Running a Money-Smart Household: Controlling Garbage Costs

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Probably the best way to save money on garbage pickup and trips to the landfill is to limit the amount of garbage brought into the home. Remember the three Rs of the antitrash mantra: reduce, reuse, recycle. You can reduce the frequency of your garbage pickup, or at least the size of the container, if you reduce the amount of garbage created in your home.

Reducing what you throw away

Simple decisions such as using cloth grocery bags instead of disposable paper or plastic bags, or choosing items based on whether you can recycle the packaging can make a world of difference in your home garbage situation.

Avoiding trash by "precycling"

One method of cutting back on garbage production is referred to as "precycling." Precyclers choose which items to buy based on packaging. For example, someone who has a precycler mindset doesn't buy cereal that's packaged in a plastic bag inside a cardboard box. They skip that extra layer of potential garbage and go for the cereal that comes only in a plastic bag. The cereal in just the plastic bags is often less expensive, too.

Recycling items like paper, cardboard, plastic soda bottles, milk jugs, aluminum cans, and glass jars, and composting kitchen and garden scraps can reduce your garbage to a fraction of what it was before. Even a simple act like purchasing reusable lunchboxes cuts down on the need to throw away paper bags. And reuse plastic containers to store your food instead of using and throwing away single-use plastic wrap and foil. Avoid obviously disposable items such as paper plates, plastic utensils, plastic coffee cups, and plastic diapers. Look for the rechargeable (batteries, for example) and the refillable (such as printer cartridges).

Recycling to save money and reduce waste

Recycling not only saves money, but it has the added benefit of saving the environment. Buying items that are already recycled " and can be recycled again " helps the environment even more.

Having a compost pile in the backyard is one of the best ways to recycle assorted vegetable scraps. Just save all your trimmings and discards from salads and veggies, toss them on the old compost heap, and use the homemade compost to grow more fresh salads and veggies.

Reusing household items in creative ways

You can give many everyday trash items a new lease on life by creatively reusing the items in the home or office. Here are few easy examples:

• Use the backs of old envelopes for writing your shopping lists. You can even slip coupons right into the envelope before you leave the house.
• Cut cereal boxes to size to use for photo mailers.
• Cut off the fronts of old holiday cards and make them into holiday postcards. You save on postage and on the price of new cards.
• Instead of grabbing a paper towel next time you spill something or need to dust, keep a supply of scraps of old T-shirts and other clothes. If someone else can still use an article of clothing, donate it to charity; if it has stains or holes, it's a prime candidate for a household rag.
• If you get plastic grocery bags at the supermarket, don't just throw them away. You can reuse plastic grocery bags in a multitude of simple ways:
  • Pack your lunch.
  • Use them as garbage bags for the trash can.
  • Wrap dirty cloth diapers in a plastic bag when you're out and about.
  • Put dirty laundry in bags when traveling.
  • Store shoes in bags to keep them separate from clothes in suitcases and travel bags.
  • Wrap smelly garbage and bloody meat wrappers in plastic bags before putting in the trash.

This article was authored by Ted Benna, Stephen R. Bucci, James P. Caher, John M. Caher, N. Brian Caverly, Peter Economy, Jack Hungelmann, John E. Lucas, Sarah Glendon Lyons, Margaret A. Munro, Brenda Watson Newmann, Mary Reed, Jordan S. Simon, Kathleen Sindell, Deborah Taylor-Hough, John Ventura.