Read in the PI this morning an intriguing story about garbage, of all things. Seems we could "recycle 72% of our waste instead of sending it to landfills." How cool would that be? Here are some things the city would do to reach that ambitious goal, the article says:

• Broaden the city's composting program to include all food leftovers -- and eventually ban disposal of such trash in regular garbage bins. Right now, residents of single-family homes may dispose of fruits, vegetables, grains, coffee grounds, eggshells and soiled paper products in yard-waste containers. If the city emptied those bins more often, residents could add meat and dairy products, as some business customers do now. Also, many city leaders are eager to expand such service to condo and apartment dwellers.

• Close Seattle's two dumps to the public. Instead, the city would enhance curbside services, such as implementing on-demand pickup of large amounts of junk -- such as broken refrigerators. The idea would be to ensure the best sorting of recyclables and more efficient garbage transport. And it might stave off the need for the third dump Mayor Greg Nickels is seeking, the consultants said.

• Ban or tax some products, such as plastic bags, disposable diapers, plastic beverage bottles and Styrofoam food packaging. Although these materials amount to a relatively small percentage of the city's trash, such moves encourage businesses to use more environmentally friendly packaging, the consultants said during a presentation to Conlin's committee last week.

The first two ideas would actually make my life easier. It'd be a whole lot easier if we could scrape the WHOLE dinner plate--not just pick out the veggie stuff after a meal. And I must say curbside junk pickup would be a boon...we've got a dead microwave, wrecked bike, and broken scuba tank just waiting for that next dump run.

As far as the disposable diaper ban/tax, this probably has lots of parents hyperventilating. But after seeing diapers littered on beaches across the Pacific, I have to say I'm all for it. Those things are nasty. Our solution has been to use these flushable, biodegradable diapers called gDiapers. While our fragile, ancient plumbing can't handle flushing the Bungle of Joy's size Large anymore, we can throw them in the trash knowing they'll biodegrade. That's a good feeling. Oh, and looking at their website, I see there's this new to report:

This month's edition of the Natural Resources Defense Council's This Green Life, authored by Sheryl Eisenberg, revisits the environmental diaper debate. The article states "gDiapers seem to have the environmental edge over more conventional choices because they send no material to the landfill, use no elemental chlorine or plastics, and require much less washing (therefore, less water and energy usage) than regular cloth diapers."

(Read full article here.)

Now that makes me feel even better--though I don't think this green stuff is a contest or anything--and like I said, we no longer flush ours so that knocks us off any grandiose pedestals. And, btw, I have no affiliation with the company or anything--just a happy customer.

For other tips on living green, check out Great Green Tips, a website by a friend and fellow Seattle mom.

Happily even after,
janna
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