How does everyone handle trash onboard?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by GordMay

I understand the common abhorrence of glass containers aboard, but ...
- I’ve never broken one.
- My only damaging cabin spill was a plastic bleach bottle, that punctured or abraded, and leaked out.

Liquor and reusable beer bottles are really tough. On a previous boat I had a beer bottle get into an unaccessible area and I could hear it rolling around down there for years...finally got in rough enough weather that it got dislodged...still perfectly in tact.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

5 gallons does take up a good bit of space though.

It does, but as I said I left with it, so it’s not taking up any new space. I just label the containers as “OLD” with a Sharpie.
I like taking my own oil. It ensures I get what I want and I want it, and if I blow a filter gasket or something I have plenty of oil to fix the problem and fill back up.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Liquor and reusable beer bottles are really tough. On a previous boat I had a beer bottle get into an unaccessible area and I could hear it rolling around down there for years...finally got in rough enough weather that it got dislodged...still perfectly in tact.

I guess it was early 80’s when Gulfstream was Certifying a new Jet, whenever they would roll into a turn, they would sometimes hear a thump. Ended up tearing into the wing to get the Coke bottle out. From then on you had to go to the break room for breaks, no more taking them at your work station.
But then what are called bucking bars are sometimes found in aircraft wings etc. often being there for decades.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I put the old oil in the container the new oil came out of.
I’ll take off with about 5 gls of oil, as I change oil the old oil takes up the same space and fits in the same containers as the old oil, so when I come back, I come back with a few gallons of oil to dispose of.

This theory works for anything. If you brought it ON to the boat and stowed it, it won't take up any more room until you can bring it back OFF.

Lots of good ideas above about where and how to stow it after it's no longer useful. Especially the idea of removing all the unneeded packaging at the store where you bought it. Let THEM deal with their own waste!

As for throwing trash into the sea, again, good common sense answers here. But be aware of local laws, too. In the US, there are some very sensible limits, along with some dumb ones. Both kinds can be enforced. And of course, different countries have different laws and put different levels of effort into enforcement. You really want to know these things before tossing anything over the side.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by LostBiker

We have been liveaboards for 6 months now and the question of garbage control is coming up.

You can add me to the crowd of if you had room to bring it in you have room to pack it out.

I use pretty small garbage bags so they aren't sitting open for long. Those get stored in large lawn and garden bags until I get manage disposal. I do pack my garbage. If a small can will fit into a larger one in the trash I do that. Definitely rinse food containers before disposal. The trash should not get whiffy.

I did add a macerator to one of my sink drains (two sink basins in the galley each with their own thru-hull) that functions as a garbage disposal. Very glad I did that.

Originally Posted by a64pilot

In really out of the way places, you sink what will sink, and burn and bury what will burn, this assuming of course a disposal site is a long time away.

The rules here (Marpol Annex V
Garbage) have changed in the last five years or so. I think the changes are stupid but the rules are the rules. Pretty much nothing overboard anymore except chopped up food. No more metal, no more paper, no more glass. In US No Discharge Zones (https://www.epa.gov/vessels-marinas-...nes-ndzs-state) the restrictions are even more stringent. Check your marina contract; sometimes they have civil limitations in addition to applicable legal ones.

Off the grid you have to make your own ethical decisions. If you know the locals bulldoze waste into the sea you may choose to burn it on the beach recognizing that your are trading water pollution for air pollution. *sigh*

With respect to used lube oil or corrupted fuel oil at least in temperate areas and certainly high latitudes with just a little bit of time investment you can find someone who will gratefully take waste oil and burn it for heat. Air pollution again but at least it's useful. In the US you can always find recycling if you don't give up too easily.

I say the same thing to people who say they can't get propane refilled. They're just too lazy to try a bit.

Originally Posted by LostBiker

Ah! Thank you. We just got a 24 assortment pack of the Lock and Lock containers for all the dry goods.

Lock-n-Lock are great. The ones you use for staples (flour, sugar, salt, rice, pasta, etc.) don't matter - rectangular solids are very efficient. For leftover prepared foods you can find nestable Lock-n-Lock that greatly reduce storage of empty containers. With just a little care you can get a wide range of container sizes with only a few different lid sizes which makes lining things up easier.

Originally Posted by GordMay

I understand the common abhorrence of glass containers aboard, but ...
- I’ve never broken one.
- My only damaging cabin spill was a plastic bleach bottle, that punctured or abraded, and leaked out.

Agreed. We've broken two crystal glasses in a couple of decades, both while at anchor and during washing up. No glass breakage for either bottles or glasses.

Plastic bottles and thin aluminum cans on the other hand have been a common problem with perforations from vibration underway, just like GordMay's plastic bleach bottle.

HOWEVER, much comes down to care and attention. If you break glass, china, and crystal at home you'll likely break it on board. If you don't, you probably won't.

[Mike OReilly]

The first thing we do is limit the amount of disposable stuff that comes on board. Any unnecessary packaging gets removed.

When cruising our biggest collection of discarded stuff tends to be recyclables; mostly tins and plastic (mostly beer cans ). Some paper/cardboard (mostly wine boxes ). Since we're traveling in a developed country, almost all marinas now have some sort of recycling collection. It varies though, so sometimes we end up with stuff that can't be recycled. Then it becomes garbage.

BTW, I much prefer aluminum beer cans or tin food cans to glass or plastic. The former can be crushed to a small size. I don't think I've ever broken a glass container, but I do take greater care when we have them on board. I much prefer plastic or metal.

Organic waste goes over the side. We have a simple sealable bin in the galley that collects the stuff. It gets dumped when we're underway. If we're anchored for long periods I've taken the bin outside via dinghy.

I do as A6 with used oil. We carry enough to do a couple of oil changes (depending on the cruising plans). We carry oil in 5 litre jugs, so old discarded oil goes in the same jugs.

[BlackHeron]

Doggie doo pickup bags are very cheap and can be used for stinky stuff, much less expense and waste than using ziplock bags for the same job.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

... Organic waste goes over the side. We have a simple sealable bin in the galley that collects the stuff. It gets dumped when we're underway....

MARPOL says it must be ground (<1") if less than 12 miles out and not inside 3 miles. I'm guessing not too many of us heed that. Logically, there is an exception for kitchen gray water, but not for the stuff you scrape off plates. The 1" requirement is self-enforcing for sinks, since most would clog. There is no exception for meal prep.


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I've got to admit some of this feels a bit silly, as it relates to yachtsman. I can be a bit rigid when it comes to sanitary waste inshore, but apple cores and bones seem pretty harmless. The crabs will pick the bones clean and a core is no different than a tree limb. And at least on my boat, food waste is pretty minimal, since the grocery store isn't around the corner. You fix only what you will eat, and you finish it.


But it seems the rules treat food waste pretty much like sanitary waste, and in fact more strictly in listed Special Areas.

[thinwater]

From the 2017 resolution:


1.2 Under the revised MARPOL Annex V, discharge of all garbage into the sea is prohibited, except as specifically permitted in regulations 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Annex. Annex V reverses the historical presumption that garbage may be discharged into the sea based on the nature of the garbage and defined distances from shore. Regulation 7 provides limited exceptions to these regulations in emergency and non-routine situations. Generally, discharge is restricted to food wastes, identified cargo residues, animal carcasses, identified cleaning agents and additives, and cargo residues entrained in washwater which are not harmful to the marine environment. It is recommended that ships use port reception facilities as the primary means of discharge for all garbage.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

We have a simple sealable bin in the galley that collects the stuff.

Why sealable? We/I use a waste bowl also but a lid has never been an issue. We don't have a dedicated bowl - depending on the meal it could be something we otherwise use as a salad bowl or a mixing bowl or even a pot. It certainly goes over the side at least once a day and often twice. Like so many things the bowl ends up either in the sink or between cooker potholders. What leads you to want a sealable container?

[LostBiker]

Originally Posted by BlackHeron

Doggie doo pickup bags are very cheap and can be used for stinky stuff, much less expense and waste than using ziplock bags for the same job.

We have 2 very large Siberian cats that stay on the boat and also travel with us. We use the doggy bags when we clean the boxes - thats works great. Didnt think to use them for food wrappers/scraps too.



John

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by thinwater

...I've got to admit some of this feels a bit silly, as it relates to yachtsman. I can be a bit rigid when it comes to sanitary waste inshore, but apple cores and bones seem pretty harmless. The crabs will pick the bones clean and a core is no different than a tree limb. And at least on my boat, food waste is pretty minimal, since the grocery store isn't around the corner. You fix only what you will eat, and you finish it....

Yeah, I don't always cross at the cross-walk either . And you don't want to know what I do with the urine bin on my composting head .

I'm all for good environmental practices. As I think you'd agree, dumping a small amount of compostable waste into an environment that can efficiently process it is usually the best ecological approach. Far better than landfilling or even central composting.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

Why sealable? We/I use a waste bowl also but a lid has never been an issue. We don't have a dedicated bowl - depending on the meal it could be something we otherwise use as a salad bowl or a mixing bowl or even a pot. It certainly goes over the side at least once a day and often twice. Like so many things the bowl ends up either in the sink or between cooker potholders. What leads you to want a sealable container?

If you read the above, pitching food waste in the Chesapeake is not legal. Thus the need for a seal.



(Yeah, I think that is a little weird, but that is what the rules say.)

[LostBiker]

I really appreciate all the good advice and tips everyone has given. We'll start rinsing out the tins before they hit the trash can.



John

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

Why sealable? We/I use a waste bowl also but a lid has never been an issue. We don't have a dedicated bowl - depending on the meal it could be something we otherwise use as a salad bowl or a mixing bowl or even a pot. It certainly goes over the side at least once a day and often twice. Like so many things the bowl ends up either in the sink or between cooker potholders. What leads you to want a sealable container?

We usually go days, if not weeks, between dumps, so a sealable container works best. We almost never stay in one place for less than one night. Usually once the hook is down we're there for at least a few days, which can easily bleed into weeks. I don't tend to dump over the side in the typical enclosed/protected anchorages we often stay at, so it works to have a sealable bin (a basic tupperware-type container).

It also keeps the stuff contained in bump seas, and keeps the already-composting material from smelling up the cabin. My spouse is particularly sensitive to aromas, so keeping those onion or garlic skins isolated till we dump is important for marital bliss .


ADD: I guess I'd also add that this has been standard practice for so many years on land that I don't really think about it. I've been composting for gotta be 30 years now. Have always kept a sealable bucket in the kitchen. When it got full we'd take it out to the compost pile.