What?

In most countries it is possible to separate waste into a number of recycling channels. The only things that are not commonplace yet is usually plastic, but most places offer separate channels through which you can recycle

• Glass (not over-proof)
• Paper
• PET and beer bottles
• Food/garden waste
• Biologically degradable liquids and manure (sewers)
• Batteries and other chemical waste
• Misc (or "gray") waste

In return for the separated waste disposal you can get waste that is free from smells. It is just a matter of knowing how.

Why?

Average Western homes produce incredible amounts of waste. Look at the amount picked up weekly, and multiply it with the number of citizens in your town. And with the 52 weeks that go in a year. Then try to imagine finding a location to dump that amount every year.

Gray waste is miscellaneous or unsorted and because of that it is not possible to do much more with it than storing it, or burn it. The latter being a way of storing the waste in the air, because the gasses that come from burning waste are not really gone.

A lot of waste can be recycled, and this is always a better idea than using the gray waste bin. Paper and glass can be reused, and the same would apply to plastic once the technology arrives to sort that out.

Food scaps and garden cuttings. collected as green waste, are even more suitable for reuse, namely as compost. This organic matter is simply placed on a large heap, in which it compresses through a natural process of decomposition to a tenth of its original size, forming great natural manure for gardens.

Composting is a natural process that decomposes the dead organic matter to the basic building blocks that are used for the next generation of plants. It is also used in organic gardening, which evades the use of artificial fertilisers.

If you separate your green/organic waste from your gray/misc waste, as well as paper and glass (and of course chemical waste) then the only things remaining for the gray bin are packaging materials like plastic and tinned cans. Once these are also recycled there hardly remains anything for the gray/misc waste channel.

A gray waste bin with only packaging materials will not become smelly. An aerated green bin does not smell either, as explaned below. If you recycle properly then your waste simply stops being a smelly business. And that could save you the effort of regularly scrubbing the inside of your waste bin.

How?

The only waste that smells is organic waste. This starts to decompose as soon as it is dead, and if that happens in the wrong way it will become smelly.

Decomposition, or composting, can happen with or without oxygen. The bacteria working in these two processes differ, en it is the bacteria that work without air that generate smelly gasses. The ones that work with oxygen do not bring smells about. The trick therefore is to properly aerate your organic waste.

A closed lid on an organic waste bin can therefore cause smells; it is better to leave the lid ajar, or better even, wide open. A compacted mass in the bin can become smelly; better mix that with branches along which some air can penetrate the mass. Water in the bottom of the organic bin can shut off oxygen and cause a smell from the bottom; it is better to let your organic waste leak out before placing it in the green bin, or drill a series of holes in the bottom.

The ideal separation of green and gray waste starts at the source, namely the kitchen. Separation is easy if the kitchen has a small basket for vegetable cuttings, as well as apple cores and food scraps. This evades the gray waste bin, where these things should not end, because it would make the gray bin smelly. If the organic basket in the kitchen allows moist to leak out through the bottom (for example because the basket is located in the sink or on a dish) and if it can breathe air then it will not smell. Once finished dripping, the organic waste is ready for the green waste bin.

Even better than a green wate bin is making your own compost locally. This is interesting for those with a garden. Composting can be done in ugly contraptions with a few straight-up sides, but it can also be done with a green coloured, good-looking bin that receives the waste at the top and gives off ripe compost at the bottom. Your garden will be grateful for this black gold.

If you produce a lot of cooked food scraps (by the way, why is that?) and especially meat and fish, including bones, you may want to look into a somewhat more advanced composting method. The method with EM-bacteria, also known als the Bokashi-method, can help to break those down. It uses natural bacteria in a closed container that reduce your scraps to compost in a matter of four to six weeks.

Of course it is always worthwhile to avoid producing waste in the first place; rejecting packaging whenever possible is a good way to reduce the gray waste pile. This is actually so effective that you will only have to place your gray waste bin outside a few times a year. Since governments become more and more conscious, they are highly likely to "discover" that it is good to charge citizens per waste dumping time. Once that happens, these techniques of avoiding waste could turn out to be quite beneficial.

Where?

VAMvat -- a very good, nice-looking composting bin for garden use.

CompostingGuide -- Lots of information about composting.

Nonolet -- for those who want to go far there is even a non-smelly toilet for human use, invented in the Netherlands. This toilet uses the principle of aerating manure to reomve its smell.