According to the EPA, Americans generated 4.51 pounds of municipal solid waste (MSW) per person in 2017 (267.8 million tons, or 535.6 billion pounds). Of this, nearly one third (32.7%) consists of plastics, metals, wood, rubber, and leather — all highly reusable materials. Keep in mind that MSW does not account for all landfill wastes, such as construction debris, waste water sludge, and other non-hazardous industrial waste. The 4.51 pounds per person per day is just the stuff that you and I are personally tossing on a typical day in the life.
Even though almost half (48%) of the MSW was recycled (note: these numbers are from before China banned almost all plastic trash imports), recycling requires resources and effort on your part, and where it actually ends up once it’s been picked up is really anybody’s guess. Recycling in the U.S. can cost more than double the price of incineration, so in communities that are struggling with budget constraints, that good feeling you get filling up the blue bin might be countered by the bad feeling you get breathing the toxic air.
Spare PVC parts combined with leftover weed cloth to make blinds used for moving animals (repurpose) and to provide shade for chickens (dual purpose).
Those wanting to make a difference might take a cue from their farmers (you do know your farmers, right?). When the days are long with work located an inconvenient distance from sellers of stuff, farmers think hard about just how badly they need that ‘thing’ before hopping in the truck and making the trip to town. Pretty soon they start looking at leftover stuff made for one thing and saying “I could use that for something else”.
If you’ve ever been to a place that has served as a farm for more than a decade or two, you know from experience that there is more than one pile of stuff behind the barn, more than one or two outbuildings that are difficult to walk in, and several stoic mechanical beasts frozen in rusty orange glory along the drive. Often times, these are not the empty calories of a hoarder’s habit — they are rich reserves of thrift, hard-to-find parts, and the seeds of ingenuity. Those orange beasts are the parts store for the machines that are still green.
Styrofoam shipping cooler turned into an incubator for goose eggs. This conversion took about 10 minutes, including searching for a bulb socket in the spare electrical parts left for us by the previous owner of our house. The thermostat was borrowed from seed mat warmers and the rack to suspend the eggs came from the kitchen… after 10+ years of service as a roasting rack. What we once used to cook birds is now being used to grow them!
At Star & Sparrow we are fortunate to have inherited a dragon’s lair of useful stuff resulting from this farming tradition. Given the luxury of space that we enjoy, it might be easier to do here than in urban communities, but that’s no reason not to try for yourself, wherever you may be.
Many of the small things usually recycled after one use can be made useful around the house many more times before breaking down to a point where recycling is the only remaining option. Check with a neighbor or a friend to see if they’ve got a spare ‘part’ that you need before running down to the big square House Dept. (wear your mask!) and slapping down another twenty that will never get a chance to grow to $320 by the time you retire in 30 years.
Even better — make a few farmer friends at the local Farmers Market, share your random projects with them, and ask them how they’d go about it. Maybe farmers can help close the gap between the true cost of food and what people are willing to pay by opening up the spare parts shop for a little amateur pickin’ and craft project day on the farm.
With a little investigation you’re bound to discover farmers have more to offer you than just food. In the meantime, save that screw top lemonade mix container for your bulk granola and make that broken closet organizer into some yard art. The Earth will thank you for it!