Garbage collector's strike

It's Monday, which means it's garbage day in our neighborhood. Or is it?

Something very interesting, from a frugal person's point of view, happened last week in the greater Seattle area -- a garbage strike!

Why would this be so interesting to me? Well, for 17 years now, we've just had a 1 can per month pick-up scheduled for garbage collection. Our neighbors have all been putting out overflowing bin after overflowing bin, each and every week, for as long as we've lived here. Yes, we do have recycling pick-up and yard waste collection. The garbage bins are separate.

two weeks of garbage,
and they're not the only ones overflowing

How does a family produce so much trash each week? Well, I'll tell you how. They buy, buy, buy . . . new, new, new. Each day, as I drive in and out of the neighborhood, I see their unclaimed garbage sitting on the edge of the driveways, with lids propped open, unable to contain all the week's trash. In their bins are piles of plastic shrink wrap, styrofoam box inserts, stuff deemed unworthy of a repair, and a ton of food product boxes and bags.

so, not so bad, but still this is two weeks' trash

Compare this to, just down the street, one little old can, only comes out once a month, the lid fits securely on top, not a peep into this bin to see what's going out to the landfill.

one can, once a month, this is 5 weeks' trash

The big and once-a-week can has been getting company, as the strike continues. Now garbage bags sit side by side with the over full bin. How long would these families be able to wait for a strike to end and their garbage to be hauled away?

But the little old can, that only comes out once a month, remains by itself. It's owners produce so little waste, they can wait out the strike, without needing to add more to their once-a-month lot of trash.

Now, this strike was short-lived, about 1 week. But I found it amazing how much garbage some of my neighbors managed to pile up in just one week of missed collection.

Not affected by the garbage collector's strike -- just another bonus of being frugal. What do the cans in your neighborhood look like on garbage collection day?