All this talk about reducing our usage of plastic bags really got me thinking. For some reason, we have an addiction to garbage bags in our house. We really don't need them, since we compost our food waste and our garbage is generally pretty "clean" and not stinky, wet or gross. So why not get rid of the garbage bags all together? I think that we'll give it a shot and get off the plastic bags for good. I'm not going cold turkey, though, but I admit we have a problem and and working my way through the 12 steps of plastic garbage bag addiction :)

We have had a variety of compost bins in the multiple houses we have lived in. Most of them didn't really work, one of them was infested with rats and the rest just turned into slimy, smelly sludge. But, last year, we put our mind to it and lo and behold, have been getting compost from our brush bin and hope to have compost from our food waste bin this year (see the worm picture!! BTW - pistachio nut shells NEVER compost - that's them in the upper left hand corner of the picture!!).

The key, though, is composting. We are fortunate enough to have a back yard where we can have a compost bin (two, in fact, one for food waste and lawn mower clippings and one specifically for brush and weeds). The black plastic bin is called an Earth Machine and is available through the Master Gardeners program to Thurston County residents at a subsidized rate of half off the retail price! It works great and with a couple of layers of heavy chicken wire underneath, rats can't burrow up and take up residence. Go to http://www.compostbinsthurstoncounty.com/ if your interested in an Earth Machine. The wood bin is our brush bin (built out of recycled wood from a fence that we took down when we first moved into our house - I'm pretty dang proud). It also works great. We just move the brush from side to side each spring and fall and I was able to sift out about 3 wheelbarrows full of compost a few weeks ago.

Composting is more challenging if you live in an apartment, a boat, or don't have much of a yard, but never fear - curbside composting is on the way!!

So, I've compiled a couple of resources for those that want to start reducing the amount of trash that you take to the corner. We were able to graduate to the smallest garbage can from the city and get down to the most minimal of trash. We save money, we save trash and we save our landfills.

We're really fortunate to have such great resources for composting in Thurston County. If you're so inclined, check out some of these links that I've found useful:

Composting classes - FREE!!

Reduced Rate Compost Bins

Composting in Thurston County - everything you wanted to know from Thurston County Water and Waste Management