8 Things You Should Never Toss In the Trash, According to an Expert
Composting, recycling, or donating are better alternatives.
Your garbage bin has seen it all: food scraps, expired ingredients, days-old leftovers, as well as broken and worn-out objects. When something has already served its purpose and is no longer needed, many people resort to tossing it in the trash—without giving it a second thought. And while this solution is definitely convenient, heavily depending on your waste bin has a detrimental impact on the environment and your wallet.
From a sustainability standpoint, a large portion of discarded goods end up in landfills, where, over time, they release toxins, greenhouse gases, and other pollutants that are harmful to the environment. “In landfills, waste is kept in airtight conditions, causing materials to take decades or centuries to break down,” says Cailin Dyer, sustainability manager of Great Forest, a sustainability consulting firm that specializes in zero-waste services. As for your personal finances, impulse purchases, bulk buying, and food waste all contribute to personal monetary loss. According to Natural Resources Defense Council, the average four-person family wastes about $1,500 annually on food alone.
So, whenever you’re tempted to chuck those potato peels, empty jars, or outdated garments, think again: Many items that you’d usually discard in the garbage belong in a compost bin or recycling bin. In fact, in the largest study of commercial waste, Great Forest discovered that 62 percent of discarded items that end up in waste bins are recyclable materials. To lower our carbon footprint and protect our bank accounts, these are the eight items you should never toss in the trash, according to Dyer and Kelsey Welliver, the head of communications and outreach for sustainability consulting firm Reduction in Motion.
Reduce food waste with these smart suggestions:
Electronic Devices
If your phone, laptop, or tablet gives out on you, you might toss the old model in the trash after buying a replacement. But electronics release hazardous materials like lead and mercury that can negatively affect your health and the environment. A safer disposal method is a local e-waste recycling program or a trade-in option. “Recycling electronics allows the metals to be safely and efficiently recovered for new products,” Dyer explains. Bonus: you could get some money back!
Lithium-Ion Batteries
Lithium-ion batteries power much of our daily lives (laptops, phones, cars, and more), but they should never go in the garbage bin. “Not only do the toxic heavy metals put our soil and groundwater at risk, but lithium-ion batteries pose a significant risk of fire,” Dyer notes. “Fires in waste trucks and disposal sites (and even in homes) can be deadly and costly to infrastructure.” Once the juice is gone, drop them off at a hardware store or recycling center instead.
Plastic Bags
If you typically leave the store with a few plastic bags, throwing them in the trash once you put your items away is probably second nature. But plastic bags notoriously clog recycling systems and pollute waterways. A better option is reusing them as much as possible or returning them to designated drop-off bins at the grocery store.
Aerosol Cans
Hair spray, shaving cream, air fresheners, cooking spray—they all come in aerosol cans. While these products are easy to dispense, they’re highly flammable and filled with pressurized gases and leftover chemicals that aren’t safe in a trash can. If your aerosol cans are empty, some reclining programs will take them, but be sure to check your local guidelines first.
Paint Cans
Big and bulky paint cans are the kinds of objects that most people stash in the back of their closet—until they take up too much valuable space and end up in the trash. While cans with fully dried paint are fine in waste bins, liquid paint can leak into soil or waterways, posing a massive health and safety hazard. Instead, consider donating usable paint, or take the cans to a hazardous waste facility.
Fluorescent Light Bulbs
They might save energy, but florescent light bulbs contain small traces of mercury. That means, if you discard them in your household garbage bin, where they’re likely to chip or shatter, these bulbs release harmful vapors into the environment. Rather than take the risk, head to a nearby home improvement store, many of which provide recycling programs that make responsible disposal effortless.
Car Fluids
When you dump motor oil, antifreeze, or other environmentally hazardous car fluid into your curbside garbage bin, these liquids can contaminate waterways. What’s more, many of these fluids are flammable, too. To dispose of them properly, take them to a specialized recycling center, service station, or household hazardous waste collection event, where someone else will handle discarding them for you.
Food Scraps
Food scraps, such as fruit peels, coffee grounds, and eggshells, should never go in the trash. When these food particles wind up in landfills, they release methane as they break down. By composting these scraps, you won’t just keep the environment healthy, but you’ll also create organic matter for your garden. “If at-home composting isn’t an option, many communities now offer drop-off sites, and there’s increased access to curbside composting programs through your municipality or private compost haulers,” Welliver notes.
Lilly Blomquist is the associate editor at The Pioneer Woman, where she writes lifestyle stories across a wide range of topics—including news, entertainment, holidays, food, and more.
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