Goodbye Magpie: Rubbish Update

Okay folks, a quick update on the rubbish situation for you!  And by that I mean the amount of landfill we are producing here at Magpie central.

Wheelie Bin of Rubbish Jan 2012

At the beginning of the year I pledged that as a family we would only produce one wheelie bin full of rubbish.  Well readers, I have to confess that I had to put my wheelie bin out for collection this week, a mere five months into the challenge.  We didn't even make it to the half way point!

The really weird thing was that the wheelie bin, which I would normally have to man-handle and drag down the drive way  due to the weight contained, was actually as light as a feather to put out. Basically because all it contained was empty crisp packets and plastic wrapping of one sort or another. 

So, what to do?  First up, I am not going to get downhearted.  We have still managed to reduce our landfill by around 80%.  If every westernised household did the same,  it would be an absolute dream result for local authorities across the world.  

Milk Bottles, Aren't they brilliant!

Secondly, as well as reducing our landfill, we have also drastically reduced our recycling burden by using far less plastic bottles.  We have managed this by not buying bottled water, by getting glass returnable bottles from the milkman, by stopping buying laundry detergent and by getting No. 1 Son to switch to cans instead of plastic bottles for his fizzy drinks (aluminium being far better to recycle than plastic).

Our thrift drive has also meant we have naturally cut back on booze, so less glass bottles there!  And of course, we aren't buying new stuff, so no cardboard boxes and packaging to deal with there. So, rather than putting out the recycling boxes for collection every week, I have found we are down to putting them out once a month.  And as every green girl knows Reduce and Reuse are top of the list when it comes to saving the planets resources.

So, for the coming seven months I am determined that the wheelie bin stays behind the garden gate and doesn't need to be emptied again until December. 

In order to achieve this, the challenge is going to be to further reduce the amount of packaging we buy and to ignore the temptation of the mass produced biscuit, cake and crisp aisle!  I hope we can do it!!  Does my inner magpie have the willpower?!  We shall see..

What about you?  Any top-tips for reducing landfill waste?