Emergency preparations: Disposing of your trash

 

Following our several articles about emergency preparations last month:

Emergency preparations: Hygiene and sanitation

An expensive lesson...

Your questions answered on emergency water purification

I've had ongoing conversations with several readers about the wider implications of such situations.  The other day we were talking about how the disposal of trash (anything from normal "dry" waste products, through spoiled food and liquids, to human waste) can affect our health, hygiene and other preparations such as water purification, etc.  I thought it might be worthwhile to address the issue in a blog article, for wider circulation.  It's a big topic, so obviously we won't do more than scratch the surface of it here.  There's lots more information available on the Internet if you look for it.

Trash disposal is one of the things to which most people pay little attention.  We've become so accustomed to bagging our waste, tossing the bags into an outdoor bin, and wheeling it to the roadside once a week for collection by the waste disposal company, that we don't give it a second thought.  However, what if our garbage was not collected?  The consequences are many, and very unpleasant.

• The weight and volume of trash will build up quite rapidly.  It's not unusual for most families to fill a 65-95 gallon trash container every week, and many fill two of them.  If we continued to generate waste in those quantities without disposing of it, pretty soon we'd have a pile of trash bags filling up our front or back yard.
• Trash doesn't take long to start to smell bad.  In the heat of high summer, it can be only a matter of hours;  in the depths of a freezing winter, it won't be so bad - until summer comes around and warms up the heap of garbage.
• Trash attracts rodents, insects and other undesirable critters.  (Ever seen what a mess raccoons and possums can make of a particularly ripe-smelling trash container?  It has to be seen to be believed!)  Those critters bring with them animal waste, diseases and other contaminants, directly threatening the health of your family.
• Your neighbors will be in similar straits without trash collection, of course.  Trouble is, with everyone's garbage accumulating in heaps, your entire street - your entire neighborhood - is going to start smelling distinctly overripe.  It's a serious health hazard.  It won't help much if you find a way to cart your garbage off-site, if everyone else's garbage near you will still present a risk.  (Also, in a long-duration emergency, you probably won't have enough fuel to waste it on car or pickup truck "trash runs".)
• Human waste is a particular problem.  If the power goes out for an extended period, odds are that within two to three days the water and sewage systems will stop working as they should.  They may limp along under gravity for a while, if you're lucky enough to live high up so that waste can drain away from your property, but that won't do much for those living lower down;  and without pumps, the sewage in the system can't be moved to a processing plant.  It's going to lie there, build up, and stink to high heaven, as well as present a very serious disease hazard and pollution threat to any local streams or bodies of water.

There are several ways to slow down the buildup of trash produced by your household, and you can teach your neighbors to do the same things.  That'll help everyone cope in the short to medium term.  Long term, of course, there's no easy solution except to burn waste or bury it as deep as possible - and if you can't move it to a convenient and safe burial site, it'll rapidly overflow holes you dig in your back yard.  That's a worst-case scenario in anyone's language.  Still, there are things you can do to minimize the dangers.

1. Sort your waste into categories.  Dry waste includes paper, cardboard and wood items, as well as dry fallen leaves.  All of them can be burned (observing suitable safety precautions, of course).  This reduces them to ash instead of needing a lot of space to accommodate their bulk;  and the ash can be spread out as fertilizer, or dumped into a garbage bag for further disposal (after it's cooled down!).  You have local regulations forbidding trash fires?  Friend, in an emergency situation I don't think officials are going to be able to enforce those regulations.  If you happen to have something you can use as a "burn barrel" (say, a steel 55-gallon fuel barrel with the top cut off and ventilation holes cut in the lower third of the sides), it's worth keeping it on hand for that sort of use.  Wet waste includes leftover foodstuffs, dry waste that's been dampened and can't dry out quickly, lubrication oils and fuels (which should be segregated, of course, because they're a major pollution hazard), and so on.  These will need more secure containers.  Also, plastics are a category on their own.  They usually can't be burned without creating hazardous waste that's a threat in itself, during or after the burn.
2. Bag as much waste as possible.  Bags stop your trash blowing around in the wind, and keep it together for easier storage and disposal.  This starts with simple waste paper bins.  You can line them with plastic shopping bags, or buy bin liners very cheaply (stash them with your emergency supplies).  Kitchen trash bin liners (usually 13-gallon size) are also very useful, and larger garbage bin liners and contractor bags are ubiquitous.  Fill up a smaller bag, tie it off, and drop it into a larger bag, and go on doing that until the big bag is full:  then tie it off and move it to a disposal point.  The bags contain some of the odors generated by the trash inside, and prevent it from getting loose and being blown all over the place.  They're cheap enough that I keep several hundred of them, of different sizes, in my emergency supplies.
3. Heavy-duty trash bags are worth their weight in gold in an emergency.  The cheaper variety are fine when you're able to dispose of them quickly after use;  but their thin plastic means they stretch and tear easily, spilling their contents, and can be easily penetrated by rodents attracted by what's inside.  During my years in the Third World, I found that heavy-duty 3-4 mil trash bags were vastly superior to thinner ones.  We used to take smaller, regular-thickness trash bags, fill and tie them, then put them into the bigger, heavier bags, and collect those for disposal when convenient.  I use these ones (specifically the 35-pack 4 mil 60 gallon bags;  the other options are 3 mil bags, not as strong).  They can also be used to make a rainproof poncho, groundsheet, or emergency shelter, or serve as weatherproof covers for your gear and supplies, particularly if you use duct tape to secure them.  Invaluable!  When choosing which bags to buy, check their thickness in mils.  Some claim to be "extra tough" or "extra thick", but don't specify how thick.  I don't trust claims like that.  Also, be wary of super-large bags, because if they get too heavy and bulky for easy handling, you've made a new problem for yourself.  Choose a size you can carry when they're full.  Your age and physical condition are important factors in determining that.
4. Human waste is a major problem.  If one has the budget (and the space), one can keep a composting toilet handy for times when the sewer system stops working.  However, most of us can't afford that.  One can get toilet seats to fit on 5 gallon buckets, or adapt commodes for invalids to serve the whole family;  and I suppose men can "water the garden" as they have done for centuries.  Ladies will find that more difficult, of course.  If possible, I suggest separating liquid from solid human waste.  The former can be thrown out some distance from your dwelling (and any water sources), to soak into the earth.  The latter should be buried if you have space to do so, but you can't do that for very long in a small area without making your front and back yard into smelly, very unpleasant minefields.  It can also be bagged and set aside for disposal later.  (Consider smaller heavy-duty trash bags like these ones;  again, I have some set aside in my stash.  They contain the mess and the smell of human waste much better than flimsier, thinner bags.)  If necessary (and if you can do so far enough from your home that the smell and the flies won't bother you), you can spread it out and dry it in the sun to make disposal easier.  Burning is a possible method of disposal (as US troops did in Vietnam), but the smoke stinks and has health hazards of its own, and requires additional fuel that might be in short supply.
5. Observe good hygiene and sanitation practices when handling trash.  Wear protective clothing (including gloves) when handling it, wash your hands after doing so, and avoid getting it on your body and clothes if at all possible.  If the smell is particularly bad, or if the risk of infection is great (such as when handling human waste), take extra care.  Keep bleach on hand to sanitize surfaces.  (That's another advantage of pool shock, which you may have on hand to purify water;  a little of it can make up many gallons of liquid bleach, enough to serve as a household sanitizer for months.)
6. Don't forget twine, or cable ties, or some other method of securing the necks of your trash bags.  Sure, many come with draw strings or tie flaps, but those aren't particularly strong, and can't handle a lot of bulk and/or weight.  Heavier-duty bags often don't have them.  Fill your bags two-thirds to three-quarters full, leaving a "neck" you can twist to close them, then tie off the neck with twine or a cable tie.  That'll be much more secure, and give you a handle to lift the bag as well.  Duct tape is another very useful tool for the purpose.
7. As your trash accumulates, you'll need to secure it against varmints and roving animals.  Something like an open dumpster isn't good enough:  mice, rats, raccoons, possums, etc. will get in through the open top, and they'll tear your trash bags to shreds, releasing everything inside.  I suggest either getting hold of multiple garbage cans, of the kind distributed by waste disposal companies (in an emergency, look for unclaimed containers in or near abandoned buildings), or building an enclosure out of wood and wire netting.  Neither option is foolproof, but they'll be better than nothing.  If you have bears in your neck of the woods, they're likely to become a serious problem as more and more trash is left lying around.  It's like a banqueting table for them - an open invitation.  Expect difficulties with such animals, some of which may become actively dangerous.
8. Eventually, you'll have to find a way to dispose of larger volumes of trash as it accumulates.  Those living in apartments or crowded big cities are likely to find this much more difficult than those in smaller towns or rural settings.  Burial is a possibility, although it's a lot of hard work (and one must be sure that pollution won't seep out of the garbage burial site and affect local water sources).  A "trash run" (if fuel and vehicles are available) to a garbage dump site is very desirable, but may not be feasible for one person or family alone.  It might be worth arranging a cooperative trash disposal effort every so often.  Be very cautious about simply dumping your trash on what may look like an open, unused piece of ground.  The owner of that land may not take kindly to what the British call "fly-tipping";  and, if he sees you doing so, he may make his displeasure known ballistically.  Not a good idea.

Trash will become an ever-increasing problem in a medium- to long-term emergency.  It's worth thinking about it long before that happens, and making a plan to deal with it "up front" so that you're ready when you need to be.  Also, if things go pear-shaped, approach your neighbors as quickly as possible and advise them to think about the problem as well.  If you all work together, you can minimize the problem and its dangers for everybody.  If most of those around you aren't prepared, and let the mess get worse in a hurry, it's as much a health risk to you as it is to them.

For more on waste handling and disposal in an emergency, see this article.  It covers areas I haven't addressed above.

Peter