I was just thinking ...

... that I don't need to use trash bags now, as I buy cat food in 40 lb. (O.K. - if you want to be precise, 18 kg.) bags, multi-layer brown paper, with plastic liner.

Which are great for trash.

And I have a couple on hand.

Then I remembered - it was almost a year ago that I moved to old step-uncle's home on the farm.

And I haven't put out any trash.

Unbelievable.

Guess I'd better assemble some of the scattered trash troves into one of those bags ...

... and get it out to the roadside for next Wed. morning.

In my defence, may I say that kitchen waste and other rottable stuff goes out to the garden and field to compost. Helps make big peas, beans and corn next year. And more healthful.

The cat feed bags are great to lay on the snow under the laundry basket and clothespin can to keep them from getting all snowy, also.

If there's anything better than cheap - its free.

Have a great tag end (yuk! yuk!) of winter, everyone.

ole joyful

We use plastic store bags to line our trash can. And what's interesting about that, I get them from friends/family/neighbors because I use cloth bags and totes as much as possible to avoid getting the store bags. We put as much as possible out with the recycling, and non-meat food scraps go out to the compost, so we usually have less than one grocery-type bag of trash per day and can go 2 days before having to take it out. All the trash cans in the house are dumped into the kitchen bag and the bag lining the bathroom trash cans gets reused for long periods of time.

Good grief joyful! How can you say you save money if you have to purchase cat food and litter to get a bag? I had to explain to a friend of mine, who has absolutely NO money put back for retirement (and she's 53 years old), that her 3 cats and 3 dogs have used all her retirement, and she works fulltime. She spends at least $300 per month on her pets. Even as a homemaker I add to my IRA account every year. If I just save my $1 bills all year, I usually have at least $1,000 at the end of the year.

If I need a pet fix, anyone in the neighborhood is more than happy for me to pet-sit or walk their pets. All the fun, and none of the expense!

Grainlady

Thanks for the hint. We put out three 50 gallon ones for trash pickup and they are hard to find. I hate putting out the cans with the little bags because the roll all over the neighborhood before you can get home from work.

Gloria

We use the bags from the grocery store too but hubby takes it one step further... At the end of the week he uses the plastic bags that the newspaper comes in to tie all the grocery bags together so he doesn't have to take the garbage can to the curb... When a new garbage man sees the pile of bags he makes a face but once he picks it up and sees they're all connected he admires it all the way to the truck... LOL

Rita

Hi, again, Grainlady,

My brother, the recently retired Saskatchewan farmer, grew thousands of tons of that stuff - Hard Red Spring (mainly for bread), and Durum (mainly for pasta), mostly. Plus some lentils.

The cat food is, as I said, bought in large bags - at about $20. per bag.

The cats are barn cats - what they do about "litter" is up to them, as I've seen signs against littering around the city, also some around here, but that against dumping garbage bags, tires, batteries, etc. on the roadside.

But there were cattle in and around those barns until a couple of months ago ....

The cats are mostly strays that were dumped here, mostly by town folks that got tired of them when they got past the "pretty kitten" stage, I suspect. Three small kittens were dumped here last summer (in a large cardboard box) plus the beautiful, friendly pure-white mom (not in the box), but she found a more attrractive home, I guess - or got eaten by a coyote. We found homes for all of the kittens - all three of which had those extra toes that some cats have, but each one on all four feet. I called them Camel Cats.

It's a lot better than it was - when I spent a couple of months with old uncle after his wife died about 4 years ago, there were about 15 cats or more here. Now there are only three.

Plus my daughter's (formerly my ex-'s, prior to her death) (I was going to say "dog" but that means only males, and she's of the other variety - you know what we call them, but if I use the word, I'll get censored). You know - rhymes with "itch". That's just temporarily, while she goes to visit old friends in Phoenix, from when she worked there - and she left the feed for the b..ch.

The (mini dschshund) bit.. likes it here, I think - no litter box, no leash, lots of grass and other interesting stuff to sniff ... some cats to chase (but some of them are running less fast and far, and one stood her ground, a day or so ago).

During the time a couple of years ago when I looked after the place after old step-Uncle's death, there were two litters of kittens; one, of three got mainly grown, I found one dead on the barn floor - couldn't figure a reason, and the other two disappeared. The second litter was of five, but they disappeared before they got to be any size.

I don't know whether coons in the city give cats a hard time, but in the country there are foxes.

And coyotes.

And there was a cougar running around here a year or so ago - haven't heard of any sightings, lately.

Plus - distemper does quite a few cats in.

Life in the country for cats ain't a bowl o' cherries.

If you have cat pets and are considering dumping them in the country - do them a favour - hit them in the head with a hammer.

It's quicker.

And more humane - than a long, slow death from starvation.

And cold.

And wind - there's a lot more of it in the country than in town.

Or getting eaten, after a *really* fear-inducing chase, at the end of which you realize that you just are *not* going to make it out alive - this time.

Or done in by distemper - have you ever seen it happen?

Don't.

Sorry if this sounds harsh ... and heartless.

It's just dealing with facts, as they really are.

ole joyful

ole joyful - My dad's parents homesteaded in Sascatchewan (Swift Current/Webb area) in the 1920's, moving from Kansas. My sister was born there in 1948 and then my parents move back to Kansas in 1951. Makes the world a bit smaller, eh?

Yes, it's a pity that people are so irresponsible with pets.

Back to plastic bags.... Sorry to get off topic. It would be nice if more people would make an effort not to use so many of them and to recycle those they do have.

Grainlady

Grainlady,

Our family has some lung weakness.

Dad used to farm near here, London, Ontario, when I was a kid, but was having bronchitis and asthma, so moved to (near Regina) Saskatchewan, in '46.

Had 40 years of great health, out there - died in '86. When he was 85 he drove from Regina, north of Lake Superior, across the ferry to southern Ontario, about 2,000 miles - in 3 days ... by himself.

We said he was crazy - but when they're 85, who can tell them what to do?

When I told that story to a lady a while ago, she gave a bit of a snort and said, "Hmmph! Try 16!"

Actually, I can't say much - when I was 74 I left London at 10 on a Thursday night, drove through MI, WI, MN, ND and drove down the street in Regina, about 1,600 mi. away, Sat. evening just before supper time. I still had a few miles to go to Brother's celebration of his retirement from farming ... and 40th wedding anniversary party: I figutred that I should be there to help celebrate, as I'd married him.

I was student minister at Hazlet, north of Gull Lake, west of Swift Current, for summer months in 1950 during my university-seminary days.

Have a great week.

ole joyful

ole joyful - You're not going to believe this, but my mother was born and raised in Ontario. Ever hear of Pembroke (NE from London, next to the Quebec boarder)? My dad served in the Canadian Army during WWII and met my mother while stationed at Camp Petawawa near Pembroke. Lived in Saskatchewan and farmed after the war. Grandparents lived in Eganville, Ont. I've driven through London on my way to visit relatives.

It's no longer a small world, it's a parrallel universe.

Grainlady

While I was moving around some 40# bags of pet food today, I started thinking that the bags should get filled with helium. Would make it easier to move since the helium should help lift some of the weight. It would keep the bag in a more stable shape so there'd be less damage & tears to the bag. Cost less to ship. Could lift them with a finger. And think of the funny barking from the dogs! :D

OK, I'll go stand in a corner in Sasquatchinon for a while now....

cynic,

Rascal.

If you picked up two bags at once - they'd probably lift you off the ground.

Cheap hot air balloon ride - no propane.

Think what your voice would sound like if you inhaled some of it ...

... your family wouldn't recognize you, if you were on the phone to them.
___________________________________

Grainlady,

Yes - we often find that there are connections with someone whom we'd never met before.

And often I think we'd never find out about them unless we asked a question or two, or made a comment or so more than might usually be expected in such circumstances.

I was a kid on our farm near London when World War II was going on - just a bit too young to go. They might not have accepted me, as Dad had a large farm to run. Alone, (except for my somewhat younger brothers) were I not there.

I don't suppose you learned the Ottawa Valley accent from your Mom?

Good wishes to you and yours.

ole joyful

You know, kudos to everyone who's recycling their different bags, but I think I'll stick to buying my regular trash bags in bulk!

phcnevada,

I think that the correct term for what we're doing is "re-using", as our bags aren't being sent off with paper, etc., to be reprocessed into some other useful product.

We're just refillin' 'em with "junk" - to go to landfill.

Where they'll rot.

Actually - they'd likely go there anyway, refilled or not, as the multi-layered brown paper bags have a plastic liner. They might recycle them when they were delivered with the rest of the paper to the recycler - maybe not.

They're a good size - about 3.5' long and about 2' wide.

Do you have to pay per bag sent?

With or without the first 2, 3 or 4 free.

ole joyful

P.S. I hope you're trying to cut down on the garbage a much as possible.

o j

Oh-oh!

Thread-killer - again!

o j

P.S. In the city where I lived until a year ago, they said that they wouldn't bother picking up grocery bags filled with trash - too few tons handled per truck per day, if they did. I never had any trouble, though - as I tied two or three of them together, as was mentioned above.

About once a month, sometimes as seldom as once or twice a quarter - I'm not a major consumer (and prefer to buy stuff with minimal packaging, when possible).

o j

If you killed cats by hitting them in the head with a hammer or by any other means other than accidental, it would be against the law, I'm sure.

As much as I hate it, it is better to take them to the shelter where they are euthanized.

wow..I don't know how this thread got onto killing cats with a hammer, but..

WHERE did you purchase the trash bags joyfulguy (OP)?

Assuming you recycle, compost, etc., to the best of your ability to reduce your waste output, which is better: To recycle all your plastic bags, using them as garbage holders that go to the curb and get picked up and put in a landfill, OR buy LARGER trash bags that are bio-degradable to take out the trash to the curb?

You don't necessarily know that those bags from the store are bio-degradable. Recycling may be their best hope. Don't forget, that most box stores have recycling bins for their plastic bags right at the entrance/exits to their stores. It's good to save money, but not if it means you compromise the future good of mankind.

Assuming you recycle, compost, etc., to the best of your ability to reduce your waste output, which is better: To recycle all your plastic bags, using them as garbage holders that go to the curb and get picked up and put in a landfill, OR buy LARGER trash bags that are bio-degradable to take out the trash to the curb?

You don't necessarily know that those bags from the store are bio-degradable. Recycling may be their best hope. Don't forget, that most box stores have recycling bins for their plastic bags right at the entrance/exits to their stores. It's good to save money, but not if it means you compromise the future good of mankind.

Carress,

I haven't purchased a garbage bag in a dog's, er, well, maybe ... a cat's age. I have some barn cats (only one lets me pet it - except the other two let me touch them a bit just before or during feeding). I had a very shy dog (that was my uncle's, prior to his death) for a while - but he disappeared.

At festivals, fairs etc. where my son worked as an entertainer, I've got some from the operators to pick up aluminum pop cans when they were not recycling themselves, but more of them are having a local agency separate the garbage, now.

grindel,

The fairly large bags (18 kg. - about 40 lbs.) that I bought filled with cat food are multi-layered brown paper, with a plastic bag as the inside layer - I'm not sure whether it's attached to the inside layer of brown paper.

If I were to recycle, I'm sure that they'd want the paper and the plastic separated.

As it is, I fill the bag, tramp it down, and tie it, then put it out with the garbage. Which is put into a landfill.

When I lived in the city, I put garbage into the plastic grocery bags and tied several together. Recycled metal, paper, cardboard, boxboard.

Didn't compost, as I lived in a rented townhouse, but now that I live on a farm I compost in the corner of the garden.

I think that I have goofed, for I have not put out trash for some time, and think that I must attach stickers, now - that cost $1.75 each.

I don't know whether all kinds of plastic bags are of the same kind of plastic, and I'm told that if they mix the various kinds of plastic, it messes up the whole batch - that we must put those water and pop bottles as No. 1, many of the oil, bleach, etc. bottles as No. 2, etc., with most of the trays that coookies, etc. come in as No. 6.

In Canada we have 4 litres of milk in three bags of heavy plastic, no printing, that many of us wash out carefully and use to hold garden produce that we freeze for winter. Those three clear bags are carried inside another plastic bag and some of them carry the recycle logo of No. 4. I've written to a milk distributor and they tell me that the clear bags are No. 4, as well.

I have found some containers labelled No. 5, as well.

I think that bread bags can be put into the plastic recycling boxes at the grocery stores that are intended for the grocery carry-out bags.

Some stores (mainly discount grocery) have a bin near the checkouts where they put empty carboard cartons that the food came in, and I use them when I can.

I have some cotton bags that I've collected from various sources that I've been intending to take for groceries - but forget.

aliska12000,

When one hits a cat on the head with a hammer ... or shoots it - the result is instantaneous death: no trauma.

Same as using a needle at the animal shelter/vet hosp., it seems to me.

It's just that the description/mental image seems somewhat more gross.

But - we humans put one another to death, as well - legally. The modern way seems to be using needles.

More humane, does it seem to you?

They say that they bounce around quite a lot in an electric chair when the various shots of current hit - but I'm not sure whether the first shot kills them ... or at least renders them unconscious.

I hope so.

Only a few countries still do that.

Maybe they'll soon decide that such things may be inhumane?

ole joyful