Monday Q&A | Recycling vs. Shredding and Rising Gas Prices
Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you'd like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!
I've been pondering this for some time and I can't find an answer so maybe you know...
I produce very little trash. I have once a month garbage collection only $6.00/ month that includes a recycle pick up twice a month. I shred junk mail etc to create browns for my compost. (I don't have any trees to produce leaves.)Here's the question....
Is it better to put paper in the recycle bin or recycle it myself by making compost? I know I can't recycle shredded paper.
-Linda
In your case, I think that shredding is a better option. If you don't have enough browns, your compost won't work very well, so if you didn't shred your paper, you wouldn't be able to compost.
I know from my own experience that composting keeps an incredible amount of food scraps out of our trash, and I'm sure the same is true for you. So, shred your junk mail and keep on composting!
I do have plenty of leaves to provide browns for my compost bins (we have 7-8 oak trees in our yard alone!), but I do still shred some papers.
I shred paper with personal information on it, but I also shred small pieces of paper that will likely not manage to get recycled (strips of paper left from crafting, small to-do lists, parchment paper scraps from cutting round pizza shapes). Small pieces of paper can cause problems with recycling equipment, so in those cases, it's much more responsible to shred them and then compost them.
Overall, though, I'm not sure which option is better. To my untrained mind, it seems like composting has to be at least as good as recycling. Recycling does reuse resources, but it also uses resources (the truck has to come pick it up, and the recycling plant uses a significant amount of energy and resources).
Composting, though? That uses no oil or gas, and the end product is used to enrich the soil and in my case, to grow food. So, I really can't imagine that composting paper is an irresponsible thing to do.
(p.s. most paper receipts are printed on thermal paper, which contains BPA. So, they should not be recycled or composted. My best solution is to refuse the printing of them whenever possible, like at the gas station or at the bank. And I do shred and compost any receipts I receive that are not printed on thermal paper.)
(p.p.s. Composting newbies, you can find all of my past compost posts in the composting category, including instructions about how to make your own super-cheap compost bin.)
I'm sure you have heard how gas prices are expected to increase in the upcoming year. Seems as though it will be quite possible for gas prices to increase to $4 or maybe $5/gallon. As you know if this happens it affects everything... driving, food, utilities, etc. When you read this information do you do and/or change anything in order to plan for the future increased prices on goods and services?
-Brandie
I saw that on the news the other day while I was at the gym. Very depressing.
But, in the face of news like this, I remember that I have mad frugal skills, and that makes me feel better.
You can't entirely avoid price increases with frugality, but you can definitely experience less distress than people who are spendthrifts. Even if everyone's budget costs go up 25%, the people with lower budgets are in better shape. A 25% increase in a $200 grocery budget is very different than a 25% increase in a $500 grocery budget.
For example, if you already batch your errands, carpool, and avoid unnecessary driving, your gas budget will not go up as many dollars as the gas budget of someone who drives a gas guzzles like there's no tomorrow.
And assuming a 20% rise in food prices, if you eat the brown rice that comes in a box for $1-2/pound, you'll be in better shape than the person that eats boxed rice mixes that cost far more per pound.
Also, if you work at buying local when possible, the rise in gas prices won't be quite as noticeable. The beef from the farm near my house won't be affected like the beef that has to travel halfway across the country.
And the stuff at my Goodwill store won't be affected like the merchandise at traditional stores, which comes from the Phillipines and China and who knows where else.
Anyhow, my advice in the face of $5/gallon gas is the same as my advice under other circumstances...advice like:
- buy second-hand
- fix your possessions instead of buying new ones
- cook with ingredients instead of with prepared foods
- drink water (from the tap, dear readers)
- look for local merchants
- try growing some food (even 1 pot is something!)
- eat the food you buy instead of wasting it (buying less is a good start)
- batch errands and avoid unnecessary driving
Basically, I think that simple, frugal living habits will help to get you through hard economic times with as little financial distress as possible. Yay frugality!
Today's 365 post: Hey Elizabeth! This is for you.
For us we are stuck traveling for a lot of things. We have to go 35 minutes over a mountain pass, which sucks up a lot of gas, to get into town. I've also found that Walmart on clearance is as cheap, if not cheaper, then our local Goodwill. I found few items that were below $4. Even for shirts with stains. It was quite disappointing.
I'm curious why Linda can't recycle shredded paper. I volunteer once a month for our counties sustainability committee (recycling) and we accept shredded paper as long as it is boxed or bagged in paper bags. Do you think it has to do with your recycler's methods and/or sorting machinery?
Huh. I've read that most recycling facilities can't handle shredded paper because it gets caught in the machinery and fouls it up. So it's very interesting that your facility accepts it. Do you do the processing (breaking it down) or just collect it and send it on someplace?
We only collect and monitor. The recycling facility is also a disposal company.
I am not the person who talks directly to the recycling facility, but this is what I am told and what we pass on to residents: Our recycling facility uses a single-stream system (aka single-sort or fully commingled). We collect all of the eligible materials in large bins; nothing is sorted ahead of time by the resident. We accept all 1-7 grade plastics (no bottle lids, no straws, no styrofoam even if it has a recycling symbol on it, no plastic bags), all paper (except wax-coated, like milk cartons), all cardboard and paperboard, and shredded paper if it is contained within a cardboard box or paper bag that is closed. I assume it is pulled out for separate handling, but I'm not sure. Some people throw it in loose; I'm not sure what happens then, but we haven't been told to stop accepting it entirely.
Glass is handled at a separate location by a separate facility. We also have other bins within our town that will accept the recycle-stamped styrofoam.
http://www.casscountysustainability.com/recycling.html#materials
Great tips on saving money on gas, because my wallet has definitely felt the plunge with the increased prices! This morning I checked my checking account with Aurora Bank and noticed I am spending about $10 more a week on gas...I am going to start carpooling with my co-workers! Thanks again for the tips 🙂
1. I think it's much better to compost paper than to recycle it. Think of the question this way: once the paper is in your house and used, which is the most energy-efficient way to deal with it? It is: shred at home and compost, using a little electricity and no gas; or recycle, using electricity at the recycling plant and gas to get it there? Now add in the benefits you get from your compost.
2. I'm going to have to disagree with Kristen when she wrote that about the effect of higher food prices being smaller on smaller budgets. The sad fact is that the cost of food is a small proportion of the total cost of a highly processed food such as instant mashed potatoes, but is high proportion of the total cost of an unprocessed food such as potatoes. So people who eat highly processed foods will notice less of a proportional increase.
Here's a simplied example: let's say the cost of potatoes is 50% of the cost of a box of instant mashed potatoes, and the cost of potatotes is 100% of the cost of a bag of potatoes. If the price of potatotes goes up 20%, then the price of the instant potatoes goes up by 10% but the price of the bag of potatoes goes up 20%.
Which has the larger dollar increase depends on the actual prices and inputs, and how the manufacturer responds to increased input costs. Also, the manufacturer/seller may not pass on the full amout of the increase. (Long explanation deleted.)
(Can you tell I've taken more than one class on the subject of prices, price changes, and buyer & seller responses to them?)
I don't disagree with you. My point is this:
If a $.50 box of rice goes up by 50%, it costs $1.
If a $2 box of rice goes up by only 25%, it will cost $2.50.
Even though the percentage is different, because raw ingredients are often cheaper to begin with, they still end up being a cheaper option.
And if you were buying the $2 rice mixes before the price increases, you'll still be in better shape by buying the plain rice, even though the percentage increase was more.
To further complicate matters, I should point out that unprocessed foods usually give you more bang for your food buck, thus necessitating fewer purchases. For example, you have to buy a bunch of boxes of cereal to equal the number of breakfasts you can get from a single canister of oatmeal. It's going to require a lot more gas for shipping purposes to bring a month's worth of cereal to the store than to bring a month's worth of oatmeal (cereal's not nearly as space efficient, what with all the packaging and air).
And you'd have to buy a whole bunch of potato chip bags to equal what you could get from a bag of potatoes.
I don't know if I'm explaining myself very well. lol
Having thought about this overnight, I think most of our differences arise from the fact that I'm talking about input prices and you're talking about the price we pay at the store.
Maybe price increases will lead more people to buy potatoes instead instant mashed.
We spent about $100 on seed. This will last us three years. This year I'm really going to try and document how much, in dollars, we produce. My hubby made a cold frame this year, so we can get started on greens.
He unfortunately still has to drive 30 miles to work but does carpool so we have noticed as gas has risen. I did quit a job because it got to expensive to drive the 20 miles. I only worked an hour or two at a time. We live in IL so gas spiked once to $5 a gallon, a few years ago. That's when you started to see the mass exodus from SUV's and trucks. My neighbor even test drove a car for one whole day! Said she couldn't drive a car and ended up with one of the crossovers. I frankly think that most middle class people don't care and don't change their habits. Although they gripe alot. Would love to hear from WilliamB, if I am correct. At that time, we basically didn't do any discretionary traveling.
Just a comment about the composting/recycling thing.
Composting makes rich, brown earth. The world needs all the rich, brown earth it can get. Compost away!
I doubt that it's possible to overdo the production of such.
Yeah, that's kinda my thought too. How could it be bad to produce a substance that is so good?
And besides, paper can only be recycled so many times before it's unusable, so it makes sense to put at least some of it back into the earth.
Thank you Kristen,
I was leaning towards composting over recycling but having your endorsement gives me confidence I'm doing the best thing; I had not considered the recourses expended by the recycling process.
I have seen thrift store prices jump here. I live in Central Ohio and there are a ton of thrift stores so I am not picking on Goodwill. Just this week it was size 2t jeans for $6 and girls jackets for $10 and the quality wasn't great. Last month it was dress shirts for men at $7-$8 and the quality was off.
I think for our family, it's time to embrace minimalism.
This was an interesting topic, thanks for sharing. I already recycle, but may start composting in the future, too.
I'm not sure if you've already done something like this or not, but I was curious if you had ever compared water/energy savings of a dishwasher vs. hand washing dishes? I've seen your comparison on baking vs. buying bread, so I thought this might be intriguing to you as well and could serve as a future Q&A post. Thanks!
FYI for those who end up with a fair bit of shredded paper and can't compost it/compost it all, pet shelters usually take bags of shredded paper (without staples or paperclips!) to use in the puppy/kitten cages. At my old work we used to end up with a mountain of shredded paper that couldn't be recyled/composted and this was a better option for us than putting it in the bin.
Excellent points, FG. Your bread baking is a prime example.
Bread baking is the ultimate "cooking with ingredients instead of buying prepared" money saver. A 20% increase on a loaf of bread that costs $0.50 to make still isn't much, but a 20% increase on a loaf of whole grain bread costing $4 or more at the supermarket certainly is!
Our answer to inflation: be as frugal as possible, plant a garden, stay out of debt, and trust God.
Have you used or tried freecycle?? If so do you like it and ect??
I may sound like a dolt here, but can you just toss it in the fireplace if you don't compost? I'm sure the glossy stuff and the little plastic windows shouldn't be burned, but the bilsl and sensitive stuff; is there a problem with that? I ask, because I never hear about anyone doing this. My dad does it all the time, but I'm not sure if he should.
I put my sensitive stuff in the woodstove as starter paper all the time.
If it's a choice between composting and recycling, I'd compost everytime.
I agree with the other previous comments, and also once you've recycled your (shredded) paper, what happens to it? It may get downcycled into a single use product (eg TP) or recycled into something that could be used again. But how many newspapers, books, magazines, pieces of stationery actually make it back into a recycling plant? Chances are 'your' recycled paper product will end up in landfill.
The plus side, and it is a big plus, is that at least by recycling once you've saved some trees from being made into virgin paper, but the big minus is that recycling takes a lot of energy, plus the transportation costs WilliamB mentioned.
Composting, on the other hand, is free and gives you an end product that you can use with minimal emissions in the process of making it! Maybe use it to grow a few tubs of lettuces or cut and come again salad leaves (is that what you call them in the States? I'm not sure?) Salad is expensive because it's highly perishable. Growing your own saves you money, the transportation in refrigerated lorries, refrigeration in the shop and is fresher and therefore tastier and more nutritious. Feed outer/wilted leaves to your pet rabbit or compost straight and close the loop!
If you burn the paper, wood ash can also be added to the compost heap. (Not coal ash though- that doesn't do the garden any good.)
Just for the record, I'm not saying don't recycle at all! And remember to buy recycled products where possible, otherwise there's no market for the used paper, card etc. Obvious, but easy to forget when you're shopping.
Incidentally, re: brown matter in compost. Leaves actually decompose in a different way to other green waste (through fungi and bacteria rather than worm action) so although you can (as you know!) add them to compost heaps, they're better (more efficiently) composted separately, to create leaf mould. If you have the space, put them in a wire bin (chicken wire and 4 posts) or bin bags with holes in with a sprinkle of water and just leave. Use the resulting leaf mould as a soil improver, in much the same way as compost, although it doesn't have the same nutrient levels.
And concerning fuel prices, I've nothing else to add to previous suggestions, other than to say the fact petrol (gas) is over $9/gallon in the UK!
I come from the Philippines and I am just wondering what items from traditional stores comes from the Philippines. Most of the things being sold here almost come from China!
The paper doesn't add a lot to the compost (in terms of nutrients), not as much as leaves would. It's not totally inert but I wouldn't want piles and piles in my compost bin.
Shredded paper isn't terribly helpful for the recycled paper industry either. The fibers in the shredded paper are so short that it's difficult for them to bind with other paper fibers to make new paper.
Myself, I put as much of my paper out curbside as I can, and shred the really sensitive stuff for my compost pile or use it for starter in the fireplace.