Yggrrh

[fufaraw]

I just dumped all the wastebaskets into the kitchen trash and bagged it up, cleared the garbage out of the freezer*, retrieved the trap I heard go last night, plus wee mousie corpse, and got one of the smaller bags OH keeps for freezer and other garbage and bagged that, too, and...ew. The bags are scented. Whhuff. I hauled it all down to the dumpster, came back, washed my hands and made lunch, sat down to eat and every time I lifted hand to mouth...what's that weird smell?

Oh. Trash bag scent. I've washed my hands three times now, and it won't go away. I'ma have to make some cheap instant coffee to soak my hands in, briefly, or break out the vanilla extract. Ew, ew, ew. Why do things have to have such awful artificial scents? Air "fresheners", dryer sheets, laundry detergents, sanitary pads? trash bags?


*What do you mean you don't freeze your garbage? We don't have a local composting place that's not miles away, and our HOA frowns on household composters. Our disposal is wonky, and we actually shop pretty responsibly and don't have a lot of organic waste, so we put a bread bag in the freezer and throw garbage in there until it's full, then take it out. No smelly in the house.

ETA: Just to clarify, we recycle plastic, glass, aluminum, and cardboard. What constitutes "trash" is non-recyclable paper and plastics, metal things like staples, bits of wire and string, etc. Food-related organics like vegetable and fruit peels, cores, eggshells, meat scraps and bones constitute "garbage," and we try to shop responsibly so there's little of this type of food waste to deal with. Forgotten lab experiments from the fridge are also garbage, occasionally with their container. Also, apple peelings and cores are "garbage," because left alone they decompose. Orange peels go in the trash because they dry out, get less messy as they do so, and give off a pleasant scent.

Comments

[epiphyta]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW

[fufaraw]

epi, the neighbor is noseblind. Her dryer vents just opposite our porch, and she uses Gain hellaflowerscented detergent and dryer sheets, and also probably fabric softener. Trying to read or nap and enjoy the breeze on a warm afternoon is enough to gag you--I'm driven indoors, and the windows on that side shut. Gah.

[epiphyta]

. . . fu, I can't make the font big enough. EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWW

How do they stand it? Don't their lungs hurt?

[fufaraw]

Noseblind. And accultured to the idea that every unpleasant odor should be masked with flower scent. IDEK.

I never use dryer sheets, I think they're pointless, and just something else, although tiny in the scheme of things, to wind up in the landfill. We're using unscented laundry detergent and bleach, open windows or vent fans when possible instead of "air fresheners" and damp brushing and vacuuming instead of fabric refresher. I would love a steam cleaner. But then I'd need all hardwood floors, and well, we do have to pay bills, so no.

I do have a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar in water that I use in a bottle with a fine spray pump both for disinfecting surfaces and to clear airborne odors. Works well, and doesn't smell like fake flowers--or make me choke.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

We don't have disposal thingies here - or maybe brand new build have them? I don't know, I've never heard of anyone having one so I'm not sure exactly what they're for. Scented dustbin bags though, how ridiculous! They're only going to end up smelling of garbage anyway!

[fufaraw]

Oh hey, remember in Home, when the repairman had his hand down the drain and the disposal/disposer kicked on? Yeah, that. We've never used ours. It was here when we bought the place, and I'm not even sure if or how well it works. I've just seen too many horror bits from shows and movies--and known people whose heirloom forks or spoons got down the drain and chewed up before they knew it.

Bag. Freezer. Boom.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Seeing them on US films or TVs shows is the sum of my knowledge. Which actually leaves me none the wiser as to why anyone would want one or what they are supposed to be for.

[fufaraw]

Theoretically, and actually, they grind up soft food garbage to slurry and wash it down the drain to the sewer, so you never have to handle or dispose of food waste. In cities, it's practical. But then you still have bones and other stuff the disposal can't handle that you do have to arrange to dispose of, thus garbage collection.

In the city sewer system, at least the organic components return to the environment, rather than being bagged in plastic and buried in a landfill.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Ah ok. Here we recycle uncooked food waste in our brown bins and it's taken away to turn into compost. Cooked food waste can't be composted so goes to landfill. So yeah, I can see how one might serve a purpose then. We're pretty good at recycling plastic and tins and glass here though, so that's a good thing.

[tabaqui]

Oh, man, yes. Walking down the laundry-detergent aisle in the store is fucking overwhelming, i hate that.

If you haven't already - try lemon juice. It gets rid of most everything, scent wise.

I think freezing food waste would be more of a hassle than not, for me. We have food waste - i hate disposals and don't use ours if at all possible - but it's generally not all that smelly. Only if we use onions or have fish, heh.

[fufaraw]

Yes, I have to send a minion down the detergent aisle, or I sneeze my way out of the store and into the parking lot.

We don't take out the garbage but maybe once a week, we don't actually have a lot of peelings or scraps. And it's silly to walk the block to the dumpster with a handful of carrot shavings and shells from two eggs. But it gets a little smelly in a day or two, so we just keep a bread bag in the freezer and throw in the coffee grounds, banana skins, etc. and put it in the trash bag and take it to the dumpster once a week or so. It works.

[meus_venator]

I hate all this scented crap. I think it's killing people. One company I worked at the boss' wife was obsessed with stinky stuff like this and put 'air fresheners' in all the bathrooms. All they ever did was make the bathroom stink like a cherry bomb blew up. I'd find them (she got quite adept at hiding them behind toilet tanks and such and toss them, once she realized they were being thrown out she tried to get sneakier even hiding them in the air vents LOL So the awful scent blew right out of the ceiling. Just insidious. Any resemblance to a fresh scent and those is long gone.

And I can't even imagine all the stink wafting over you from the dryer vent...BLECK.

We have separate recycling for paper, then a different box for clear plastic, bottles and cans, then a green box for anything organic, it doesn't have to be uncooked, it could be your dead mouse. Biggest problem is in the summer you get a lot of flys and maggots in the heat, but the bins have a sealable lid, it's just opening it LOL! Fortunately, our garbage comes weekly in the summer. In the winter there is no fly or maggot problem. A minute with the lid open and all the maggots die in the sun, but if the flies get in, and they do they just keep the cycle going. We have to use bug spray on the can to keep it down to a dull roar.

I was going to suggest washing your hands in a slurry of baking soda, but the lemon might work better and be easier on the skin.

I'm not sure about the disposal connections on sinks, they aren't a thing in Canada, but they seem to be all over the US. I'd be scared of them, but also I think they are harder on the water purification plant, more crap to have to percolate out to get the water clean again.

[fufaraw]

Yeah, the disposal is scary to me, too. Plus loud and grindy and, ugh. NO.

We recycle clear plastic, opaque plastic (like cottage or cream cheese tubs), glass, and aluminum cans. They also pick up cardboard, and paper that isn't slick or food contaminated. We also have yard waste pickup weekly from April through November. But no food waste disposal, so it has to go in hard, wet garbage. We'd have a compost mixer, but the HOA won't allow it, probably because of the fly issue. (Also no clothesline, which I understand, because people do forget and leave clothes on the line for days sometimes. But I miss sun-dried sheets and towels!)

Ooh, I could do a baking soda scrub--soda and a little water paste, that would have worked. The vanilla did the trick, though.

[onlythefireborn.livejournal.com]

I have to use unscented soap, detergent, etc. - anything scented makes me break out. The last apartment I lived in was in a house, divided into 4 apts. All 4 dryer vents were located under my kitchen window - on days when everyone did laundry, it didn't matter whether you were in or out, whether the window was closed or not - my whole house smelled like floral dryer sheets. Blech.

There is such a thing as stainless steel "hand soap." Negatively charged ions that will take any strong smell off your hands, just by using the ss like a regular bar of soap. Imma send you one. (But lemons work well, too, plus you can grind up the used lemon chunks in your garbage disposal, which is a great way to clean it and make the kitchen smell nice.)

[fufaraw]

Oh! YOu know, we have one of those. It's on the windowsill over the sink. I never even thought of it, thanks for reminding me!

And yes, I have to send a minion down the detergent aisle--just can't do it without serial sneezing for several minutes.

Enh, I have an antipathy toward lemons and lemon scent. It always smells like dishwater to me. Please don't put a slice of lemon on my glass of water. And bring me another, the rim and the water of this one are already polluted by lemon oil, please, waitress, and refrain from making that face or you'll get a smaller tip.

Vanilla extract works really well, I've used it to deodorize plastic coolers with overripe contents, after they were well-washed, dried, and shut with crumpled newsprint inside for a few days. Oddly, the vanilla scent evaporates after a day or two, taking any remnant of the smell with it.

And several perfume counters use small containers of coffee beans for patrons to sniff between perfumes--sort of a palate cleanser for the nose.

[onlythefireborn.livejournal.com]

I did not know that about vanilla extract. Good to know.
The smell of vanilla extract reminds me of my grandmother. She'd go thru the kitchen on her way to church on Sunday morning, pull out the bottle of vanilla, and dab a little behind each ear.

I used to have a friend who lived in NYC. Every time I went to visit, he'd drag me off to the Aveda store, which he loved. They had little marble mortars filled with coffee beans on the shelves all around the shop. And the clerks insisted you sniff all the scents, and between each one they would hold the coffee beans up to your nose.

But I didn't mind. My friend had way too much money, and he'd buy me Aveda shampoo and fragrance and makeup. I became a little spoiled for anything less. :-)

Those two memories feel odd, juxtaposed in my brain. My frugal, country granny using vanilla extract as perfume, and my wealthy, Aveda-mad New York friend picking out expensive scents for me.

Gods and goddesses, how the world turns!

[jimbobjoe.livejournal.com]

HOLY CRAP YES! Why does everything have to smell, and smell so STRONGLY??

I especially don't understand these laundry soaps and softeners that are designed to stay smelly for days while your clothes are not being worn. I do not wish to go out of my house smelling like laundry. That's what I buy (carefully selected) perfume for.

Oh, and your comment above about the laundry soap aisle in the store? I have the same problem. Give me unscented or give me death!!

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

Oh hun EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!