In New York City, the relatively new year of 2025 comes with a few new laws, regulations, etc. One that affects almost everyone is the requirement of trash bin that has a secure lid. The idea is to keep trash inaccessible to rats and other undesirable creatures. Technically, the law went into effect in late 2024 but enforcement starts in 2025. I was already using a bin with no lid. I have the separately smallish bags of garbage for each day of the week kept in said bin. I had some makeshift cover that wasn't rat-resistant. Being the reliable citizen that I am, I already used the new bin as soon as I received them. I also started using large trash bags to hold the smallish bags. Now, here is why I consider the new trash rule worthwhile to add to my "Happy Jar" of 2025:
Much as I like seeing the discontinued use of single-use plastic shopping bags, the law created a problem for me in the kitchen. Some wasteful people may actually throw away the plastic bags after lugging home grocery. Not in my household. We use them to hold trash in the kitchen and for the longest time we didn't need to buy trash bags. Sure, some days we need two shopping bags to hold the waste generated, but most of the time one bag did the job. No more single-use shopping bags means I have to find new ways to hold the trash in the kitchen before it goes outside. I ended up buying kitchen trash bags and also have a limited supply of single-use shopping bags. The ban of single-use shopping bags does have some exception so a trickle of such bags still finds its way into my kitchen. To make the limited supply lasts longer, or at least so that I don't have to buy kitchen trash bags too frequently, what I can do now it dump the bags' content into the large trash bags inside new bin. Coupled with another new, favorite law of mine, Organic Materials Recycling, my trash now is not as plentiful as before. Each kitchen trash bag or single-use shopping bag now can be used at least three times. I must be in the minority, as the typical person I talk to about these new laws is angry about having to spend more time with trash etc. It seems most people don't care enough about their surrounding and just want to do whatever is most convenient for them.
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