# Trash then and now



## Grampa Don (Mar 7, 2020)

I was rolling out our trash containers the other day and thought about how different it is from when I was a kid.  For one thing, there’s a lot more of it.

Paper and cardboard were burned in our back yard incinerator.  That was my chore.  That’s not legal here anymore, and our air is better for it.  Wet garbage went out in a metal 5 gallon bucket with a lid.  It was always full of maggots.  A special truck picked it up for hog feed.

Plastic?  What plastic?  Food came in cardboard boxes, paper sacks, glass bottles or tin cans.  It was all recyclable, but probably wasn’t.  There was plenty of room at the dump.

I can’t remember what we did with large items.  I don’t think there was much of that.  Things seemed to last longer then.  We may have taken them to the dump ourselves.  That was fun because you could find neat stuff to bring home.  Now our landfill doesn’t allow that.

I’m also not sure about our green waste; stuff like lawn clippings and prunings.  The back of our lot was kind of wild and maybe we piled it back there to rot.

So now I have three big rolling containers supplied by the city, one black for trash, one green for recyclables, and one brown for green waste.  The trash goes directly to the landfill, the recyclables go to a sorting center where easy stuff is pulled off and the rest also goes to the landfill, and state law says the green waste has to be composted.

I take chemicals or anything electronic to a hazardous waste drop off yard.  I don’t know what they do with it.  They used to have a sign saying that you could browse for stuff that’s usable.  I haven’t seen that sign recently.

There are hills near us.  The landfill used to be a canyon. Now it’s one of the hills. It’s all very mechanized.  They even extract natural gas from buried layers.  Maybe some day it will be a park, or maybe more houses so there will be even more waste to bury.

Don


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## Gary O' (Mar 7, 2020)

Grampa Don said:


> I’m also not sure about our green waste; stuff like lawn clippings and prunings. The back of our lot was kind of wild and maybe we piled it back there to rot.


Ours became compost

I raised volunteer tomatoes that sprung up from our compost pile one year
At 8 years old, I was rather proud of that.....and quite amazed that sorta thing could happen


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## fuzzybuddy (Mar 7, 2020)

Yeah, I remember this small bucket thing buried in the back yard.  We put our table scarps in there. And just when there were millions of maggots, crawling around in there, a grubby looking guy would come and take it away- supposedly to feed the pigs.
Does anybody really know if they fed that stuff to pigs?
I found out how expensive live stalk is. I don't know if I would feed my expensive pigs that rotting food.


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## Ruth n Jersey (Mar 7, 2020)

In the 50's we had a compost pile for the garden, we burned a lot and brush and grass clippings were thrown in an empty lot bordering our backyard.. Recycling was unheard of except for picking though the ashes for coal that didn't burn up the first time around. Even with the small amount of tin cans and meat scraps our little metal garbage can  was rarely full. Today I pass cans so full the lid won't stay down.
Gary reminded me of the great corn and pumpkins my grandpa grew in the ash piles he dumped during the winter.


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## Gardenlover (Mar 7, 2020)

Back when I was just a boy, we used to have one day a year (Spring cleaning) where you could put anything you wanted out at the curb and the city would come by and pick it up. As a kid this was a gold mine, as we'd wander the streets picking up items for our forts, etc. I came home once with the front fender of a motorcycle, thinking in time I would collect all the pieces needed to build a complete motorcycle. My dad took one look at it, shook his head - gave me "The Look" and told me to throw it on our trash pile.


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## Gardenlover (Mar 7, 2020)

Gary O' said:


> Ours became compost
> 
> I raised volunteer tomatoes the sprung up from our compost pile one year
> At 8 years old, I was rather proud of that.....and quite amazed that sorta thing could happen


How'd you get tomatoes to volunteer to grow in a compost pile?


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## Grampa Don (Mar 7, 2020)

fuzzybuddy said:


> Yeah, I remember this small bucket thing buried in the back yard.  We put our table scarps in there. And just when there were millions of maggots, crawling around in there, a grubby looking guy would come and take it away- supposedly to feed the pigs.
> Does anybody really know if they fed that stuff to pigs?
> I found out how expensive live stalk is. I don't know if I would feed my expensive pigs that rotting food.


There was a TV show called Dirty Jobs, with Mike Rowe.  One episode was about a guy who actually collected garbage and fed it to his pigs.  It was some nasty looking stuff, but apparently pigs will eat about anything.

Don


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## RadishRose (Mar 7, 2020)

Gardenlover said:


> How'd you get tomatoes to volunteer to grow in a compost pile?


Someone threw a tomato, or a bird dropped a seed. My husband's parents had a nice peach tree out back that grew from one of the peach pits someone threw back there!


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## Aunt Bea (Mar 7, 2020)

When I was a kid we had a burn barrel.

It was a real right of passage when you were considered old enough and responsible enough to burn the trash on your own.

We also had a local dump that was open on Saturday for the large items.  

I still have a desk that we dragged home, repaired and refinished.


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## jujube (Mar 7, 2020)

Same here......burn barrel and a can for garbage that was picked up by a pig farmer.  In later years, all the organic garbage went into the compost pile.


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## oldman (Mar 7, 2020)

Back when I was a kid, we had trash pickup twice a week and wet garbage once per week. We called the wet garbage slop, so my job was to make sure the garbage was out to the curb on pickup days. My dad had me clean out the slop can once per month. I hated that job. It made me about half sick. Then, when we moved into the new home, we had a garbage disposal. I thought that was really neat.


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## Gary O' (Mar 7, 2020)

Gardenlover said:


> How'd you get tomatoes to volunteer to grow in a compost pile?


Had to've been a tomato seed from dinner, or a sandwich...probably


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## SeaBreeze (Mar 7, 2020)

When I was young we lived in an apartment building, if I recall, our trash went into paper bags from the supermarket and one of us kids carried it down two flights of stairs and put it in metal covered trash cans to be picked up whenever.  For some years we rented a small bungalow for summer vacation, that was more fun.  We had a large covered metal trash can that came with the bungalow, we lined it with newspapers and put our trash in there.  When we were ready, my father would take me and sometimes my brother to the dumps to dump it out so they could burn it.  I loved going there with him, there was always lots of seagulls looking for scraps and filling their bellies....ah, the good ol' days, simple pleasures.


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## Marlene (Mar 7, 2020)

Gary O' said:


> Had to've been a tomato seed from dinner, or a sandwich...probably


I used to have volunteer tomatoes, zucchini, and watermelons from my compost pile.  (I live in an apartment now and don't have a compost pile any longer).


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## Marlene (Mar 7, 2020)

Mom's coffee grounds were always saved to put in the garden when she planted potatoes.  Food scraps were fed to the animals, and any they didn't want went into the compost pile as did grass clippings, etc.  Anything that couldn't be reused went into the burn barrel out back.  

All old clothes beyond repair were used as rags or cut into quilt squares.


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## Gary O' (Mar 7, 2020)

fuzzybuddy said:


> Does anybody really know if they fed that stuff to pigs?


The pigs around us would eat anything
Even us


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## RadishRose (Mar 7, 2020)

We also used the paper grocery bags. There was no burning, but some neighbors did. NO SLOP, no maggots, omg no!

But yes, there was much less trash or whatevr you want to call it. It went out every night and the garbage truck picked it up 3 times a week.


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## Pappy (Mar 7, 2020)

We burned what we could and the animals got the edible scrapes. The rest went up to our own dump in a large patch of woods we owned called Cooks woods. Oh, the treasures that were dumped there.


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## fmdog44 (Mar 7, 2020)

My dad would bust up big stuff, poor gas on it and burn it in our driveway at the back yard. Can't recall what he did with chemicals. I can't forget the metal garbage cans we had and drug out to the front to the house for pickup. Not a pretty memory, wet paper sacks, maggots, etc.


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## Grampa Don (Mar 7, 2020)

Did you ever throw dead flashlight batteries in the fire to hear them pop?

Don


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## Mrs. Robinson (Mar 7, 2020)

Ruth n Jersey said:


> In the 50's we had a compost pile for the garden, we burned a lot and brush and grass clippings were thrown in an empty lot bordering our backyard.. Recycling was unheard of except for picking though the ashes for coal that didn't burn up the first time around. Even with the small amount of tin cans and meat scraps our little metal garbage can  was rarely full. Today I pass cans so full the lid won't stay down.
> Gary reminded me of the great corn and pumpkins my grandpa grew in the ash piles he dumped during the winter.



My donkey Jezebel grew herself a nice little pumpkin patch a couple of years ago. We fed her some Sugar Pie pumpkins that I let sit too long and the following summer,voila`!


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## CarolfromTX (Mar 7, 2020)

Our trash is picked up weekly. We have one or two tall kitchen can bags, plus a little miscellaneous. But our recycle bin! The city picks that up every other week, and it is full to the brim.


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## Gary O' (Mar 7, 2020)

Grampa Don said:


> Did you ever throw dead flashlight batteries in the fire to hear them pop?


aerosol cans
They'd really go


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## Pappy (Mar 8, 2020)

Gary O' said:


> aerosol cans
> They'd really go



cherry bombs were louder.


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## oldman (Mar 8, 2020)

Grampa Don said:


> Did you ever throw dead flashlight batteries in the fire to hear them pop?
> 
> Don


No, but aerosol cans, yes.


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## StarSong (Mar 8, 2020)

Gardenlover said:


> Back when I was just a boy, we used to have one day a year (Spring cleaning) where you could put anything you wanted out at the curb and the city would come by and pick it up. As a kid this was a gold mine, as we'd wander the streets picking up items for our forts, etc. I* came home once with the front fender of a motorcycle, thinking in time I would collect all the pieces needed to build a complete motorcycle. *My dad took one look at it, shook his head - gave me "The Look" and told me to throw it on our trash pile.



What a hilarious story - I can totally picture both your delight at the prospect of eventually piecing together a motorcycle and your father's reaction to your plan. Too funny.


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## Don M. (Mar 8, 2020)

Since we moved to the boondocks, 18 years ago, I've had no need for trash service.  If it's combustible, I burn it in my burn pit...the smoke and carbon drifts into our heavy forest, where it is captured by the trees, and becomes "fertilizer" for them.  What little "edible" items we dispose of goes into the garden, where either the critters get it, or it, too, becomes fertilizer.  We have a good recycle center about 5 miles away that takes anything metal....cans, etc., so I rinse them, and take them there.  About the only thing I keep is an occasional glass container, which I wash and put in my workshop to hold small parts, etc.  If we have something like a TV, or small appliance break down, there is another recycle center about halfway to our favorite casino, so I take it there, and they handle that.  At about $15/month for trash service here, I figure I've saved myself well over $3000, and have not added to the massive piles of waste that are collecting all over the world.


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## Meanderer (Mar 9, 2020)




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## Aunt Bea (Mar 10, 2020)




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## Aunt Bea (Mar 10, 2020)




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## Ken N Tx (Mar 10, 2020)

We have a burn barrel and a burn pit...Due to drought conditions, in Texas, we have to have a Burn Permit (Free) and have certain days to burn. Large fires,like brush and branches we must call and notify the County in the case of someone seeing the smoke and calling the Fire Department.


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## Meanderer (Mar 10, 2020)




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## squatting dog (Mar 11, 2020)

Grampa Don said:


> Did you ever throw dead flashlight batteries in the fire to hear them pop?
> 
> Don


nah. spray cans were much better. KaBoom, shrapnel flying out the top of the burn barrel.  
by the way, we still use a burn barrel.


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## squatting dog (Mar 11, 2020)

Another great treat was our weekly burn the dump night out. Thursday was open landfill day, so Friday night, me and 2 or 3 buddies would  head to the landfill and light her up.   Sometimes we'd get lucky and the rats would swarm, so we'd have lots of targets to pop with the old trusty 22. (sigh) I miss those nights. Easily amused I guess.


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## Aunt Marg (Jun 3, 2020)

When I was growing up, nearly everyone had a wooden compost bin in their backyards, so all kitchen scraps... vegetable peelings, egg shells, coffee grounds, all went into the compost, and nearly everyone had a burn barrel, and when fall rolled around, you could see smoke rising and smell the sweetness in the air, because everyone had a burn pile on the go in their yards.

Everything in the way of appliances, toys, and general household things was made better, to a much higher standard, so things lasted longer, and while I remember disposable diapers being on the market, no one that I knew used them, so there wasn't all of the endless diaper waste that we see today, and being a more thrifty and frugal time, most families I knew enjoyed the likes of hand-me-downs, and whatever could be fixed, repaired, or mickey-moused together, _was_. Buying extra use and time out of things was the way of the day among everyone I knew.

I remember it like yesterday, bicycle tire tube patch kits. When we'd get a flat, out came the patch kit. I remember those old patch kits well, because it seemed someone always had a flat, and while name brands were alive and well, there wasn't the ridiculous variety back in the day like we see today, so more people shopped freely, buying only what they needed, rather than buying just to buy, because such and such a brand just came out with this, or just came out with that.

Pants patches are another thing I remember well... ugly as sin, but a way to extend the life of a pair of pants with no knees or seat left in them, and going back to my previous mention of hand-me-downs... baby cribs, highchairs, changing tables... everyone passed their old baby furniture down to and along to neighbours, family, and friends, so everything was utilized to the nth, for all it was worth.

Another thing I remember... single vehicle families, where people relied on one vehicle and one vehicle only, and with the absence of television shows like HGTV, where people gut perfectly beautiful homes of seemingly brand new and perfectly useable household things such as sinks, bathtubs, flooring, etc, just so they can have a home with the newest and latest and greatest of things, people (back in the day) actually updated and added-onto their homes for all the right reasons, not just to keep up with the Jones's.

And so much more...


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## win231 (Jun 3, 2020)

Grampa Don said:


> There was a TV show called Dirty Jobs, with Mike Rowe.  One episode was about a guy who actually collected garbage and fed it to his pigs.  It was some nasty looking stuff, but apparently pigs will eat about anything.
> 
> Don


Well, then the opossums & raccoons I feed would be considered "spoiled."  I check the dates on the hazelnuts, mango & cat kibble before I feed them & if it's expired, I throw it out & buy fresh.
Tonight, they're having broiled Salmon & potatoes.


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## Em in Ohio (Jun 3, 2020)

Gardenlover said:


> Back when I was just a boy, we used to have one day a year (Spring cleaning) where you could put anything you wanted out at the curb and the city would come by and pick it up. As a kid this was a gold mine, as we'd wander the streets picking up items for our forts, etc....


That's how I got my first microscope, test tubes, slides, and chemistry set!  A former teacher put it out with other, less interesting stuff, on the tree lawn - From my excitement, you would have thought that I had found gold!  My parents didn't believe that I had gotten it by legitimate means and made me show them from whence my treasure trove came.  The gentleman convinced them that it was fine - I believe he was pleased with my interest.  Truly, those were the good old days!


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