Trash Talk

California has very complex and complicated laws regarding recycling and trash collection for businesses and residences. But until now those laws have not been enforced on our Brumby Road backwater. And not in ‘Area C’ of San Joaquin County either.

For some reason this rural farmland has been exempt, and we were allowed to throw anything that isn’t hazardous material into a single trash container. I could say that my social conscience required me to separate recyclables and take them to a recycling center. I could say that, but it wouldn’t be true.

Whatever the costs and benefits of recycling are, the issue is politically settled, at least in California. Recycling is a social obligation and necessary to save the planet. So finally our new garbage company is going to provide us with the 3 cans necessary to do the job right. Sometime in December we are going to get a ‘garbage’ bin, an ‘organics‘ bin, and a ‘recycling‘ bin.

Confused? Me too. But Amazon sells stickers (organic=compost?)

This is all new to me, so I called a friend of mine who lives in Lodi and has this routine down pat. I’m going to summarize what he said, but if I make a mistake, cut me some slack. The service doesn’t start until January.

First we have the ‘recycle’ bin. This is where we are going to put the empty Côtes du Rhône bottles. And the plastic milk jugs. And all the Amazon cardboard. I’m going to have to get my knife sharp to cut and flatten these, since Stoker gets almost everything from Amazon. So much so that the trucks have left ruts in our driveway.

Newspaper goes here. My parents actually have a paper subscription to The Record and the WSJ, but I bring their papers to my house to cut out the crossword puzzles. I’ll toss the rest into the bin to keep the Côtes du Rhône bottles company. All dry paper (junk mail) goes in too.

Now for the relatively new category ‘organics’. (=compost?) Here is where things get a bit tricky. Food waste goes here. So if you are cooking and chop up an onion, all the peels go into this bin. Chicken bones too. The coffee grounds and paper filter are organic. I don’t know about coffee ‘pods’ but we make our coffee the old fashioned way.

This is going to require us to get a new receptacle in the kitchen, so that we can scrape leftover food into a different place than the empty cereal box and milk jug. Surprise, Amazon sells them, including organically acceptable ‘plastic’ bags and a charcoal filter to contain odors.

Yard waste (pruning residue, cut grass, leaves) goes in the organics too. Here I have an advantage since I can throw this stuff into the orchard, where is gets mowed and the irrigation water and sunlight do the composting. I don’t think I’m breaking any laws by doing this, but since this is California I might be.

Everything that doesn’t go into these two bins goes into bin #3, garbage.

Coming soon to Brumby Road!

Now if you think this sounds simple enough, consider the pizza box. It is cardboard, but according to my friend it is ‘organic’ waste, not recycle. Ditto for an empty carton of Chinese food, unless that carton has a metal handle, in which case I suppose you remove that handle for recycling and throw the rest of the container into organics. I buy chicken from Raley’s in a plastic tray with a paper pad inside. The plastic tray is really garbage since it has no recycle number. But the paper pad is ‘organic’ because it contains chicken juice.

These are the first paradoxes that come to mind, and I’m sure there will be more. I suppose I’m going to have to get an AI assistant to help me do the right thing.

But that AI assistant isn’t going to help me get the cans out to the curb. Because we don’t have a curb. I have to wheel my garbage cart out to Brumby Road, a 150 yard round trip. Now I am going to make 3 trips every Sunday afternoon. And 3 trips back on Monday morning. This will help me get my ‘steps’. 7,000 per day recommended for us oldsters.

It gets better. My parents get their garbage picked up across Hwy 88, and since they are in their 90’s I don’t think it is wise for them to be lugging garbage totes across that busy road with its high speed traffic. So I do it for them. Now I have to make 3 round trips instead of one, on that same Sunday/Monday schedule. Another 150 yards 3 times each way. And these include some climbing. Hwy 88 rises to the bridge across the Calaveras river so my parents’ driveway is uphill, and short but a mite steep.

This new routine is going to contribute to my well being. My brain will get stimulated trying to figure out what trash goes where, and my body will get to do some extra moving. Mental activity and exercise are supposed to contribute to health and longevity, and California recycling law and Waste Management are happy to help.