Pet Food Packaging

Pet Food Packaging

More and more companies are working with TerraCycle to recycle their pet food packaging bags and pouches. These bags and pouches are not normally recyclable locally because they are a mix of materials (a composite) or a mix of plastics and single-stream recycling only processes single source items. If there are choices you make for…

Compost Animal Fur

Compost Animal Fur

Animal fur can go in curbside compost carts. Sunday was the spring shearing of our fluffy dog. She fills up two kitchen compost bags, each 2.5 gallons so that’s 5 gallons of “waste” diverted from the landfill. We’ve tried to leave fur out for birds and other animals but it doesn’t seem to get taken…

Can Lids

Can Lids

Small but super helpful, can lids like those pictured here are great at helping preserve the freshness of your canned items sealed in the refrigerator. These here are from Tomlinson’s Feed. They are $1.00 each. You’ll see that there are multiple ridges on the lid, this is so it can fit several types of cans…

Buy Nothing Project

Buy Nothing Project

I just learned about the Buy Nothing Project/group about a month ago. I’m used to seeing, reading, and writing about posting about (for or away/give or want) items on craigslist, Freecycle, Marketplace and our neighborhood social media platforms. My neighbors started mentioning our area’s Buy Nothing group as a way to re-purpose/re-home/donate items. It’s awesome.…

Pets: Zero-er Waste

Pets: Zero-er Waste

Pets have a lot of stuff! It can be hard to be 100% zero waste with an animal. Here are a few ideas that may help lower the environmental impact of your furry friend(s). Buy in bulk if it’s available. Do ask the store how they fill the bulk bins. The store may be using…

Pet Waste: It’s Waste

Pet Waste: It’s Waste

I’ve received enough questions about pet waste that I feel I should address it. According to multiple sources, about 4% of residential waste is generated by our pets. Pet waste of any kind may not go in the City of Austin green compost carts. The City of Austin’s curbside compost contractor Organics by Gosh will…