The one where I own my trash

Part of my zero waste journey is cleaning out my house, downsizing, decluttering whatever you want to call it. And, yes, sometimes in the process that means I'm making more trash, but really I made that trash 20 years ago, or whenever I bought or created that item. I'm just finally admitting it is trash, and it is mine. 

Today I cleaned out teaching materials I haven't used in over 17 years. In 2006 I switched from teaching middle school to high school and I carefully stored all of my carefully curated middle school materials. Seventeen years later they were still in the same spot and I figured it was time to admit I probably won't be teaching middle school again, and if I did I wouldn't be using those materials anyway. 

So here is the part where I get proactive and take ownership of my trash. First of all it's not all trash, but if someone else were clearing out my house it probably would be. To keep most of it out of the landfill eventually, it makes sense to deal with it myself now.

Mixed in with the paper folders are books about each subject. Those are now listed on our local gifting group. The cardboard magazine files that held the folders for each unit are on the gifting group too. Then there are the three prong folders, one for each lesson. They include the teacher directions, originals to copy for students, overhead transparencies, and sometimes laminated materials too. I can't just chuck these in the recycling because there are too many mixed materials in there. 

See, you might think that everything you put in a blue bin gets recycled, but most of it goes through a sorting center and anything that has "mixed materials" is automatically trash, even if 95% of it is paper. So, to own my trash, I need to open every one of those three prong folders and separate the plastic things like transparencies from the paper things. Then I cut off the spine of the folder, the part with the metal prongs. Those go in the trash and now the paper covers can be recycled. 

My husband suggested someone might want the empty folders, but they were pretty messed up, written on, and many had places where bugs had nibbled on them. The last time I needed a folder like that was approximately 17 years ago, so I wasn't going to save them for reuse.

In about an hour I separated materials in over 60 folders and made sure 90% of those materials can get recycled instead of just becoming trash. 

Did I want to spend an hour doing that, not really. But I did want to take responsibility for trash I had created and do what I could to make it more recyclable and less trash? Yes.  

The one with the local gifting economy

In July of 2022 I joined the local buy nothing group on Facebook and began gifting items that were no longer serving a purpose in my home. Since then I have gifted nearly two hundred things out of my house. That sounds like a lot right? It's not. I bet many of you likely have just as many things to gift. Of course the trick to this is giving far more than I receive from the group.

Here are some gift examples: 

I cleaned out my closet and gifted 19 tops. 

Supplies from a pet we no longer have, plus several fish tanks. 

A small appliance I was gifted, but never used. 

Kids DVDs my children had outgrown

Clothes my children had outgrown

Photo paper we were never going to print on

A large shelf we replaced with a smaller one

An alarm clock, a lamp, a muffin pan I never used. 

Some vegan food items a guest left behind at my mother in law's house.

Somewhere in the gifting group rules I read the phrase "gift from your own abundance" and I realized that I had an abundance to give. Spares, extras, sets that came with more than I needed, gifts that we weren't using, items from other phases of our lives. All around there was abundance, and I could let it go. 

I know what you're thinking, "Jen, this blog is about making less trash. How is that related to giving stuff away?"

Well, I see these things as connected in a few ways. 

1. Packaging: When I give someone something they need or were about to buy, I spare them the acquisition of the packing materials a new item would have used. If I give away curtains I'm not using, then someone else gets curtains without having to buy them in a plastic bag. The same is true when I need something. I can often receive it free of packaging. 

2. The item itself stays out of the landfill: I found an unopened package of outlet covers in a drawer. My children have long passed the age at which they might stick things in electrical outlets, so this was an instantly gift-able item. I posted them to the group and the response was tremendous. So many young families wanted these. I found myself digging through drawers looking for loose used outlet covers to give more of them away. The thing is, these are tiny pieces of plastic that feel entirely disposable. I'm sure many people throw them away. But why? They are still perfectly useful to a person who needs them.  

This is also true for food items. I see a lot of perfectly good food items posted in our local group, and I've even posted some food items myself. You can't donate an open bottle of fancy ketchup that you just don't like the taste of, but a neighbor is perfectly happy to come get it and it stays out of the landfill. 

3. Trash: My stuff has to go somewhere eventually. Everything I own will go somewhere. Either I can gift it now or someone else will clean out my house later. In the latter scenario there is a much greater chance that things will get trashed, even if they could still be useful to someone. If I can find that person who can use it now, then eventually less ends up in the trash. 

4. Try before I buy: Through the group I'm finding many neighbors are willing to lend tools, and other items on a short term basis. I don't need to buy a circular cutter for that fabric project, a neighbor will lend it to me first to see if it really works the way I hope it will. Many things can be borrowed instead of bought. 

5. I buy less: The process of clearing my house of things we no longer need is a really good reminder to buy less stuff to begin with. Also, I am more aware of what I have, so I am less likely to go out and buy duplicates of things I already own enough of. 

My local gifting group has another name now. Something about copyright issues. So you may need to do some searching to find your local gifting group, probably on Facebook, but there are other apps where you can give away free items to people nearby. 

Safety: Of course consider your personal safety. Never post your address publicly. Our gifting group requires us to post an item, see who is interested, and then privately message the chosen recipient with pick up information. I typically look at what other things the person has posted in the group to make sure I am dealing with a legit group member, who is also gifting their abundance into the neighborhood. Someone who has never gifted any items of their own is unlikely to be my choice to receive an item. 

Other options: 

Sell it: I've done that. It's challenging to make sure the items are really nice enough to sell, photographed well, stored until they actually sell etc. Then packaged, mailed, etc. I still have a box of items that are listed on Poshmark. I lowered the prices a lot and those items are still sitting in that box. Letting go of that hope is the project of another day for now. 

Donate it: I still use this option when an item does not attract attention in our gifting group within 48 hours, I add it to the donate bag.