to the laundry pile. This happens regardless if I leave and come back multiple times a day.
Logistics play a key role in disposal.
Overall - if I keep making the effort to bring less in, there is less to worry about disposing of reaponsibly.
I have a lot of interests
but to make sure I don’t get off track
this page will be about the zero waste journey
PPS I still buy things
I just try to refuse more, reduce, and buy less often.
When I make a purchase I reframe it, let the items hang out in the ‘cart’ for a while, and think about its possible after life (can it bio degrade, can we re/up cycle or sell it?)
I was definitely a huge consumer.
I am trying to change.
One day at a time.
Hang out for some fun stories, ey!