We are Jen, Grant and Rhyannon! We live in Vancouver, BC.
I’m Jen, and I do the blog. (I also do more than my share of organizing recycling bins and washing out the few used plastic bags we still have.)
Grant was the one who actually sat up in bed one night and said “hey, let’s stop buying stuff for a year”. He’s also the one who said “hey, you should right a blog about it”. He and I are currently making a documentary of our year. Well, Grant is mostly shooting it and I’m mostly organizing it. Check out The Film page to see our latest trailer. Also, Grant’s head is not really as big as it looks in this photo.
Rhyannon is our roomate and has been pressured into participating in our environmental antics. Just kidding, she loves it.
But who are we? When I read other peoples’ blogs, I always wonder what they do for a living. How the heck do they have time to sort recycling and write lengthy installments daily – they must be journalists or independently wealthy, unemployed insomniacs or something. Au contrare. Rhyannon works for the government, Jen works for an environmental planning company, and Grant is a music producer. See, we’re just regular working professionals like yourself; don’t you feel satisfied now that you know?
On to the project. We each have a separate garbage bin, so in the end, we are each responsible for our own trash, but the group mentality keeps us honest. We share recycling bins, otherwise it could get out of control with bins around here (we already have about 10 different options going on).
The Clean Bin Project is more than just a personal challenge. We want to challenge others out there to become aware of how much waste they generate. We love it when people say “I was recycling my shampoo bottle the other day, so I thought of you” (that is an actual quote).
16 Comments
July 19, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Hey Guys,
This idea is fantastic and the website is stellar. I am so proud of you guys for embarking on this mission and I am excited to hear about your journey throughout the year.
Regards Emma
October 1, 2008 at 3:41 am
Awesome work! I am inspired to find further ways to reuse and reduce.
Can’t wait to see the documentary!
Cheers, Bryan
October 8, 2008 at 7:41 am
what do you put your actual garbage into that is going to the land fill i am trying to get away from plastic bags completely but not sure what to put my garbage in
thanks
louise
October 10, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Well actually, we don’t put our garbage in anything. It just sits in the little bin. We don’t have anything messy or smelly in there because we compost food scraps and wash and recycle everything we can. Our landfill garbage only has things like broken glass and dishes and a popped bicycle tire.
However, if we did have to bag our garbage before we put it on the curbside (as some municipalities make you do), I guess we could just put it in a paper bag or wrap it in a newspaper like they used to do “in the old days”. Or we could buy compostable plastic bags which are actually made from corn or some such other degradable material.
Luckily, we won’t have to deal with that for for a year as we are keeping our garbage until next July (not putting it out every week is another incentive not to put smelly stuff in the bin).
January 7, 2009 at 6:55 am
So glad I found this blog! Best of luck to both of you!
March 7, 2009 at 6:32 pm
[...] last few weeks I have been lucky to meet some pretty cool bloggers. A few weeks ago, I talked with Jen, Grant and Rhyannon who have a blog called The Clean Bin Project. I was so excited with what they are doing that I [...]
March 22, 2009 at 5:35 pm
HEY! I never new you guys were blogging this! Sweet. How inspiring!
March 23, 2009 at 3:55 pm
this is the most radical thing ive heard about all day. inspiring! youve given us many ideas…
i cant wait to see the documentary!
good luck!
March 25, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Hey Grant – great to have shredded with you on the weekend at Backcountry Snowcats. Your mission is truly inspirational and an awesome challenge. I will keep an eye on your progress. The very best of luck.
Jim Morris
VentureWeb
March 27, 2009 at 6:01 am
I am intrigued & inspired by your project!
Just last week my partner and I were discussing how we could reduce our garbage as much as possible… and along came the MEC catalogue yesterday with your story on page 79!
We have a monthly ‘Be The Change’ film series here (in Collingwood, Ontario) and I am excited to recommend your documentary once it has been released!
Thank you for taking on this challenge and sharing it with all of us.
Shelby
May 4, 2009 at 10:49 am
I think the Clean Bin projet is a good proget. I think most people aren’t aware of global warming and the Clean Bin projet is a good way to raise awareness of global warming. It is a good way to help the earth but if you recycle some thing it will sooner or later end up in the garbage. I have a question. What do you do if you whant to reuse but don’t know what to do with it?
Colin grade 5
May 4, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Hi Colin,
You’re right. Recycling only goes so far because most things that are recycled eventually find their way into a landfill. Reusing is something that we should all think about before recycling.
You can reuse lots of things just as they are. For example, I reuse pasta sauce jars to hold things I buy in bulk like beans and raisins and even buttons or coins. You can also look on the internet for good reuse ideas. Sites like http://replayground.com/ or http://www.recycling-revolution.com/reuse-trash-ideas.html have some good ideas on how you can reuse everyday objects.
If you have something that you think that someone else might want to reuse, you could post it on craigslist or freecycle or take it to a local charity shop. Usually each Province or State has a Recycling Council that can provide answers. For example, in BC, I would look at the Recycling Council of BC. In Ontario, I would look at the Recycling Council of Ontario. I hope that helps.
June 3, 2009 at 11:28 am
Great project! Can’t wait to follow along with you.
June 5, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Heyy,
You came to my school (Boundry) earlier, I think that your mission is amazing. I am in love with your ideas and the experiences and not gifts, wow!
I am humbled by you and your mission
Leighton
June 9, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Thanks for checking out our blog Leighton! I’m glad you related to our project. Actually, we were pretty impressed by how much you guys already knew (and by the huge pile of recycling in the hallway). You had some great ideas for experiences of your own – I especially liked the idea to make a donation in someone’s name. I hope that you all use the great brainstorming session you did to create some great changes around the school!
June 27, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Hey Jen et al.
Awesome project, nice blog, I only regret that it wasn’t ’till you posted the Globe article on Facebook that I heard about this.