The Chatelaine's Garbage

RECYCLED INTO A NEW BOOK!

2007-03-24T12:42:00.000-07:00

The garbage lists from this blog-project have been recycled into a section of my new book:

SILENCES: The Autobiography of Loss

You may find it interesting to see how these trash lists have been recontextualized! If interested, you can order the book HERE.

Thanks for your interest and support!

Jan. 25, 2006

2006-01-25T21:42:00.000-08:00

This post ends this project as today is the last time that I will monitor my daily garbage list. With this post, I’ve garnered enough for use in my book project, CONTEXT: A POET’S MEMOIR. Await More Information on this project here!

I’ll be using this blog’s trash lists for helping address the notion of a fluctuating “auto” in “autobiography.” I hope you Peeps have been amused by some of these lists—actually, they’ve sort of been boring, to me, but the repetition of them offers a pleasingly trance-inducing quality when I reread them. Anyway: the last day—

TRASH:
an oak leaf that skittered through an open door

edges to 2 slices of bread

Q-tip

2 registered mail receipts

day-old cat food

kitty shit & piss clumps

peel-off backings to 2 book mailers

2 EQUAL paper packets

coffee grounds for 2 cups

1 piece of scrap paper

3 pieces of small scrap papers

2 plastig bags that held RICH Fran chocolate-covered cookies

2 paper napkins

1 piece of junk mail

stray grass from kitties' wheat grass plant

cardboard & plastic containers to Marie Callender's Herb Roasted Chicken (the hubby once did a food tasting of frozen dinners and Marie Callender's is the best)

chicken bones

plastic & paper packaging to Benadryl pills

dog's rubber baseball toy shredded by Achilles' beeeeeg teeeeeth!

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
1 large envelope

1 piece of scrap paper

RE-USED:
2 pieces of scrap paper for cover memos

2 plastic grocery bags

RECYCLED:
7 cans of dog food

2 diet coke cans

emptied bottle of 2001 Kistler Durrell Vineyard chardonnay

emptied Pellegrino bottle

In Style*

O(prah) Magazine*

Martha Stewart's Living*

(*picked up as freebies from local library)

NOTES:
It seems fitting to end this project with an excerpt from a book I finished reading today, TRAVELS WITH LIZABETH: Three Years on the Road and on the Streets by Lars Eighner (Fawcett Columbine, New York, 1993), an account of homelessness and travel with a pet dog. A fascinating chapter has to do with “Dumpster Diving,” or delving into dumpsters for food, clothes and whatever else a “diver” might salvage. It’s how Eighner helped support himself while he was homeless. Here’s an excerpt:

“The area I frequent is inhabited by many affluent college students. I am not here by chance; the Dumpsters in this area are very rich. Students throw out many good things, including food. In particular they tend to throw everything out when they move at the end of a semester, before and after breaks, and around midterm, when many of them despair of college. So I find it advantageous to keep an eye on the academic calendar.”

But in reviewing the past 34 days of my garbage lists, I realize how little I trash that would be useful to someone else. In part, this reflects my writing life and how, specifically, I work at home. Prior to being a writer, I was a banker. Ten years later, as a writer, I have yet to finish giving away the silk blouses, wool outfits, shoes, bags and so on that I accumulated as a worker who commuted to an office, engaged in public meetings and underwent other activities that forced me to care about my appearance (as a writer working at home, I live mostly in jeans and t-shirts). These often-expensive items from my finance career days are now “trash” to me and I haven’t managed to get rid of all of them yet despite at least ten trips to the Salvation Army or its equivalents. I probably have decades-old make-up and pantyhose still in my drawers. Based on Eighner’s dumpster experience, others aren’t as frugal as I am or have had the time to go through their closets to more effectively dispose of items no longer of use.

*****

Also intriguing is Eighner’s description of how he began diving into dumpsters, and his conclusion with which I also conclude this project:

“I learned to scavenge gradually, on my own....I have learned that there is a predictable series of stages a person goes through in learning to scavenge.

“At first the new scavenger is filled with disgust and self-loathing. He is ashamed of being seen and may lurk around, trying to duck behind things, or he may try to dive at night. (In fact most people instinctively look away from a scavenger. By skulking around, the novice calls attention to himself and arouses suspicion. Diving at night is ineffective and needlessly messy.)

“Every grain of rice seems to be a maggot. Everything seems to stink. He can wipe the egg yolk off the found can, but he cannot erase from his mind the stigma of eating garbage.

“That stage passes with experience. The scavenger finds a pair of running shoes that fit and look and smell brand-new. He finds a pocket calculator in perfect working order. He finds pristine ice cream, still frozen, more than he can eat or keep. He begins to understand. People throw away perfectly good stuff, a lot of perfectly good stuff.

“At this stage, Dumpster shyness begins to dissipate. The diver, after all, has the last laugh. He is finding all manner of good things that are his for the asking. Those who disparage his profession are the fools, not he.

“He may begin to hang on to some perfectly good things for which he has neither a use nor a market. Then he begins to take note of the things that are not perfectly good but are nearly so. He mates a Walkman with broken earphones and one that is missing a battery cover. He picks up things that he can repair.

“At this stage he may become lost and never recover. Dumpsters are full of things of some potential value to someone and also of things that never have much intrinsic value but are interesting. All the dumpster divers I have known come to the point of trying to acquire everything they touch. Why not take it, they reason, since it is all free? This is, of course, hopeless. Most divers come to realize that they must restrict themselves to items of relatively immediate utility.

“...Anyway, I find my desire to grab for the gaudy bauble has been largely sated. I think this is an attitude I share with the very wealthy—we both know there is plenty more where what we have came from. Between us are the rat-race millions who nightly scavenge the cable channels looking for they know not what.

“I am sorry for them.”

Jan. 24, 2006

2006-01-24T23:03:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
fallen poinsettia leaf

pistils from 4 cherry lilies

emptied plastic bag container to Mariani dried Philippine mangos

fragments of silver wrapping paper

paper & foil wrapping to Cadbury fruit and raisin chocolate bar

coffee grounds for 1 cup

3 EQUAL packets

Q-tip

4 paper towels to clean-up Gabriela’s wee-wee accident

kitty piss & shit clumps

1 piece of scrap paper

2 pieces of small scrap papers

2 broken eggshells

plastic wrap from loaf of bread

plastic wrap to tray of dog food

plastic cover to dog’s knuckle bone

2 paper napkins

dog fur

meat pieces from dog’s knuckle bone

2 pieces of junk mail

1 pen

plastic spoon

saran wrap that covered country pate

plastic bag and wrapping to roast beef slice

sliced-off edge to book mailer

tape fragments

peel-off backing to book mailer

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
book mailer

RE-USED:
bubblewrap, 1 box, Styrofoam pellets and wrapping paper for sending books

envelope

book mailer

scrap paper to make 2 mailing labels

RECYCLED:
7 cans of dog food

1 diet coke can

cardboard tray that held canned dog food

calendar

Jan. 23, 2006

2006-01-23T22:52:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
cork/foil to 2001 Kistler Durrell Vineyard chardonnay

pistils from 4 cherry lilies

7 asparagus stalks

tiramisu plastic container

day-old cat food

coffee grounds for 1 cup

1 EQUAL packet

Q-tip

emptied Benadryl box

Benadryl plastic & papcker packaging

2 plastic baggies

left-over pita chips

1 piece of scrap paper

left-over dog kibble

2 pieces of junk mail

1 small scrap of paper

4 used envelopes

Pepcid box

Pepcid plastic/paper packaging

Saran wrap that held carrot cake

Styrofoam tray & plastic packaging to ground meat

dog fur lovingly brushed offa dawgs

kitty shit & piss clumps

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
1 piece of scrap paper

large envelope

book mailer

RE-USED:
Nothing

RECYCLED:
5 cans of dog food

2 diet coke cans

cardboard container that held diet coke

cardboard book mailer

Jan. 22, 2006

2006-01-22T22:11:00.000-08:00

TRASH
2 menus from Tomasso's

green foil & red ribbon packaging to chocolate X-mas tree ornament

plastic top to newly-opened Rigaud candle

dryer lint

edges to 2 slices of bread

coffee grounds for 1 cup

1 EQUAL packet

kitty shit & piss clumps

day-old cat food

2 grocery receipts

waxed paper croissant wrapper

waxed paper and saran wrapping to slice of country pate

pistils to 4 cherry lilies

4 paper napkins

tissue wrapping paper

emptied container of Tropicana orange juice

1 scrap paper

2 small pieces of scrap paper

2 peel-off backings to book mailers

plastic wrapping to EFA-Z Plus fatty acid & zinc supplement for dogs

emptied paper towel cardboard tube

left-over dog kibble & wet food

fragments from used mailing labels

Q-tip

SAVED FOR RE-USE
1 piece of scrap paper

1 brown paper bag

2 plastic grocery shopping bags

RE-USED
1 twistie-tie

2 cardboard boxes, Styrofoam pellets and bubblewrap to mail books

scrap paper used for 2 mailing labels

1 shopping bag

RECYCLED:
emptied wine bottle (2002 Dutch Henry chardonnay)

emptied plastic container of -Z Plus fatty acid & zinc supplement for dogs

5 cans of dog food

NY Times

SF Chronicle

Sunset Magazine

2 diet coke cans

1 tuna can

glass container to expired Black Velvet Bougainvillea candle

2 plastic holders for 4-pack Snappled iced teas

2 emptied Calistoga water bottles

NOTES:
With the advent of the computer age, the writing life generates a lot of paper. I know of a literary agent who has stacks and stacks of rejected manuscripts in his apartment. He, as I do with the papers I use to draft my writings, re-uses the backs of manuscript pages. But it’s a losing game: there’s only so much scrap paper anyone can use. For the writer or anyone in the business of receiving submissions (which, per usual protocol, are rarely returned to writers), scrap paper grows like twisty-ties for everyone.

Jan. 21, 2006

2006-01-21T22:32:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
art gallery postcard

cork & foil wrappings to 1995 Montiano, 1995 Rubino, 2002 Luce Abbey cabernet, 1993 Rick Forman cabernet

take-out coffee cup

2 EQUAL paper packets

1 wooden stirrers

2 plastic containers of Half-n-Half

2 used Saloncare muscle relaxants

2 paper napkins

1 sales tag to Foo Dog garden sculpture

paper bag that held 2 donuts

1 grocery receipt

1 plastic bag in Kellog’s All Bran

plastic wrapping to toilet paper rolls

cardboard tube from emptied toilet paper roll

plastic wrapping to a rib-eye sandwich

3 pieces of junk mail

tissue wrapping from 2 photo frames

pistils from 2 cherry lilies

a registered mail receipt

Q-tip

plastic cup that held mouthwash

kitty shit & piss clumps

day-old cat food

1 piece of scrap paper

fingernail clippings

1 peel-off sales sticker

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
1 plastic grocery shopping bag

1 twistie tie

RE-USED:
Nothing

RECYCLED:
emptied wine bottles (1995 Montiano, 1995 Rubino, 2002 Luce Abbey cabernet, 1993 Rick Forman cabernet)

5 cans of dog food

1 Arizona iced tea container

Kellog All Bran box

2 Shopwise magazine circulars

SF Chronicle

Jan. 20, 2006

2006-01-20T22:55:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
plastic & cardboard packaging for 2 cat toys

museum postcard

magazine postcard

plastic envelope

2 movie stubs (“Shopgirl”)

cork & foil wrapping to 1989 Luciano Sandroni Cannubi Boschis

foil lining to cap to Aquari-yum bottle

2 EQUAL paper packets

coffee grounds for 2 cups of coffee

used Thermacare muscle relaxant

plastic strip to Salonpas muscle relaxants

18-egg cardboard container

2 eggshells

1 piece of scrap paper

2 ends to a loaf of bread

plastic bag that held loaf of bread

left-over dog kibble

dog fur (lovingly brushed off the dogs)

1 grocery receipt

1 football scratch game pad

a week's worth of kitty litter ridden with cat piss & shit

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
Nothing

RE-USED:
Nothing

RECYCLED:
emptied wine bottle (1989 Luciano Sandroni Cannubi Boschis)

9 cans of dog food

1 diet coke can

1 tuna can

1 soup can (Wolfgang Puck’s chicken with rice)

1 emptied Pellegrino bottle

1 emptied mayonnaise jar

2 boxes that held wine

emptied gallon container of Crystal Geyser spring water

Jan. 19, 2006

2006-01-19T23:03:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
plastic wrapping and paper peel-off backing to Thermacare muscle relaxant

Mallomars plastic wrapping & container

plastic/paper packaging to Benadryl pills

plastic/paper packaging to Pepcid pills

1 piece of junk mail

4 museum postcards

poster from Breadloaf

2 plastic sandwich bags

2 days worth of kitty litter shit & piss clumps

leaves to cherry lilies

rubber band & plastic wrap to 3 stalks of cherry lilies

2 grocery receipts

plastic bag packaging to pre-made Caesar salad

cork & foil to 2002 Dutch Henry chardonnay

plastic bag wrapping to Thai shrimp Gyoza

1 piece of saran wrap

paper wrapping to Cadbury chocolate bar

1 piece of scrap paper

1 EQUAL paper packet

coffee grounds for 1 cup

1-cup coffee filter

Q-tip

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
3 twistie ties

1 plastic grocery bag

1 food storage bag

gift shopping bag

RE-USED:
Nothing

RECYCLED:
7 cans that held dog food

2 diet coke cans

Danbury Mint advertising magazine

St. Helena Star

ST Chronicle

NY Times

emptied wine bottle (2001 Jones Family cabernet)

NOTES:
Knowing how plastic is made or how it would be disposed, I’m really loathe to trash it.

Jan. 18, 2006

2006-01-18T11:08:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
art gallery postcard

cork and foil wrappings to 2 opened wine bottles (1998 Ciacci Pertimali Brunello and 1990 Clerico Bussia Barolo)

Q-tip

banana peel

coffee grounds for 2 cups

2 one-cup coffee filters

2 EQUAL paper packet

1 paper napkin

bookstore receipt

advertising magazine

cardboard box mailer

Mallomars box

RE-USED
2 brown paper shopping bags

SAVED FOR RE-USE
Nothing

RECYCLED:
2 cans that held dog food

1 diet coke can

brown paper bag

2 emptied wine bottles (1998 Ciacci Pertimali Brunello and 1990 Clerico Bussia Barolo)

Jan. 17, 2006

2006-01-17T22:45:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
museum postcard

5 lavender mums

plastic ties and cardboard labels to new pantsuit

invitation to lecture and reception for "Hatshepsut From Queen to Pharaoh" exhibit at De Young Museum

pita bread from De Young Museum lecture/reception

valet parking stubs from De Young Museum lecture/reception

pair of unmatched socks

used lightbulb

cardboard packaging to new lightbulb

2 pieces of junk mail

Q-tip

kitty litter shit & piss clumps

day-old cat food

2 EQUAL packets

coffee grounds for 2 cups

1 pieces of scrap paper

2 pieces of small scrap paper

1 paper towel

left-over egg sandwich

2 paper napkins

paper and plastic tissue wrap to roast beef

plastic cover to tray of canned dog food

peel-off backing to book mailer

dental floss

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
Cardboard box and styrofoam pellets

RE-USED:
a plastic grocery shopping bag

plastic food storage bag

pieces of scrap paper to make 2 mailing labels

RECYCLED:
2 cans that held dog food

3 diet coke cans

emptied soup can (Wolfgang Puck’s clam chowder)

The Filipino Reporter

cardboard tray that held dog food

Jan. 16, 2006

2006-01-16T23:14:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
art gallery postcard

Gabriela's doggie toenails

disposable razor

Q-tip

kitty litter shit & piss clumps

day-old cat food

2 EQUAL packets

coffee grounds for 2 cups

3 pieces of scrap paper

foil that had contained left-over French toast

4 plastic tissues and food storage bag that held sliced salami

2 paper napkins

an index card

used packing tape and mailing labels

Staples flyer

hardware store receipt

battery (I suspect the hardware store didn’t recycle it)

plastic cup that held mouthwash

plastic food storage bag that held pita chips

left-over pita chips

left-over dog kibble

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
Nothing

RE-USED:
2 boxes, Styrofoam pellets & bubblewrap to send books (ENGLISH, Reproductions, Menage a Trois, The First Hay(na)ku Anthology, Sean Finney’s The Obedient Door, Pinoy Poetics, Barry Schwabsky’s OPERA and John Yau/Archie Rand’s 100 More Jokes From The Book of the Dead)

RECYCLED:
6 cans that held dog food

1 diet coke can

emptied tuna can

emptied soup can (Wolfgang Puck’s chicken soup)

plastic container that held Aquari-yum kittie treats

emptied wine bottle (2003 Peter Michael Winery Chardonnay “La Carriere”)

Jan. 15, 2006

2006-01-15T23:32:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
cork, foil wrapping and emptied bottle to 2003 Schloss Schonborn Beerenauslese

1/2 box and box of Hostess frosted chocolate mini-donuts

kitty litter shit & piss clumps

day-old cat food

2 EQUAL packets

coffee grounds for 2 cups

used Salonpas muscle relaxant strip

6 eggs’ eggshells

cardboard box that held left-ver duck

breakfast food waste: eggs, milk and cinnamon

dental floss

1 piece of scrap paper

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
Nothing

RE-USED:
Nothing

RECYCLED:
6 cans that held dog food

SF Chronicle

NY Times

1 diet coke can

Jan. 14, 2006

2006-01-14T22:39:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
cork, foil wrapping and emptied bottle to 1992 Christophe Roumier Ruchohes-Chambertin Grand Cru

2 movie stubs (“The Stone Family”)

Q-tip

day-old cat food

kitty litter shit & piss clumps

1 EQUAL packet

coffee grounds for 1 cup

2 grocery receipts

can of diet coke (coz the winery we visited had no recycling infrastructure; they trashed everything)

wax paper cardboard that had held some quiche

plastic fork

2 plastic tissues that held sliced salami

2 postcards

4 pieces of scrap paper

hardware store receipt

1 plastic strip for Salonpas muscle relaxants

2 plastic shopping bags (reused as trash bags)

tissue paper wrapping to 2 Coach leather photo brag books

cardboard tube from emptied toilet paper roll

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
Coach shopping bag

RE-USED:
Nothing

RECYCLED:
6 cans that held dog food

2 advertising magazine circulars

SF Chronicle

NY Times

cardboard container that held diet coke cans

Jan. 13, 2006

2006-01-13T22:41:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
4 art gallery brochures or postcards

2 poetry posters

nearly half a gallon of egg nog

waxed paper eggnog container

2 EQUAL packets

coffee grounds for 2 cups

16 pieces of scrap paper (from drafting & redrafting a poetry book review)

food storage bag & plastic issue that held sliced salami

a week’s worth of used kitty litter with kitty shit & piss clumps

2 grocery bags

styrofoam tray and plastic packaging for ground beef

2 twistie-ties

plastic bag of Bouchon Bakery sliced baguettes

cardboard tube from emptied roll of packing tape

peeled off backings to 5 book mailers

1 grocery receipt

1 brown paper bag

plastic wrapping to prosciutto and parmesan cheese sandwich

1 paper towel

1 junk solicitation

plastic and cardboard packaging to wireless computer mouse

peel-off Small Press Traffic entry sticker

foil that held chicken

left-over chicken breast

1 shipping box

Q-tip

1 paper napkin

piece of brown wrapping paper (could have been recycled but the cats squashed a bug within its folds)

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
5 boxes

bubblewrap

brown packing paper

RE-USED:
1 box, Styrofoam pellets and bubblewrap to send out books

RECYCLED:
2 diet coke cans

6 cans that held dog food

empty Pellegrino water bottle

NOTES:
I’ve sent out so many books in the past week and a half that I’ve re-used over half a lawn bag’s worth of .styrofoam packing pellets. That pleases me so much! Re-using something is waaaaaaay better than recycling -- so many things that we recycle never end up being recycled. For instance, though I sort out aluminum and tin cans, glass and plastic containers for recycling, I know there’s a risk that they’re just dumped into the landfill. I still sort recyclables but best to re-use!

Jan. 12, 2006

2006-01-12T22:20:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
fragments of Parmigiano Reggiano Reserva Bonati cheese

2 plastic tissues that held sliced salami

2 foil wrappings that held pizza

uneaten portion, including rind, of vegetable pizza

1 EQUAL packet

coffee grounds for 1 cup

Q-tip

kitty shit & piss clumps

2 grocery bags (that had been re-used as trash bags)

peeled-off enclosure backing to book mailer

1 piece of scrap paper

2 pieces of small scrap paper

plastic bag that held St. Helena Star

gasoline receipt

plastic wrapping around tray of dog food

bookstore receipt

department store receipt

plastic & cardboard tags to 2 sofa throws

cardboard box that held leftover quail and veal

veal scraps

quail bones

plastic wrapping that held 8 book mailers

1 paper napkin

dental floss

rental car receipt

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
3 plastic grocery shopping bags

1 Manila envelope

RE-USED:
Nothing

RECYCLED:
2 diet coke cans

8 cans that held dog food

cardboard tray that held canned dog food

St. Helena Star

empty wine bottle (2002 Hundred Acre cabernet)

empty Pellegrino water bottle

NOTES:
My daily trash list is deceptive in that it mirrors what I throw away, but not what my household (so to speak) generates in trash. For instance, today, said household generated tons of grass cause we cut our grass on mountain. And some workmen came by to work on kitchen and they generated various electrical and measuring tape fragments, sawdust, plywood fragments etc. Oh well.

Also, my trash list makes me realize I’m not flossing enough. Sigh.

Jan. 11, 2006

2006-01-11T21:55:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
3/4 of a jar of mango lime chutney

5 paper napkins

1 EQUAL packet

coffee grounds for 1 cup

2 used Salonpas muscle relaxants

kitty shit & piss clumps

2 grocery bags (that had been re-used as trash bags)

plastic tissue that held sliced prosciutto

2 peel-off backings to book mailers (for mailing 100 MORE JOKES, The Hay(na)ku Anthology and ENGLISH)

peeled-off sales sticker

pharmacy receipt

grocery receipt

bookstore receipt

dog fur

stray oak leaves that floated through open doors

1 piece of scrap paper

Q-tip

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
1 plastic grocery shopping bag

RE-USED:
winery cardboard folder to make a mixed-media artwork: “Bond” (2006)

RECYCLED:
jar that held chutney

1 diet coke can

5 cans that held dog food

1 emptied Crystal Geyser water gallon container

NOTES:
From Elizabeth Royte’s GARBAGE LAND:

I suspect that many people feel guilty about the volume of their trash. As I became more educated about garbage, my feelings of shame and guilt grew. There was stuff in my barrel, like those stained linen napkins, for which I’d failed to find further use. When I’d brought this stuff into the house -- a new T-shirt, healthful food, a really fun toy -- it was live weight, something I was proud to have selected and purchased with my hard-earned money. Now the contents of the bag were dead weight, headed for burial. No wonder we prefer opaque garbage bags. And no wonder that recycling bags, which flaunt our virtue, are often translucent.

Jan. 10, 2006

2006-01-10T23:15:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
3 sticks used to skewer salmon strips

box of Pepcid pills

Pepcid flyer

1 paper napkin

2 EQUAL packets

coffee grounds for 2 cups

peeled off sticker from book mailer (to mail out The First Hay(na)ku Anthology)

used Grabber heating pad

2 used Salonpas muscle relaxers

plastic strip for Salonpas muscle relaxers

plastic bag & tissue that held roast beef

2 pieces of scrap paper

expired milk

milk container

2 pieces of plastic wrappings to trays of dog food

saran wrap that held cheese

day-old cat food

kitty shit and piss clumps

grocery receipt

1 piece of junk mail

Styrofoam tray and plastic wrapping to ground beef

cork (from bottle of 1999 Colgin cabernet)

saran wrap that held sliced sausages

food storage bag that held 2 brownies

plastic covering from new book (Winery Dogs of Napa Valley)

Q-tip

dog fur

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
2 plastic grocery shopping bags

RE-USED:
Nothing

RECYCLED:
7 cans that held dog food

2 cardboard trays that held dog food

1 emptied diet Snapple container

1 diet coke can

2 junk mail magazines

1 emptied wine bottle (2003 Peter Michael “La Carriere” chardonnay)

NOTES:
I expected my daily garbage lists to say more about my life than they have so far. I’m surprised …

Jan. 9, 2006

2006-01-09T23:00:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
plastic wrapping to a German Shepherd car sticker

5 lilac roses

leaves fallen from mums

foil wrapping to a chocolate Kiss

cardboard from shirt packaging

4 paper napkins

1 tissue that wiped off saliva from dog’s eye

plastic bag container and peel-off wrapping to a Grabber heating pad

plastic strip off Salonpas muscle relaxant

day-old cat food

kitty shit and piss clumps

Q-tip

2 EQUAL packets

coffee grounds for 2 cups

saran wrap that held prosciutto

saran wrap that held cheese

3 pieces of scrap paper

plastic backing to mailing labels

plastic/paper tag to new pair of underwear

2 punctured bags of “Sealed Air”

food storage bag that held nuts

plastic cup

4 international mailing labels that were incorrectly filled out

chicken drumstick bone

poinsettia leaves

grocery receipt

4 pieces of junk mail

dog fur

plastic/paper backing to Pepcid pills

plastic bag & tissue that held roast beef

pieces of scotch tape

fragments of bubble-wrap

plastic strip and piece of a book mailer

peel-off postal bar code

emptied scotch tape dispenser

several slices of Bouchon baguettes

cheese remnants

4 lamb rib bones

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
Gien platter storage box

1 plastic grocery shopping bag

Gumps shopping bag

Bubble wrap

RE-USED:
7 boxes to ship books (ENGLISH, Reproductions, Menage a Trois, The First Hay(na)ku Anthology, Sean Finney’s The Obedient Door, Pinoy Poetics, Barry Schwabsky’s OPERA and John Yau/Archie Rand’s 100 More Jokes From The Book of the Dead)

7 pieces of scrap paper for mailing labels

styrofoam pellets, bubblewrap, Styrofoam sheets and wrapping paper for mailing books

a mailing envelope

food storage bag to hold dog trout & sweet potato treats

RECYCLED:
6 cans that held dog food

2 emptied Pellegrino bottles

2 diet coke cans

NOTES:
Not that I’m wishing for spam, but I’m surprised I haven’t received any yet. I had planned for this to be my only blog where I wouldn’t delete spam because this blog is about … garbage.

Jan. 8, 2006

2006-01-08T21:05:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
corks and foil wrappings to 11 bottles of wine (2003 Peter Michael Winery Chardonnay “La Carriere”, 2001 Jones Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, 2002 Hundred Acre Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, 1999 Colgin Cabernet Sauvignon “Herb Lamb Vineyard”, 1994 Dominus, 1997 Abreu Cabernet Sauvignon Madrona Ranch, 1997 Harlan Estate)

8 pieces of saran wrap or wax paper that covered cheeses or meats (8-year-old Quebec cheddar, 4-year-old Noord Hollander Aged Gouda Raw Milk, Aged Sierra Gold Mine Shafts, harley Farms Goat Cheese, Finocchiona Molinari, 18-month-old prosciutto di Parma, Bresaola (air cured beef from Salumeria Biellese), Parmigiano Reggiano Reserva Bonati, Brillat Savarin, Tomme Affine Chevre Grand Mere)

3/4 of a banana coconut cream pie

rinds/husks from 9 fresh-squeezed oranges

paper bag and tissue that held 2 sugar donuts

1 paper towel

1 Fedex cardboard mailer

fallen lilac rose leaves

2 Carrs cracker boxes

2 plastic containers that held cheese

6 grapes

day-old cat food

kitty shit and piss clumps

cardboard toilet paper tube

plastic wrapping to toilet paper rolls

Q-tip

undetermined amount of olive pits

4 pieces of scrap paper

Travigne menu

plastic bag that held grapes

paper wrappings to Bouchon baguettes

cocktail party/dinner food waste: cheeses and baguette slices

pieces of sofa clawed off by our two cats off of said sofa

paper and plastic packaging to 3 Benadryl pills

2 foil wrappings to chocolate Kisses

Salonpas muscle relaxant strip

1 plastic backing to Salonpas muscle relaxants

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
bag of Bouchon sliced baguettes

RE-USED:
Nothing

RECYCLED:
5 cans that held dog food

NY Times

SF Chronicle

11 emptied wine bottles

2 emptied Pellegrino bottles

cardboard box that held 6 gallons of Crystal Geyser spring water

NOTES:

Learner.org's site looks helpful in helping to learn how to reduce garbage.

Jan. 7, 2006

2006-01-07T22:30:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
16 peel-off Waterford crystal stickers

2 Salonpas muscle relaxant strips

kitty shit and piss clumps

day-old cat food

coffee grounds for 2 cups

2 EQUAL paper packets

Thank You card

foil that held left-over French toast

dog fur vacuumed from car

foil cover liner to Folger coffee container

plastic packaging to Frontline cat protection

silver foil covering to a chocolate kiss

kitty left-overs: roast beef

lunch food waste: remnants of a turkey burger, sweet potato fries and onion rings

cardboard take-out box for lunch from Taylor's

paper & plastic packaging to 3 Benadryl pills

10 paper napkins

dinner food waste: cheese

Redd restaurant business card

1 piece of scrap paper

cork and foil coverings to 4 wine bottles (1993 Chambertin Domaine Armand Rousseau, 1996 Screaming Eagle, 1985 Conterno Monfortino, 1988 Ch. d’yQuem)

Q-tip

wines from 2 problematic bottles (1993 Chambertin Domaine Armand Rousseau & 1985 Conterno Monfortino)

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
2 pieces of veal from dinner to feed to Artemis the cat

dinner left-overs of prime New York beef, creamy spinach, fingerling potatoes and short rib jus

RE-USED:
2 plastic grocery shopping bags

RECYCLED:
7 cans that held dog food

emptied plastic container of Folger’s coffee

4 packages of Friskie’s kitty treats donated to St. Helena We Care Animal Shelter

NOTES:
Michael Wells recently posted a poem entitled “Choices” at his blog, whose first line is:” Approaching the cashier I’m asked, "paper or plastic?"”

What I learned from Elizabeth Royte’s GARBAGE LAND is that “It isn’t worth it … to get worked up over paper versus plastic at the grocery store….the bags come out nearly equal in life cycle analyses.”

Jan. 6, 2005

2006-01-06T23:59:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
emptied Dunhill match box

fireplace ash

plastic wrapper and 3 postcard-inserts to Art in America

9 art gallery flyer/postcards

4 pieces of junk mail

1 Manila envelope

1 Post-it

plastic bag that held a donut

a week’s worth of used kitty litter

plastic bag and tissue that held roast beef

2 pieces of scrap paper

2 plastic grocery shopping bags (re-used as trash bags)

poinsettia leaves

plastic bag that held chocolate caramels

2 plastic containers that held macaroni salad

2 EQUAL paper packets

coffee grounds for 2 cups

paper & plastic packaging to 3 Benadryl pills

sanitary napkin and its plastic packaging

framing store receipt

bookstore receipt

grocery receipt

Thank you card

Box, plastic strip and plastic packaging to Salonpas muscle relaxants

Foil that held cat’s chicken leftovers

Heather’s menu

foil cap liner to Aquari-yums kitty treats

rinds to 1 tangerine

corks and foil wrappings to 4 wine bottles (1992 Araujo Eisele Vineyard Cabernet, 1970 Vega-Sicilia "Unico", 1994 Penfolds Grange Shiraz, 1993 Ravenswood Dickerson zinfandel)

1 food storage bag (that held frisee salad)

2 pieces of saran wrap wrapping to cheeses

Mallomars’ box and plastic packaging

5 paper napkins

3 envelopes from holiday cards

foil wrapping to 1 Kiss chocolate

tissue paper wrappings from Marquis Waterford wine goblets

dinner food waste: cheese rinds, Caramelized Maui Onion, Cherry Tomato and Goat Cheese Tartlet, duck breast, mixed vegetables, wines

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
1 plastic grocery bag

5 plastic shopping bags

RE-USED:
Nothing

RECYCLED:
7 cans that held dog food

2 diet coke cans

4 emptied wine bottles (1992 Araujo Eisele Vineyard Cabernet, 1970 Vega-Sicilia "Unico", 1994 Penfolds Grange Shiraz, 1993 Ravenswood Dickerson zinfandel)

empted Crystal Geyser water plastic bottle

4 cardboard containers to Marquis Waterford wine goblets

advertising magazine

Filipino Reporter

NOTES:

Jean Vengua recently proclaimed on her blog,

“I have decided never to be ashamed again.”

Heee. Go proclamation! And I applaud since Jean’s note is timely for Moi dot dot dot who is often embarrassed by this Garbage Blog.

Jan. 5, 2006

2006-01-05T22:57:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
green and red foil wrapping to 3 chocolate Kisses

mud and dirt tracked into house by dawgs

kitty shit and piss clumps

coffee grounds for 2 cups

2 EQUAL packets

2 scrap papers

3 small scrap papers

2 strips off book mailers (to mail out The Hay(na)ku Anthology, Reproductions and Menage a Trois)

wheat grass plant

1 lilac rose

rose leaves

5 plastic flower bloom protectors

rubber band and plastic wrapping to mums

mums' leaves and stem tips

plastic packet of Fresh Flower Food

football scratch pad game

1 grocery receipt

3 flower arrangement glitter sticks

plastic strip to Mariani Premium Philippine Mango Snack container

2 food storage bags

2 pieces of saran wrap

disposable shaver

Q-tip

plastic mouthwash cup

dinner food waste: salad greens and remnants of roast beef & cheese sandwich

waxed wrapping paper that contained sandwich

plastic tissue that held a donut

plastic/paper sheet that held Pepcid pills

paper & plastic packaging to 3 Benadryl pills

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
5 plastic grocery bags

RE-USED:
3 book mailers (to send out The Hay(na)ku Anthology and ENGLISH)

scrap paper for mailing label

RECYCLED:
7 cans that held dog food

2 diet coke cans

emptied wine bottle (1999 Bierzo Descendientes de J. Palacios, S.L.)

empted plastic bottle that contained Aquari-yum kitty treats

NOTES:
From Elizabeth Royte's GARBAGE LAND:

…while packaging makes up 35 percent of household waste in the U.S. (by weight), yard waste and food scraps make up another 25 percent. The fraction hasn’t always been so high. Between 1920 and 1990, the volume of organic matter in the American residential waste stream rose fourfold. Some of that increase was due to population growth, some to increased consumption, and some to more efficient collection. But the expansion came also, writes Susan Strasser in Waste and Want, from “a new willingness to define leftover food … as unwanted.”

Ironically, although we yearly bury or burn fifty million tons of energy-rich yard wate and food scraps (contributing significantly to the production of greenhouse gases) we continue to pump fossil fuel from the ground to produce commercial fertilizer. According to Richard Manning, in Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization, it takes an average of five and a half gallons of fossil energy, converted to fertilizer, to restore a year’s worth of lost fertility to an acre of eroded land. Nitrogen from this fertilizer (but not from compost, which releases its nutrients slowly) leaches into and pollutes water; the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, for example, has been attributed, in part to nitrogen runoff. Every single calorie we eat, writes Manning, “is backed by at least a calorie of oil, more like ten.”

Jan. 4, 2006

2006-01-04T22:11:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
bubblewrap fragment from computer technician’s visit

expired cat food coupon

day-old cat food

kitty shit and piss clumps

coffee grounds for 2 cups

2 EQUAL packets

plastic bag that held roast beef

plastic wrapping to tray of canned dog food

1 scrap paper

corn husk tamale wrapping

paper & plastic packaging to 3 Benadryl pills

2 plastic grocery shopping bags (that had been re-used to hold trash)

cat’s chicken left-overs

dental floss

1 envelope from mail

1 junk mail

Heather’s menu

dinner food waste; asparagus and pork chop bits

dog fur lovingly brushed off dawgs

1 paper napkin

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
U.S. post office plastic bag

book mailer

4 pieces of scrap paper

RE-USED:
Notning

RECYCLED:
5 cans that held dog food

2 diet coke cans

cardboard tray that held canned dog food

NOTES:
In 2000, I wrote a poem about the landfill atop a neighboring mountain where my household waste ends up. It’s a so-so poem, but that it exists attests to how inspirational our local dump is -- I even once attended a charity dinner there with the theme “White Trash” (the hosts were white & I’m just reporting here). If you click on its link, you’ll see by the views on its home site that this landfill has multi-million dollar views (from a real estate commercial standpoint). And, that last line is true:

Scenario For The Gods

Listen up
all ye yuppie

citizens
cramming my mailbox

with offers of cash
for my hilltop shack.

The best view in wine country
does not belong to residents

of Spring Mountain Road,
Howell Mountain, Oakville

Grade Road or Taplan.
The best view,

my salivating dears,
is one that’s replete

with circling hawks
suddenly romantic

with their slow dances
arcing through clouds

like the ripples
from a pebble

in a New Hampshire lake
the morning you shared

the view of a sunrise
dissipating fog

to elucidate what you meant
the prior night

when you whispered
“Fireflies glow

when they mate.”
In that Northeast dawn

you watched my eyes
instead of the sun

whose radiance
was the gentle touch

by a still unrepentant
King Midas.

I realized then
someday we would share

a shack in St. Helena
shaded by an ancient oak

bewitched by Venus
bathing forever in a fountain.

But as real estate brokers
and Silicon Valley refugees prove,

our home
is not really a “shack”--

an adjective I concoct
from my people’s superstition

that those wallowing
in their fortune

attract the mischief
of gods.

Which is why I now
proclaim: Listen up--

the best mountain view
in this territory devoted

to the vine and its sympathetic
wildflowers

is not where the oak trees
curved their branches

to form a cathedral ceiling
atop the road

winding
its way up

to my “shack.”
The best view

is another sinuous pathway
toward the Calistoga

Town Dump
where plaid-shirted denizens

insist on recyling
as well as trashing.

Linger
up the drive

to savor echoes
of Provence

off the road
where the cliffs drop.

Be sure to brake
for the deer.

Reach the top
and remember

why you’re visiting.
Smile as you look

at mounds
and mounds of garbage

topped by a sign that smirks:
H O L L Y W O O D.

Jan. 3, 2006

2006-01-03T22:40:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
fireplace wood and paper ash

foil & cork to the 1999 Bierzo Descendientes de J. Palacios, S.L.

2 used staples

day-old cat food

kitty shit and piss clumps

red and green foil wrappings to 2 chocolate Kisses

1 Thermacare muscle relaxant

1 Salonpas muscle relaxant

coffee grounds for 2 cups

2 EQUAL packets

peeled off label

1 scrap paper

1 piece of small scrap paper

2 plastic grocery shopping bags

plastic cover to dog’s knuckle bone

corn husk tamale wrapping

paper strip to book mailer

dryer lint

1 satsumi

1 orange

1 plastic bag that held Salonpas muscle relaxants

1 condolence card

2 letters

1 photo

3 envelopes to holiday cards

2 envelopes from mail

art gallery postcard

6 advertising mailers

dinner food waste: shrimp with peanut sauce and pickled vegetable slaw

chicken bone

Styrofoam and plastic packaging to ground beef

Pepcid flyer

1 paper napkin

sanitary pad

paper & plastic packaging to 3 Benadryl pills

plastic strip to Salonpas muscle relaxants

dental floss

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
scrap paper

shipping box

book mailer

RE-USED:
newspaper for fireplace kindling

RECYCLED:
cardboard packaging for DenTek Flossers

7 cans that held dog food

1 diet coke can

Napa Valley Marketplace

emptied wine bottle (2001 Majella “The Mallea”)

emptied Pellegrino water bottle

NOTES:
In recent days, this Garbage Project has made me think mostly of ... futility.

Jan. 2, 2006

2006-01-02T21:45:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
plastic backing to Xmas tree skirt

red and green foil wrappings to 2 chocolate Kisses

box, paper and plastic packaging to Thermacare muscle relaxants

paper backing to Salonpas muscle relaxants

fireplace wood and paper ash

day-old cat food

kitty shit and piss clumps

cardboard & plastic tag packaging to new pair of socks

foil & cork to the 2001 Majella “The Mallea”

coffee grounds for 2 cups

2 EQUAL packets

saran wrap to black truffle mousse

rinds to 1 tangerine

5 scraps of paper

7 pieces of junk mail

1 envelope from mail

postcard inserts from Filipinas and Artforum magazines

plastic wrapping around Artforum and Bookforum

foil wrapping and two corn husk wrappings from Juana’s tamales

poinsettia leaves and branches

plastic, cardboard, tape and twistie-tie packaging for new laptop, wires, speakers and other accouterments

box and plastic packaging that held Mallomars cookies

1 twistie tie

box and plastic packaging to an iPOD case

3 paper towels

dinner food waste: salmon and peach tart crumbs

paper and plastic packaging to 2 Benadryl pills

dental floss

7 tissues laden with dog-hair (following a medicated shampoo for Gabriela)

sanitary pad

peeled off paper mailing barcode

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
food storage bag

9 x 12" white envelope

RE-USED:
Nothing

RECYCLED:
Xmas tree sent back to the loving embrace of the mountain

2 diet coke cans

FILIPINAS magazine

7 cans that held dog food

NOTES:
From Elizabeth Royte’s GARBAGE LAND:

“Archaeologists know that ancient people did the same things with refuse that we do today: they threw it in holes in the ground, they buried it, and then they found another hole. Sometimes they left detritus on the floors of their houses, then covered that layer with dirt. Over time the floors rose high enough that roofs and doorway shad to be raised. The ancient Trojans, it’s estimated, accumulated waste at the rate of 4.7 feet per century. In Don DeLillo’s Underworld, a novel about a waste trader, a character named Jesse Detwiler teaches his UCLA students that garbage has its own momentum, that it has the power to shape people. Pushed to edges, garbage also pushed back. ‘People were compelled to develop an organized response,’ Detwiler says. ‘This means they had to come up with a resourceful means of disposal and build a social structure to carry it out - - workers, managers, haulers, scavengers.’ In Detwiler’s view, garbage acted as an evolutionary force, helping to shape early man. ‘[I]t forced us to develop the logic and rigor that would lead to systematic investigations of reality to science, art, music, mathematics.’”

Jan. 1, 2006

2006-01-01T23:41:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
75 holiday cards, photographs and other correspondence (see Notes)

plastic candy-cane shaped container that held chocolate Kisses (see Notes)

red tinsel (see Notes)

foil covers to 2 chocolate Kisses

2 bird soft toys demolished by the dawgs

1 piece of scrap paper

2 EQUAL packets

4 paper napkins

2 sanitary napkins and its plastic & paper packaging

Q-tip

dental floss

half a jar of hamburger relish

breakfast food waste: eggs and rice

2 Salonpas muscle relaxant strips

paper backing to Salonpas muscle relaxants

rinds from 1 tangerine

plastic mesh bag that held tangerines

toilet paper roll

plastic strip from book mailer to mail out Nick Carbo’s Secret Asian Man and El Grupo McDonald, Timothy Liu’s Say Goodnight, and The Hay(na)ku Anthology)

grocery receipt

fallen rose leaves

dinner table placecard

fireplace ash

day-old cat food

kitty shit and piss clumps

peel-off opener to banana cream pie container

cardboard & plastic tag, two peel-off stickers, the registration card and brochure for Squish massage neck pillow

two pieces of saran wrap used to cover goat cheese rounds

2 pens

foil & cork to the 1990 Tarrabianca Campaccio

chicken bones

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
box of unused holiday cards

RE-USED:
7 shopping bags to store Xmas tree ornaments

7 boxes to store Xmas tree ornaments

2 pieces of cardboard and envelope for mailing covers to The Hay(na)ku Anthology

1 shopping bag to store holiday-themed stuffed animals

RECYCLED:
SF Chronicle

NY Times

7 cans that held dog food

emptied Del Monte relish jar

emptied wine bottle (1990 Tarrabianca Campaccio)

1 diet coke can

emptied box of Duraflame logs

5 pieces of cardboard

box and plastic handle that contained Squish massage neck pillow

NOTES:
I love the Holiday season. But this Garbage project is only emphasizing how unfortunate it is that holiday rituals generate so much trash.

New Year's Eve Trash

2005-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
plastic & cardboard packaging to I-pod cable

half of a “bird’s nest” dessert

scraps of wrapping paper & ribbon

tissue paper used to wrap a painting

4 EQUAL packets

1 cup’s worth of coffee grounds

wood stirrer

2 plastic Half & Half containers

2 grocery receipts

plastic & paper packaging to 3 Benadryl pills

breakfast food waste: egg, cinnamon, butter, milk

plastic strip to Salonpas muscle relaxants

1 paper bag

cardboard box that held take-out quiche

plastic bag that held pistachios

pistachio shells

plastic container and paper packaging to Greek desserts

2 tea bags (Twinings Earl Grey & Celestial Seasons Country Peach Passion)

emptied milk container

rinds from 1 tangerine

old airline ticket stub

pet store receipt

plastic bag with bits of crostini

styrofoam tray flecked with bits of black truffle mousse

2 olive pits

cheese rinds

9 paper napkins

plastic tape and paper/plastic strip from book mailer (for ENGLISH and The Hay(na)ku Anthology)

marketing card from Goode Pecan Pie

emptied container of Tropicana orange juice

kitty shit & piss clumps

Q-tip

2 pieces of scrap paper

2 sanitary pads and plastic and paper packaging

plastic bag that held dog treats

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
1 brown paper bag

1 plastic grocery shopping bag

1 shipping box

pet store shopping bag

RE-USED:
ribbons for a dog present

silver wrapping paper and lime green organza ribbon for a housewarming present

3 shopping bags

RECYCLED:
SF Chronicle

NY Times

German Shepherd Review

7 cans that held dog food

1 cardboard tube from paper towel dispenser

1 soup can (Wolfgang Puck’s chicken soup)

1 emptied wine bottle (1993 Ravenswood Russian River Valley zinfandel)

1 emptied plastic bottle of Dawn dishwashing liquid

cardboard box that held diet cokes

emptied plastic container of Geyser water

NOTES:
Well, I guess I’ll recycle moiself now for the new year dot dot dot

Dec. 30, 2005

2005-12-30T23:59:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
1 plastic cover to the German Shepherd Review

a tick squeezed out of Gabriela’s leg, fat with Gabriela’s blood, which we placed atop a cutting board and smashed down with a big hammer (really….that bugger refused to die otherwise….and how dare it suck blood out of moi baby! )

4 cotton balls soaked with hydrogen peroxide used to treat tick bite of Gabriela’s leg

2 envelopes from received holiday cards

week’s worth of kitty litter with kitty shit & piss clumps

plastic & paper packaging to 3 Benadryl pills

Q-tip

2 grocery receipts

3 pieces of scrap paper

2 pieces of small scrap paper

plastic grocery shopping bag

plastic top to newly-opened tissue box

dog fur lovingly brushed off dawgs

rinds from 1 tangerine

half an orange (picked from orchard but not yet edible)

2 movie stubs (“Memoirs of a Geisha”)

3 paper napkins

2 sanitary pads and plastic and paper packaging

coffee grounds for 2 cups

2 EQUAL packets

2 paper doilies that held Greek desserts

5 glasses worth of a week-old chardonnay from the back of fridge

2/3 of a week-old baguette and paper wrap

baklava crumbs

1 library borrowing receipt

1 Thank You card

3 envelopes from mail

1 flyer of a neighbor’s lost cat

2 grocery receipts

1 plastic bag and plastic tissue that held a mocha donut

1 emptied Benadryl box

1 paper towel

3 tissues

dinner food waste: bits of filet mignon, rib eye, mashed potatoes and onion rings

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
6 plastic grocery shopping bags

1 Manila envelope

RE-USED:
Manila envelope and piece of cardboard for mailing out a copy of The Hay(na)ku Anthology

scrap paper for mailing label

RECYCLED:
SF Chronicle

Rain Taxi

7 cans that held dog food

1 soup can (Wolfgang Puck’s chicken soup)

2 Diet Coke cans

1 Bumble Bee tuna can

1 emptied wine bottle (2002 Dutch Henry chardonnay)

NOTES:
We’re flooding here in Napa Valley. It’s our own taste of the effects of global warming – the tsunami, hurricanes and now increasingly intense rainy weather. I relate the flooding waters to this Trash Project as I know that while I try with recycling, there's still a lot of paper and plastic (especially plastic!) that I trash instead of recycle -- and as Elizabeth Royte addresses in this excerpt from her book GARBAGE LAND:

“I believed that making new things from old things saved natural resources, including vast amounts of energy. But I knew also that individual recycling efforts were puny compared to the larger world of waste. Of all the waste generated in the U.S. -- including mining and agricultural waste, oil and gas waste, food processing residues, construction and demolition debris, hazardous waste, incinerator ash, cement-kiln dust, and other categories too rarefied to describe -- municipal solid waste represented a mere 2 percent. Two percent!

“…In a 1996 In These Times article called ‘Pavlov’s Pack Rats,’ Joel Bleifuss wrote, ‘In many ways, recycling can be seen as a perverse form of penance in which individual recyclers absolve themselves from participating in an environmentally destructive culture.’ Bleifuss called the penance perverse because it wasn’t individuals producing garbage but corporations – the soda bottlers, the catalog companies, the toy manufacturers, and the food packagers.

“I didn’t completely buy Bleifuss’s argument. No one had held a gun to my head and forced me to buy a plastic wind-up fish for my daughters. I did choose naked green peppers at the co-op over plastic-wrapped peppers at the supermarket, but the choices weren’t always so easy. Who made a wind-up fish that biodegraded? Or sold printer cartridges without a blister pack? Too often, our only choices were between one overpackaged, poorly made product and another. I came down somewhere in the middle of the argument: individuals could not shirk responsibility for the waste that passed through their hands, but neither were producers blameless. I had begun my travels in trash writing letters to manufacturers about excessive packaging, single-use products, and Frankenstein designs. None had responded. I knew it would take laws (like landfill bans on single-use beverage containers and mandates for recycled content), sharp penalties and massively collective consumer action to induce change Still, no matter how trivial my kitchen recycling operation might appear, I considered it a moral act. It reminded me of the connection between my daily life and the natural world, from which every bit of the stuff arrayed about me had come.”
--P. 275-276

Dec. 29, 2005

2005-12-29T21:56:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
plastic cover and rubber bands to six lilac New Year’s roses

plastic packet that held Fresh Flower Food

leaves and stem tips from roses

Gumps receipt for 5 Xmas tree ornaments (holiday sale!)

paper and tape packaging to received holiday present

wrapping paper and tape from holiday present

1 envelope from received holiday card

2 envelopes from mail

1 art gallery brochure

plastic bag that held 2 sugar donuts

3 EQUAL paper packets

coffee grounds for 3 cups

one-cup coffee filter

2 paper doilies that held pistachio Greek dessert

5 red roses

1 white rose

1 yellow rose

1 pink rose

eggshells for 2 eggs

pulp paper container for 18 eggs

peeled-off label to glass vase

1 grocery receipt

used staple

kitty litter shit & piss clumps

plastic & paper packaging to 3 Benadryl pills

Q-tip

dental floss

foil paper cap liner to Aquari-yum kitty treats

styrofoam and plastic packaging to ground beef

paper and plastic packaging to 3 Benadryl pills

plastic bag and rubber band that rain-proofed St. Helena Star

1 piece of scrap paper

dog bone soft toy demolished by Achilles

2 pieces of saran wrap

emptied GLAD cling wrap box

about 3 spoonfuls of 1-year-old raspberry jam

peeled off paper label on raspberry jam jar

dinner food waste: cheese rinds and jelly rinds to black truffle mousse pate

rinds from 2 tangerines

plastic bag and paper strip from menstrual sanitary pad

plastic bag and paper strip from ThermaCare muscle relaxant

clump of kitty fur with teensy scab

glass-worth of 1994 Clos Martinet Priorat

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
book mailer

Burberry’s shopping bag and cardboard tie-packaging

Gumps shopping bag

5 bubblewrap bags that held Xmas tree ornaments

2 plastic shopping bags

1 U.S. postal service bag

1 shipping box

blue and silver ribbon bow

2 gift boxes

paper clip

rubber band

RE-USED:
Nothing

RECYCLED:
cardboard tube from emptied GLAD cling wrap box

emptied plastic bottle of Aquari-yum kitty treats

emptied plastic bottle of Aquafina water

6 cans that held canned dog food

newspaper stuffing to received holiday gift

SF Chronicle

St. Helena Star

emptied wine bottle (1994 Clos Martinet Priorat)

tin jar cover

emptied glass jam jar

emptied plastic container of Catviar gourmet cat treats

NOTES:

From Elizabeth Royte’s GARBAGE LAND:

Most people don’t think of garbage collection as particularly dangerous work. It may be dirty, boring, and strenuous, but compared to the potential perils of, say, coal mining, the risks in heaving trash seem minor. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies refuse collection as “high-hazard” work, along with logging, fishing, driving a taxicab, and, yes, mining. While the fatality rate for all occupations is 4.7 deaths per 100,000 workers, garbage collectors die at a rate of 46 per 100,000. In fact, they’re approximately three times more likely to be killed on the job than police officers or firefighters.
--P. 38

Dec. 28, 2005

2005-12-28T22:22:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
a fallen rose leaf

an oak leaf brought into the house by the dogs

fur lovingly brushed off moi dawgs

plastic cover to eggnog container

Mallomars box

crumbs from almond croissant

dryer lint

cardboard box that contained Queen Anne's cordial chocolates

plastic packaging to Mallomars cookies

6 art gallery postcards

cork and foil cover to 1993 Ravenswood Russian River Valley zinfandel

lunch food waste: chicken, rice and extra coq au vin sauce

chicken bones

grocery receipt

1 strip of Salonpas muscle relaxant

kitty litter shit & piss clumps

2 pieces of scrap paper

3 pieces of small scrap paper

2 olive pits

bits of cheese rind

dental floss

Q-tip

paper cap liner to newly opened bottle of Virbac

plastic & paper packaging to 3 Benadryl pills

plastic & paper packaging to Pepcid pills

strips of electrical tape

steel wool

1 cup's worth of coffee grounds

2 EQUAL paper packets

wooden coffee stirrer

plastic cover to tray of canned dog food

pieces of scotch tape

peeled-off used mailer

4 paper napkins

day-old cat food

plastic wrapping to San Francisco magazine

2 8-month-old batches of frozen spaghetti sauce

donation request letter

library borrowing receipt

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
3 plastic grocery bags

1 plastic trash bag

book mailer

RE-USED:
twistie-tie (great: I'm only down now to a gazillion)

grocery bag for recycling bag

piece of scrap paper as mailing label

book mailer to send out a copy of The Hay(na)ku Anthology

bubblewrap and Gumps shopping bag for 5 copies of The Hay(na)ku Anthology, an ENGLISH brick, Pinoy Poetics, Jose Garcia Villa's THE ANCHORED ANGEL, Sean Finney's THE OBEDIENT DOOR, John Yau and Archie Rand's 100 MORE JOKES FROM THE BOOK OF THE DEAD and Barry Schwabsky's OPERA

RECYCLED:
SF Chronicle

NY Times

Filipino Reporter

San Francisco magazine

cardboard tray that held canned dog food

5 cans of canned dog food

2 Diet Coke cans

1 plastic gallon container of Crystal Geyser water

St. Francis advertising brochure

NOTES:
Rochita Loenen-Ruiz comments on trash! I am happy to hear from her as she lives in the Netherlands where the recycling mentality is more advanced than in many U.S. municipalities. Here's Rochita's take:

"I went and checked your new blog and you are doing a really great job of recycling, re-using and sorting. I must confess to sinning against sorting garbage every now and then, although I do try my very best to sort and recycle as much as possible.

"I found your post interesting as trash has been a major topic of discussion in our municipality for the past two years. Folks in government have been trying to implement a system called Diftar which hasn't been popular among the majority of our municipality's population. So, instead of implementing this, we are now encouraged to sort and recycle trash as much as possible.

"For instance, there are special garbage cans (installed at strategic places in the municipality) for bottles ( classified for brown bottles, green bottles, and clear glass) Beside this you'll find a garbage can dedicated to all sorts of paper trash, that includes wrapping paper, carton boxes, envelopes, cards, receipts. Anything paper goes in there for recycling.

"There are also places in the municipality where people can go to deliver clothing/textile/blankets which they no longer use but which can be sorted for charity use or for recycling.

"Even diapers ( disposable ones ) have a special bin because according to what we read, they have a certain way of cleaning and recycling them for use later on. (ew!)
More and more people are encouraged to use cloth diapers though.

"Bringing things to second hand shops and purchasing from these shops is also encouraged by the government. Most of these second hand shops are run by churches or charities and the income usually goes towards a charity.

"There are two types of garbage cans for every household. A gray one for non-recyclable stuff like plastic and tin cans. A green one for things like potato peelings, food leftovers, grass from the lawn, garden cuttings....

"Some houses also use a compost can where stuff like that goes into and is composted for garden use. Most people just throw their compostable stuff into the green can and it goes to a place called the milieu station where it gets mixed and composted and everyone can go there once a year and get two bags of compost to spread over their gardens in lieu of shop bought fertilizer.

"Over here, there are also places that will buy aluminum and metal scraps. But these are also things you can bring to the milieu station.

"Buying used appliances is also becoming popular and everyone who buys something electronic has to pay a removal fee so that if that electronic thing has to be thrown away, the cost for recycling it has already been paid in advance. If you buy an electronic device to replace a broken down one, you can bring the broken down one to the shop and they will recycle it for you. That's what the fee is for.

"My mother-in-law who is a supper Dutchwoman, saves and recycles just about everything. From scraps of old towels which she cuts up and sews into rags for cleaning the floor, to the glass bottles from preserves which she puts her own preserves in. Things like cradles and baby baths are stored up in the attic for later eventuality. According to my mother-in-law this frugality is a habit she carried over from the German occupation when everything was in shortage and practically everything was given a second life.

"Reading through your entry about trash. People here are garden-crazy and get really paranoid about cat poo in their yards. To discourage cats from pooing in their freshly turned garden soil, they spread used coffee grounds over the garden soil which they claim is also good fertilizer and works effectively because cats hate getting those coffee grounds in between their paws. ( I know you have cats. I don't have them because my neighbours would never speak to me again.)

"Some people are more fanatic about trash separation than others. I suppose I'm somewhere in between. I'm a bit fanatic and have noticed that sorting has dramatically decreased the volume of garbage in my containers, but my world won't fall apart if I throw a paper napkin into the green can when it should go into the paper trash can.

"Here's me wishing you a happy, fruitful and interesting 2006."

Dec. 27, 2005

2005-12-27T21:11:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
small bag of silica that came with a new Xmas tree ornament (bought at after-Xmas sales)

envelope from 1 received holiday card

packing receipt from a gift received via Amazon.com

1 strip of Salonpas muscle relaxant

paper backing to Salonpas muscle relaxants

dental floss

Q-tip

styrofoam and plastic cover to Jenny-O turkey sausages

2 EQUAL paper packets

coffee grounds from 2 coffee cups

kitty litter shit & piss clumps

1 piece of scrap paper

food waste: breakfast –- rice; dinner -– rice and chicken

chicken bones

day-old cat food

plastic bag that held Sweet Potato dog treats

6 paper napkins

rinds from 1 tangerine

1/4 a chocolate-covered caramel

3 envelopes from mail

1 donation-request letter

rinds from 5 oranges

plastic bag that held a sugar cookie

plastic bag that held a chocolate chip cookie

2 tea bags and paper cover (Celestial Seasonings Country Peach Passion & Twinings Earl Grey)

layers of tissue paper wrapped around 13 new photo frames

26 peeled off sales-stickers

2 peeled off sales stickers from a new pet “brag book”

1 paper towel

saran wrap from a new frame

Rice a Roni cardboard box and paper packaging

Vanitas Winery lapel pin

Cork and foil wrapping to 1994 Clos Martinet Priorat

paper and plastic packaging to 3 Benadryl pills

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
5 plastic shopping bags

1 book mailer

RE-USED:
used book mailer and Manila envelope for mailing a copy of The Hay(na)ku Anthology

used styrofoam pellets and box for mailing 5 copies of The Hay(na)ku Anthology

used bubblewrap and box for mailing 10 copies of The Hay(na)ku Anthology

2 used cardboard pieces and Manila envelope for mailing a copy of The Hay(na)ku Anthology

used gift box and tissue wrapping paper to contain a new gift to a friend

RECYCLED:
cardboard cover to Jenny-O sausages

emptied plastic bottle of Virbac acid & zinc supplement for dogs

1 diet coke can

1 tuna can

1 soup can (Wolfgang Puck’s clam chowder)

9 cans that held dog food

NOTES:
From Elizabeth Royte’s GARBAGE LAND as regards composting food waste:

“…although we yearly bury or burn 50 million tons of energy-rich yard waste and food scraps (contributing significantly to the production of greenhouse gases) we continue to pump fossil fuel from the ground to produce commercial fertilizer….

“Is it possible to take energy from an urban population’s green waste and return it, safely and efficiently, to the earth? In 1895, Colonel George E. Waring found that transforming New York City’s organic waste to fertilizer and grease was easy enough, if you had a cheap and willing labor force and neighbors who didn’t protest the stench. But getting residents to separate this stuff, and hang on to it until the collection truck came ‘round, was an uphill battle. The city’s more recent experiment with kitchen scraps and garbage trucks revealed a similar reluctance to separate, at least in multifamily dwellings. San Francisco collets and composts organics … but only from restaurants and smaller residences. In Oregon, the Portland International Airport composts food scraps, but it is a tiny and self-contained operation. Seattle, for all its green consciousness, green markets, and green lawns, does not compost residential food scraps, though it is planning to start a commercial program. Europe, as usual, is more enlightened: in the Netherlands and in Germany, residents of single- and multifamily dwellings routinely scrape bread crusts and orange peels into bins for municipal collection and composting.”
--P. 124-125

Dec. 26, 2005

2005-12-26T20:51:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
emptied quart container of egg nog

stray tinsel

yarn bow around doggies’ Snowman soft-toy … because it simply was not practical against their teeth

paper doily that held a Xmas cookie

large styrofoam pad used as packing material

2005 postcard calendar

Saks Fifth Avenue promotional plastic card

cardboard and plastic packaging to a brand new pair of socks

2 plastic pieces of Salonpas muscle relaxants

Q-tip

dental floss

2 plastic bags that held All Bran cereal

2 pieces of scrap paper

2 Equal paper packets

eggshells from 2 eggs

6 paper napkins

purple-red rose

cardboard, plastic and paper wrapping material around 5 photo/certificate frames

3 shopping receipts

3 plastic bags that held matted photos

cardboard inner tube from toilet paper roll

3 plastic food storage bags

3 peeled-off barcode stickers

foil covering to a liqueur cake

paper/plastic packets for Benadryl pills

paper/plastic packets for Pepcid pills

plastic shopping bag (re-used for bathroom trash)

food waste: lunch -- bread crumbs; dinner -- pizza crusts and bits of green onion

cardboard/plastic container for take-out Caesar salad

paper wrapping from take-out pizza

plastic tip to bag containing pistachio nuts

pistachio nut shells

rinds from 2 nectarines

kitty litter shit & piss clumps

one glassful of 1989 Cantemerle

paper and plastic packaging to 3 Benadryl pills

RE-USED:
Nothing

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
3 plastic shopping bags

tissue wrapping paper

3 cardboard pieces (for book mailing inserts)

RECYCLED:
2 All Bran cereal boxes

1 wine gift box

1 can that held Bumble Bee tuna

8 cans that held dog food

1 diet coke can

1 Snapple bottle

2 emptied wine bottles (1988 Lafite and 1989 Cantemerle)

1 soup can (Wolfgang Puck’s tomato soup)

4 brown paper bags

SF Chronicle

NOTES:
From Elizabeth Royte’s GARBAGE LAND:

In 1993, Italo Calvino published an essay about his daily transfer of trash from the kitchen’s small container to a larger container called a poubelle, on the street. “[T]hrough this daily gesture I confirm the need to separate myself from a part of what was once mine, the slough or chrysalis or squeezed lemon of living, so that its substance might remain, so that tomorrow I can identify completely (without residues) with what I am and have.” He equated his satisfaction with tossing things away to his satisfaction with defecation, “the sensation at least for a moment that my body contains nothing but myself.”

I felt a kinship with Calvino, for I was obsessed with throwing things away. Transferring objects -- whether food scraps, the daily newspaper, or a lamp -- from my house to the street made me feel lighter and cleaner, peaceful even. My apartment wasn’t large, and so everything I subtracted gave me more of what I craved: emptiness.

Eventually, Calvino came to realize that so long as he was contributing to the municipality’s waste heap, he knew he was alive. To toss garbage, in his view, was to know that one was not garbage: the act confirmed that “for one more day I have been a producer of detritus and not detritus myself.” Riffing on death and identity, Calvino referred to the men who collected his garbage as “heralds of a possible salvation beyond the destruction inherent in all production and consumption, liberators from the weight of time’s detritus, ponderous dark angels of lightness and clarity.” In a similar vein, Ivan Klima, in his novel Love and Garbage, noted that street sweepers regard themselves as “healers of a world in danger of choking.” My san [garbage disposal] men, while not obviously self-reflective, knew exactly how the public viewed what they did: “People think there’s a garbage fairy,” one worker told me. “You put your trash on the curb and then pffft, it’s gone. They don’t have a clue.”
P. 38-30

***

I don't know -- isn't it rather sad to rely on one's garbage as proof that one is alive?

You wanna feel alive? How's about sex! Chocolate! A dog wagging its tail at you! Your baby opening its eyes! Opening your eyes to begin the day and seeing your lover's smile! Or ducking to survive a bullet! Or heart attack! Or car accident!

Garbage? You wanna feel alive? Try Poetry!

X-MAS DAY TRASH

2005-12-25T22:14:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
1 huge plastic bag stuffed with holiday wrapping paper, bows and ribbons, small gift boxes, cotton, tapes and tissue wraps (see Notes)

3 huge steel staplers (see Notes)

2 pieces of foam packing material (see Notes)

stray pieces of bubble wrap (see Notes)

foam stuffing from a bird dog toy that doesn’t look like it will survive 24 hours from when the German Shepherds received it from their dog-walker

plastic wrapping around a coffee table photography book (Winery Dogs of Napa Valley, photographs by Andrea Jacoby & Heather Zundel, with text by Elaine Riorden) (see Notes)

2 doilies once wrapped around a cookie and baklava (see Notes)

a red rose

4 pieces of scrap paper

2 small pieces of scrap paper

2 EQUAL paper packets

Q-tip

dental floss

coffee grounds for 2 cups

1 peeled-off sales sticker

eggshells from 6 eggs

a rose leaf

the (hard) end of a baguette

food waste: breakfast -- eggs, butter and cinnamon; lunch -- edges to toast (which I don’t like) and cookie crumbs; dinner -- baguette slices, rice, chicken and foie gras (the latter being a piece that Artemis the kitty decided she didn’t like)

left-over tuna not eaten by kitty

rinds from 1 orange

emptied plasticized container of Tropicana orange juice

a plastic bag containing one nail and a picture frame hanger

2 paper towels

4 paper napkins

2 strips of saran wrap

paper and plastic cover to foie gras

cork & foil from opening wine bottle (1988 Lafite)

Rice a Roni box and paper packaging

paper and plastic packaging around 3 Benadryl pills

plastic strip from Salonpas muscle relaxants

1 burnt match

ash from fireplace burning of one log

kitty litter shit & piss clumps

paper and plastic packaging to 3 Benadryl pills

RE-USED:
A huge U.S. postal service plastic bag to trash holiday wrapping materials (see Notes)

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
2 lawn bags worth of Styrofoam pellets (see Notes)

3 cardboard shipping boxes (see Notes)

5 gift boxes (see Notes)

“miles” of bubblewrap (see Notes)

gold-edged holiday poinsettia ribbon (see Notes)

RECYCLED:
cardboard packaging to rubber ball dog toy (see Notes)

8 cans that formerly contained dog food

7 flattened-out cardboard boxes

plastic cap to orange juice container

2 Diet Coke cans

1 soup can (Wolfgang Puck Chicken & Rice)

1 can that contained Bumble Bee albacore tuna

1 emptied Snapple bottle

plastic Crystal Geyser water gallon container

NOTES:
Here are some excerpts on Christmas trash from Elizabeth Royte’s GARBAGE LAND:

“It was nearly Christmas now, and every day the postman brought holiday catalogs. In 2001, American companies sent out 17 billion of them-- 59 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. -- weighing a total of 7.2 billion pounds. Only six of the seventy-four catalogs surveyed by the advocacy group Environmental Defense used recycled paper in the body of their mailings. Switching to just 10% recycled content, the group said would save enough wood to run a six-foot-high fence across the country seven times.”
--P. 235

According to Inform, the environmental research firm, Americans produce an additional 1 million tons of trash per week between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day….[I]n Natural Capitalism, author and entrepreneur Paul Hawken notes that for every 100 pounds of product that’s made – product that hits the store shelves -- at least 3,200 pounds of waste are generated [e.g. the packaging for such products]. According to William McDonough and Michael Braungart, in Cradle to Cradle, “…the product itself contains an average only 5 percent of the raw materials involved in the process of making and delivering it.” In other words, we throw out stuff just to make the stuff we throw out.
--P. 238-239

The second excerpt, in particular, resonates after viewing the trash today which is mostly comprised of the debris from having opened all the Holiday presents. Simply, many gift products came with packing and surrounding material that often had more volume than the objects themselves.

X-MAS EVE TRASH

2005-12-24T10:43:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
cardboard packaging around new pair of socks (with a pattern of gaily-wrapped Xmas presents)

paper and plastic packaging to a new pair of panties (which sparked conversation with hubby about how people who have affairs buy new underwear, to which I riposted: Yeah, but not the baggy cotton briefs-type with prison stripes)

7 strips of Salonpas pain relieving patches

Q-tip

Cleared files of old correspondence (see NOTES) to be trashed:
…65 holiday cards from 2004
…11 received thank you cards
…3 letters
…1 birthday card
…1 Valentine’s Day card

batch of 8-month old spaghetti sauce from freezer (see NOTES)

beet salad

plastic container that had contained beet salad

4 pieces of scrap paper

1 paper packet that used to contain EQUAL

coffee grounds from 1 cup

plastic/paper covering to 3 Benadryl pills

satsumi rinds

pink rose

emptied box of Woodhouse chocolates

a business card

postal receipt

3 grocery receipts

½ loaf of bread and its plastic packaging

paper bag that used to contain crostini

½ of a ham and cheese croissant sandwich and the paper/foil bag in which it came

¼ of a ham and cheese sandwich

5 paper napkins

2 plastic knives

3 envelopes from received holiday cards

1 donation-request letter

plastic wrapping and paper label for DEPARTURES magazine

cork and foil from opened wine bottles (1989 Barolo Parussio Bussia, 1989 Ch. Cantemerle, and the 2003 Schloss Schonborn Rhein-gau-Riesling Beerenauslese)

paper and plastic used to wrap cheeses (Ardranlon Irish Washedrind & Brin D’Amour-Fleurs Chantal)

1 orange (harvested from our small orchard of young trees so this was one of oranges we harvested but may not be edible yet)

paper & plastic wrap for chicken

plastic seal to newly-opened jar of garlic cloves

cheese rinds

roast beef leftover not eaten by Artemis, the cat

box and plastic/paper packets from Rice a Roni

6 olive pitts

tissue paper that had been wrapped around a new photo frame

peeled off price stickers and paper fillers from 3 new photo frames

fake hay and plastic from a gift basket

paper/plastic backing to Pepcid pills

dinner food waste: chicken and rice

foil that had covered Heather’s raspberry cookie

kitty litter shit & piss clumps

paper and plastic packaging to 3 Benadryl pills

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
1 Manila envelope

4 brown paper bags

priority mail envelope

2 Gumps shopping bags

2 plastic grocery bags

a very ornate velvet, silver sateeny, red mesh bow (in my experience no one does more ornate wrappings than those reflected as “corporate gifts”, such as this one given to the hubby)

RE-USED:
Various packages of biscotti and chocolate set aside to give to J.’s kids

small, white shopping bag

RECYCLED:
2 emptied wine bottles (2002 Turley Zinfandel Napa Valley Hayne Vineyard and 2003 Schloss Schonborn Rheingau-Riesling Beerenauslese)

9 cans of dog food

SF Chronicle

NY Times

DEPARTURES magazine

SUNSET magazine

1 diet coke can

1 Snapple iced tea bottle

store circular

emptied bottle of Pellegrino

NOTES:
As Bino A. Realuyo says, “Garbage is about letting go…”

Dec. 23, 2005

2005-12-23T23:13:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
5 wooden boxes that used to contain bottles of wine (I have this project of using wooden wine boxes, some of which are nicely decorated, as material for shadow box-type art; but I already have three shelves worth of wine boxes for such a purpose in the garage so I need to start whittling down the number)

used muscle relaxant strip

3 paper packets that used to contain EQUAL

coffee grounds from 2 cups

2 pieces of scrap paper

3 paper and plastic containers of Benadryl pills

2 plastic grocery bags (re-used for trash)

3 rose leaves

paper bag that once held an egg roll

strip from a book mailer

cut-out piece of a book mailer

plastic container that once held macaroni salad

paper bag that once held chicken

chicken bones

3 used tissues

Q-tip

1 paper napkin

1 grocery receipt

flyer from a local movie theater

21 envelopes from received holiday cards

5 envelopes discarded from regular mail

2 wood chips lovingly brushed off Achilles’ mouth and fur

1 junk mail

advertising stuffers in a PG& E utility bill

pharmacy receipt

cardboard tube for toilet paper

2 plastic backings to 2 Salonpas pain relieving patches

price tags from 2 Christmas tree ornaments

parking receipt

Gumps receipt

AWP poster

2 postcard inserts in Poets & Writers magazine

1 wooden swizzle stick

1 peeled-off price sticker

paper coffee cup and cardboard heat protector

bookstore receipt

cork and foil wrapping from opened wine bottle (2002 Turley Zinfandel Napa Valley Hayne Vineyard)

dinner food waste: potatoes and rib-eye (I'd have taken the rib-eye home for the dog but we weren't going home immediately from the restaurant)

dog fur from brushing dogs

rubber baseball dog toy demolished by dawgs

kitty litter shit & piss clumps

paper and plastic packaging to 3 Benadryl pills

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
1 plastic grocery bag

RE-USED:
used box, papers and bubblewrap to mail out 50 copies of the Hay(na)ku Anthology

small scrap paper re-used as mailing label

RECYCLED:
plastic holder to 4 bottles of Snapple iced tea

SF Chronicle TV Guide

2 cans from diet coke

art gallery brochure

8 cans that used to contain dog food

NY Times

SF Chronicle

Poets & Writers magazine

NOTES:
Here's another excerpt from Elizabeth Royte's GARBAGE LAND:

"Weberman...defend[s] trash trolling as a tool of psychological investigation and character delineation....he dove into Neil Simon's (he found bagel scraps, lox, whitefish, and an infestation of ants), Gloria Vanderbilt's (a Vallium bottle), Tony Perkin's (a tiny amount of marijuana), Norman Mailer's (betting slips), and antiwar activist Bella Abzug's (proof of investments in companies that made weapons)."

Dec. 22, 2005

2005-12-22T22:28:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
a red dot sticker peeled off the cover of SAFE IN HEAVEN DEAD: Interviews with Jack Kerouac, Ed. by Michael White

Q-tip

kitty litter shit & piss clumps

stray grass stalks from indoor “cat grass”

2 grocery plastic bags (re-used to contain trash)

3 paper packets that used to contain Equal

coffee grounds for 3 cups

paper/plastic covering for Pepcid pills

3 plastic food storage bags

1 plastic sandwich bag

plastic covering to Hebrew National hot dogs

eggshells from 3 eggs

day-old cat food

food waste: breakfast--rice; lunch--cookie crumbs, lettuce and cheese; dinner--egg noodles, veal bone and feta cheese

rubber band and plastic covering to the St. Helena Star (it was raining today)

plastic cover over a tray of canned dog food

9 pieces of small scrap paper ("small" shall be defined from hereon as pieces of paper sized less than 8.5 X 11")

3 pieces of scrap paper (obviously, these pieces were 8.5 X 11")

used mailing label

used masking tape

library check-out receipt

McNaughton & Gunn packing slip (M&G is Meritage Press’ printer)

Styrofoam pellets (My bad. I usually keep them for re-use but about 2 cups made it into the garbage)

paper backing to sheet of stamps

paper backing to sheet of labels

tissue (from carrying 2 freebie cookies, yum, from vet's office)

glossy cut-outs of poinsettia blooms and leaves that arrived within a holiday card

4 envelopes from received holiday cards

7 pieces of scotch tape

paper backing to holiday gift labels

about 2 tablespoons of Girard’s Champagne salad dressing

paper and plastic packaging to a Thermal Care muscle relaxant

faded dozen roses

2 rubber bands and 2 plastic bags wrapped around new dozen roses

a stem of pink rose whose bloom fell apart as soon as I unpacked the fresh flowers

a plastic container that used to contain “Cut Flower Food”

grocery receipt

rose stem tips and leaves (I typically cut off tips of stems prior to putting them into water)

fallen leaves from a poinsettia plant

paper and plastic packaging to 3 Benadryl pills

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
1 twistie-tie (this is how some of us end up with a gazillion twistie-ties in our kitchen drawers)

10 envelopes (extra from holiday card batch)

1 plastic grocery bag (I re-use them for household trash, to save on using brand-new trash bags--see NOTES)

[NOTA BENE: With this post, I split out the “Re-Used and Re-Cycled Categories]

RE-USED:
2 used book mailers, a piece of cardboard, and a manila envelope to send out copies of the Hay(na)ku Anthology, Reproductions, and Menage

a used cardboard box, paper and Styrofoam pellets to mail out 21 copies of The Hay(na)ku Anthology

RECYCLED:
cardboard tray that used to contain cans of dog food

1 emptied can of diet coke

emptied wine bottle (1999 Pietre Rosse Dalle Valle Vineyard)

emptied bottle of Girard’s Champagne salad dressing

flattened-out cardboard box formerly used to ship books

flattened-out cardboard box in which a holiday gift had been shipped

6 cans that had contained dog food

NOTES:
One thing I don't monitor -- which technically I should -- for this project is the number of toilet paper used although, at one point today, I did think of that TV sitcom (whose name I can't recall) where one character was shown haranguing his roommates for using too much toilet paper. Not even for Poetry shall I go here…

I try to read as much of the daily papers at the local library so as to avoid purchasing newspapers that only end up being recycled. But I wonder if this is saving money vs saving the trees; aren’t unbought newspapers only recycled anyway? Well, one must hope this purchasing habit counts for something.

Relatedly, I am a neat eater but, sheesh, due to monitoring my trash I managed to use just one paper napkin for 3 meals! Why? In part because of this excerpt from Elizabeth Royte’s GARBAGE LAND:

“As someone minding her [garbage] footprint, I ought to have saved my stained napkins for rags. But rags weren’t scarce in my house. I had enough to wash every window in the neighborhood. I realized that using old clothes or napkins as disposable dust rags merely postponed their trip to the landfill. So why do it? Because using a rag meant I wasn’t using a paper towel, which spared a fraction of a tree from being milled and a fraction of a river from some toxic papermaking discharge.”

Just from my second day of monitoring my garbage, I've also already come to experience what Royte observed when she embarked on the research for GARBAGE LAND: that trash accummulates VERY QUICKLY and, ironically, due to the creation of trash cans, to wit this excerpt:

"As the Garbage Project discovered, ‘Garbage expands so as to fill the receptacles available for its containment.’ (Project researchers called this Parkinson’s Law of Garbage, after the original law formulated by C. Northcote Parkinson, a British civil servant based in Singapore: ‘Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.’) My house had one trash can in the kitchen, a tiny one in the bathroom, and two more in bedrooms. By making it easy to toss things away, was I abetting garbage mindlessness? // It’s hard to imagine but 125 years ago the kitchen trash can didn’t exist. Until … the late 1880s, the stove was the principal means of disposal. But the oven door wasn’t opening and closing all day long, like a kitchen trash can….As late as 1882, reports Susan Strasser in Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash, a manual on teaching children household economy had to define a wastebasket for eaders: ‘It is for collecting all the torn and useless pieces of paper, and should be emptied every day, care being taken that nothing of value is thus thrown away.’”

Another excerpt from Royte's GARBAGE LAND also rang true for me -- the role of plastic.

"The advent of different types of plastic, between the thirties and the forties, radically altered how Americans kept house. Polystyrene made refrigerators more affordable, for example, and Plexiglas reduced the cost of manufacturing headlights, lenses, windows, clocks, and jewelry. Manufacturers began hyping disposable products--sanitary napkins, paper towels, plastic cups--as scientific, modern, and hygienic. Tapping into class prejudices, ad campaigns suggested that the old ways, linked to poverty and recent immigration, were dirty. (A Kotex ad in 1927 claimed that '80% or more better-class women hav ediscarded ordinary ways for Kotex.' 'Ordinary ways' were reusable cloths.) The new disposables were touted as time- and labor-savers that would boost women into the lessure class. To resist the siren call of tne new, writes Strasser in Waste and Want, was to risk being branded backward and fearful."

I’ve often mulled over the nature of “fate” -- as something predestined and logically in part due to history. I’ve also often hoped that if anything can overthrow fate, it’s education.

Dec. 21, 2005

2005-12-21T19:08:00.000-08:00

TRASH:
dried leaves that fell from the roses gathered in a vase

mistletoe in satin red ribbons (which I bought from two teen entreneurs who harvested and decorated them to sell outside of a local grocery store; had to discard them because of my animals and mistletoe apparently are like certain kisses: poisonous)

bones from 4 chicken wings

paper bag container for chicken wings

foil and paper wrap for Cadbury chocolate bar

1 strip of Saran wrap

2 plastic food bags (that had contained salad fixings)

2 emptied paper packets from Equal

coffee grounds from 2 cups

grocery bag receipt

kitty litter shit & piss clumps

2 grocery plastic bags (re-used to contain trash)

foam and plastic wrap from ground beef

plastic and paper wrap from 3 Benadryl pills

cork and foil opening from a bottle of the 1999 Pietre Rosse Dalle Valle Vineyard

Amazon receipt (from purchasing Anne Carson's Decreation)

discarded envelope from a Holiday card

discarded paper sealer from a freshly-opened container of Aquari-yums kitty treats

5 pieces of scrap paper that had been used to do these lists (I re-use backs of old manuscript pages for scrap paper)

piece of paper with a mailing barcode

4 paper napkins

dinner food waste (green bean and cous cous)

plastic that had covered a tray of dog food cans

fines (see NOTES)

SAVED FOR RE-USE:
book mailer (from an Amazon-purchased book)

box and styrofoam pellet stuffings (from a Holiday present mailed to us)

RECYCLED OR RE-USED:
1 Diet coke can

7 dog food cans

plastic container for Aquari-yum kitty treats

cardboard tray that had been used to store dog food cans

paper used as stuffing for a holiday present mailed to us

flattened-out cardboard box that had contained 100 copies of the Hay(na)ku Anthology shipped from the printer

cardboard book mailer to send out a copy of the Hay(na)ku Anthology

NOTES:
And I've learned a new word from Eliabeth Royte's GARBAGE LAND: "fines" -- the tiny stuff that settles to the bottom of a trash bin such as floor sweepings, dust, strands of hair, coffee grounds et al.

Meanwhile, here's another excerpt from this fascinating book which I also found true to my experience once I started monitoring my trash-beyond-moi-blather:

"There was something else I noticed, too. The plastic sack with which I'd just lined my trash can was no longer empty. I'd turned my back for five minutes, and already the waste was accumulating. Was there no relief from it? Did the flow ever stop? I wondered if sanitation workers ever felt a sense of futility. They cleaned one street after another after another, until the district was officially clean. But no sooner were were the bins tipped than they immediately began to fill. Emptiness--cleanliness--was a condition so brief as to be nearly undetectable. "You can't think about that," one of the sanitation workers...told me. "You'll drive yourself crazy."

AFTER CREATION, TRASH

2005-12-21T14:27:00.000-08:00

William Rathje, founder of the University of Arizona's Garbage Project, which was established by archaeologists to study both human discard habits and the inner dynamics of landfills, insists that refuse reflects truth. Garbage sorting reveals that "what we do and what we say we do are two different things."
--from GARBAGE LAND by Elizabeth Royte

It only took me going onto Page 4 of Elizabeth Royte's GARBAGE LAND: On The Secret Trail of Trash (Little Brown, New York, 2005) to conceive of this new blog. I've barely began the book but I know that Royte began tracking her garbage.

So I decided to do the same ... because I'm a poet and just to see what happens.

*****

Meanwhile, from Page 22 of Royte's book:

"Since 1960, the nation's municipal waste stream has nearly tripled, reaching a reported peak of 369 million tons in 2002. That's more stuff, per capita, than any other nation in the world, and 2.5 times the per capita rate of Oslo, Norway. The increase is due partly to increased population but mostly to the habits of average residents, who now throw out, says the EPA, 4.3 pounds of garbage per person per day -- 1.6 more pounds than thirty years ago. According to the Congressional Research Service, the biggest producers are California, followed by New York, Florida, Texas and Michigan. BioCycle magazine and the Earth Engineering Center of Columbia University reported in their "State of Garbage in America" report for 2003 that every American generated 1.31 tons of garbage a year. Slightly less than 27 percent of the aggregate mess was recycled or composted; 7.7 percent was incinerated; and the overwhelming majority, 65.6 percent, was buried in ahole in the ground."