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I admire you for going as far as you did. I mean, I'm only on day 7. However, your messages are a little confusing. Aren't you trying to get us to think about the volume of trash we generate? Aren't you trying to pay more attention to your trash by carrying it with you? This focus on the smelliness of your dinner remains sort of derails the issue. I mean, I could tell you to go vegetarian so your trash wouldn't smell, but that wouldn't really decrease the amount you send to the landfill. I wish you had thrown out the stinkies and trucked on with your clean garbage for the rest of the experiemnt.

Good luck as you round out your second week, and I look forward to your reflections.

I heard your commentary this morning and wondered what you think happens to the chickens bones when you buy boneless chicken breasts.

After listening to your segment this morning, I was amazed that no one mentioned the new trash destroying machine invented by the Startech Corporation. It is a machine that uses plasma (which is 3 times hotter than the surface of the sun) to break trash down to it's elemental components (atoms). It then converts the trash to 3 different products: hydrogen gas, electricity, and a metal/silicate compound (which can be used in the building trades). At this point, it seems like this is the most realistic solution for our landfill problem. I suppose the only downfall to this machine is it's cost: $250 Million. Read more about it at StarTech.net.

Corncobs are compostable!
They dry up & fall apart.

Hi Tess, Heard your comments this morning and was delighted to hear what you are doing. We grow much of our vegs, recycle and compost. Spent the weekend at Common Ground Fair in Unity, ME where they compost all waste that will break down and recycle much of the rest. You should look them up. We have about one bag of trash every 2 months, and much of it is plastic bags. Thanks for challenging this family that has been recycling and composting for 48 years!
Margie Shannon

One more quick idea for chicken bones or any meat "waste". You can stick them in the freezer then gather enough to make chicken stock, beef stock, lamb stock, etc. You can also do the same with veggie scraps. Sure, you'll have to throw those bones out eventually (assuming you don't have the green bin program in your town or a special composting device), but at least you'll get a bit more use out of the product. Besides, homemade stock is delicious & easy to make. Congrats to you on this challenge! I hope this opens a lot of people's eyes on the impact they're making.

Bravo! You really did a great job carrying your trash for as long as you did. Those chicken bones... I am not sure how you did carry around those as long as you did, but fantastic. I thank you for your efforts so far, and I think about your challenge every single time I put something in the trash, recycle or compost bin.