How is it possible to accumulate this much garbage in only a few short days? It seems like every time I prepare and eat a meal, there are left over wrappers and empty containers scattered high and low on every reachable surface. I don’t think I’ve been eating an inordinate amount of prepackaged snacks and junk food, but I am forever tying up shopping bags filled with trash and stuffing them into an unused corner. Until today, that unused corner has been the forgotten realm of my shower.
I thought about all this when I wanted to take a shower this morning and had to remove all the debris from the stall. To be fair, a lot of the garbage stems from using paper products for eating and cleaning. Water seems to be the most precious commodity when boondocking here in the desert and conservation is the key to making it last.
Along with really quick showers and rapid flushes, I have some tricks that may help other new, desert boondockers conserve water: It is not absolutely necessary to wash your hands even if they become sticky or discolored. When washing dishes the term “good enough” is an expression to keep in mind. And you would be surprised how clean a spoon can be just from licking it. I learned most of these tricks from the Appalachian Trail.
Tonight seems like a good night to burn a lot of the trash. Today was cold and rainy and the winds mostly light so I won’t have to worry about sparks getting out into the desert. It has been too wet, cool and windy to go anyplace, so I have stayed home and occupied my time with more domestic pursuits. There is always some little project that I think up to make things better, even rearranging storage, adding some little do-dad that I thought up, or just cleaning can pass the time with a satisfied mind.
We got some good rain showers down here, so I bet it poured up there.
We experience the same thing. Seems like a trash compactor in an RV would be a good idea.