Let's Talk Trash

Food Waste What Can be Done? When I hauled garbage, I would notice a lot of what I had in my trailer was wasted food.  Many of the food came from restaurants since that transfer station dealt with mainly those facilities rather than residential houses.  Why wasn't that food transported to food banks or homeless shelters?  For starters, many food pantries and homeless shelters accept mainly non-perishable items. That was why I saw perishable food in my trailer rather than packaged foods.  Many food banks and homeless shelters lack the means to keep perishable foods fresh.  So, what can be done?  I am going to ignore companies for now and focus on us.  What can we do? Composting This is something we can also do in our homes.  There are many municipal composting sites in many areas.  However, there are downsides to composting such as it can cause allergic reactions and it takes a lot of time to turn food into compost.  This can cause backlo...

What is a Transfer Station?  When I hauled trash, I would get loaded at a transfer station.  I would drive my truck into a tunnel with a hole in the ceiling.  Trash would be dumped in by either a bulldozer, excavator, or both.  Loading could take minutes, depending on the volume of trash.  A transfer station is more commonly called a Material Recycling Facility or MRF.  There is a lot more to transfer stations than just garbage.  A lot of their operations also pertain to recycling.  They are banded together into bales and loaded onto trucks to go to recycling facilities. What are the Benefits to Transfer Stations? The benefits of using a Material Recycling Facility are: Reduction of transportation costs Reduction in greenhouse gases like vehicle exhaust Reduce landfill waste Remove hazardous waste

How Does Recycling Work Exactly? Turning Trash into Things We Use I understand the video above is quite silly, however it does point out an important part of the supply chain of waste management.  Not all trash must end up rotting away in landfills.  Many things can be recycled and used once again.  Products like:

Who are the Garbage Men?  The Men and Women who Pick Up our Trash The men and women who pick up our garbage are some of the most hard working and dedicated people.  From the two men above, to those who drive roll offs, transfer trucks, or whatever, this job is far from easy.   According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of work fatalities of a garbage collector was 41.4 per 100,000 in 2023.  In comparison, truck drivers had a 26.8 fatalities per 100,000.      Despite those numbers, many men and women dedicate their lives to keeping America clean.  As I stated in a pervious blog, I hauled trash for four years and the people that I worked with were some of the most amazing people.  They were hard working and took pride in their job.  

  How Landfills Work Mountains of Garbage You may have seen them.  You see a random mountain in the middle of the countryside.  You may see trucks climbing these monolithic heaps and you could have seen a similar video above.  What you are seeing is a hydraulic tipping machine that lifts the trailer into the air an allows gravity to push the trash out of the back.  This is just one way trash is placed into the landfill.   Other ways are: Residential Trucks Photo from: routereadytrucks.com/ Roll Off Trucks   Photo from: www.dumpsters.com Dump Trucks Photo from: www.instagram.com/heritagetruckequipment There are other ways trash is transported to landfills, but the four above are the main ways.  For instance, trains bring in trash to certain landfills, but these are the most common ways trash is brought to the landfills. How Landfills are Started Photo from: www.theleafchronicle.com/ First, the land is purchased by a company or the land is owne...

  Let's Talk Trash Introductory Post Greetings and Happy New Year.  I hope this new year brings happiness and change  in your lives.   I am starting this blog because I have worked in the trash business for  about four years.  Although, I am no longer hauling trash to landfills, I still feel a  strong feeling about the industry and the impact it has on our lives today.