You recycle religiously, bring your own bags to the grocery store and maybe even bike to work. What more can you do to reduce your impact on the planet, outside of costly undertakings like installing solar panels, purchasing energy efficient appliances or trading in your car for a hybrid?
The answer is in the trash. And all you need to find it are an audit form and a couple pairs of rubber gloves.
Getting Down and Dirty
A waste audit is a procedure done primarily by large organizations such as schools, corporations and multi-family apartment complexes, either when setting up a recycling service for the first time or looking for new ways to save money and resources. According to Pauline Priest, City of San Diego Recycling Specialist, “it is useful if people have things in their trash that they don’t know are recyclable.” In a 2006 citywide waste audit, The City of San Diego determined that 65% of what the city was trashing could be recycled.
The City of San Diego does not conduct household waste audits and advises its residents to adhere closely to curbside recycling guidelines. But for readers who want to beef up their waste awareness, San Diego Loves Green has translated the commercial waste audit model into a household exercise.
The main objective is to monitor, and weigh if possible, every item that goes into the trash for one week. At the end of the exercise, you have a visual inventory of your household trash and a starting point from which to discuss what can be kept out it by composting, recycling, and purchasing items with reduced packaging.
Priest doesn’t advocate household waste audits as a large-scale solution, for fear that people will see it as one more “thing” they have to do, and a stinky, dirty thing at that.
But she says, “It would be educational for a family to do. I certainly wouldn’t discourage anyone that has the energy from doing it…It is a good exercise for those who want to get intimate with their waste.” The contents of our trash bins are the leftovers from our lives and though it might not be pretty, getting intimate with them can be an important step on the “greening” path.
To get started, simply print off the attached pdf audit form and follow these basic guidelines.
- Trash items as usual for one week. Do not change or alter your trash production because you are aware of the audit – this is counter-productive.
- At the beginning of the week, pick a day and time for the final audit and make sure all family members are available to participate.
- When the day arrives, take your full trash bag from the can and first record its weight and volume (see audit form for further instructions).
- Lay down plastic sheeting or bags, preferably outside, but on the kitchen floor if necessary, and dump out the contents of the bag. Make sure everyone has plastic gloves and tongs or a sorting stick to sift through the trash.
- Sort the materials, grouping them according to waste category and record the data on your waste audit form.
If you are violently opposed to sorting through your trash, keep a clipboard with the waste audit form and a pen near the trash bin and record each item throughout the week as you throw it away. This technique is not ideal however, as people often alter waste patterns when required to record what they are tossing. If you decide to record as you go, be sure to trash things that you normally do. To get the most out of the exercise, you need an accurate representation of what is thrown out in your household on a regular basis. This exercise is not about conserving everything you can for a week. It is about recording average trash production in your home and determining what long-term changes are possible based on the habits of the household.
After all the data has been recorded on the waste audit form, household members should sit down to examine possibilities for creating less trash and what duties each person is willing to take on.
Diversion Discussion
Which items that you usually throw out could be reused? This includes reusing items such as plastic bags and tubs, paper bags, loose paper and glass jars, even before you recycle them.
What about starting a compost pile or purchasing a worm-bin for odor-free indoor composting? (see “The Dirt on Urban Composting”).
What changes can be made to your shopping list? Avoid buying items that contain excess packaging. It seems awkward at first to analyze packaging on everything you buy, but after a while it becomes second nature. Buy in bulk with reused packaging whenever possible.
Who accepts specialty recyclables? Assign someone to compile a list of drop-off locations for recyclable items that are not included in curbside pickup. For example, old tires, electronics, batteries.
All That Remains
The pile that remains after all possible diversion techniques are put into place is called real-trash. Whether you decide to implement one or all of the techniques, your weekly trash should be dramatically reduced. To begin saving money, contact your waste hauler to reduce the size of your bin and/or frequency of your trash pickup.
From there you can begin to make more conscious choices about what you purchase, consume and trash. If you remain committed to completing this one-time waste audit, it can bring about lifelong changes in your trash production – thereby reducing both your expenses and your imprint on the environment.
About the Author
Nina Lary is a Portland, Oregon freelance writer who has written dozens of articles on land use, environment, culture, food and travel for San Diego CityBeat, The Bear Deluxe, The Portland Sentinel, Italian America and Tourist Town Guides: Jackson Hole. She worked for San Diego County Recycling for three years, where she sold worm compost bins, dug through dumpsters in the East County to record waste patterns, and revamped the Junk Mail Reduction guide. She is committed to promoting food waste reduction and efficient resource use. Contact her at nina.lary@gmail.com.
