Hey there! We checked in with Emma and this was her response:

My go-to in the past has been recycled plastic trash liners because although they will have to be thrown out and the end of this life cycle, other plastic was used to make them thus creating a demand for recycled plastic which helps give that other plastic we’ve recycled in the past a new life. Old plastic grocery bags, even plastic packaging for your food, like bread, you can reuse and fill it with trash then place it in your bin. As I continue to reduce my food waste I have definitely noticed that the things going in my trash bin are mostly solid and thus the need for a plastic liner is decreasing rapidly.

I would say that the biggest barrier for reducing plastic use with our trash cans is food waste. Because food waste will start to decompose, we need the plastic barrier to contain it. That being said, if you’re interested in reducing food waste, there are a bunch of resources out there that address food waste at the planning/shopping stage so that most, if not all, the food is eaten (meal planning, using the stems of vegetables like broccoli, planning dishes around what you already have). For the inevitable food waste like onion scraps or food that accidentally goes bad, I’m lucky enough to have a industrial composting facility a few minutes down the road so I’m able to have a compost bucket under my sink in my apartment and take it out whenever it gets full. Some low/zero-wasters have an in-home worm composter which basically looks like an ottoman. They seem to be popular with people who don’t have a yard or access to a compost facility.

I hope that helped and if you end up coming up with a better or more clever way to reduce plastic liners in our trash bins, let me know!