Meet Dave, the Man Who Never Takes Out the Trash
Meet David Chameides. David is a guy that cares about the environment. In fact, just to do his part, he doesn’t throw ANYTHING away. Instead, he keeps of of the trash he produces in his basement.
All of his non-recyclable trash — including organic waste like food — is stacked neatly in the basement of his Los Angeles house. He uses a tin box to hold bags of waste paper, and cans of garbage to hold the rest. For organic waste, he put in a worm composter that breaks down leftover food. Beyond that, he didn’t create a master plan for his year of no trash. “I didn’t really think this through — which is probably for the best,” says Chameides. His wife and kids are exempted from the challenge, but not from the neighbors’ scoffs. “My wife’s friends do make fun of me.”
Made fun of? No kidding!
The point that he wants to make is that even though we throw stuff in a trash can, it still ends up in a landfill somewhere. Doing this experiment (if that’s what you want to call it) has made him see just how little trash he actually produces. In fact, the article says that over the last 8 months, he has only produced about 30 pounds of trash.
I guess you have to live for something!
“I got worms…that’s what we’re gonna call it.”
Mackaliciouss last blog post..Bucking the System
This is stupid because what does he plan to do with all of that trash after a year…throw it away?
Matts last blog post..Top 10- BCS Standings
On a “freaky” sacle of one to ten, this guy falls somewhere in the middle.
He isn’t “right” in the head, but he isn’t causing harm to anyone…unless his kids are the subject of extreme ridicule.
Who would want to date the “trash guys’” kid.
morethananelectricians last blog post..Here comes the cold…
@Mackalicious – um…
@Matt – no kidding. Then he seems like he’s wasting more for throwing it all away at once.
@MTAE – Plus, if any of his kids ever decide to “move back into daddy’s basement”, it will smell like trouble.
Hey All,
Thought I’d chime in. I’m totally fine with everyone thinking I’m not right in the head, but before you judge, maybe you should check out the site at http://www.365daysoftrash.com. The point is to see how much i waste and in doing so (by being confronted with it) try to change my purchasing habits while not really denying myself much if anything. I’ve created 31.5 lbs of waste right now compared to approx 1200 lbs for the average American (govt statistic not mine). The first 20 lbs or so was from the first 3 months. I’m now only generating about .5 lbs a month and saving money while doing it. I’ve eradicated my junk mail (tell me you wouldn’t like to do that – the info is on the right hand side) and am lessening my impact on the planet.
That said, I;m fine if you think I’m insane or a tool, but I’d be interested in hearing why (and “your keeping your garbage” in light of what I just said won’t cut it).
Also, per the end of the year, the recycling will get recycled, albeit it’ll be much less than it would have been had I not done this. The paper will still continue to be fed to the worms. And the garbage is actually going to a museum to be on permanent display and be used as an educational tool.
Thanks for reading.
Dave
@Dave – Thanks for commenting here. First of all, I think that as odd as it seems at face value, what you are doing is a really good thing, especially since you know what will happen to all of the waste. Maybe this can help change people’s perspectives so then it won’t seem so weird!
Also… sorry for calling you a “tool”. I edited that out. No hard feelings?