No Waste Wednesday #36 - Communal Living

Not quite a commune, we live in a neighborhood of townhouses.  (Contemporary U.S. definition of a townhouse means an attached dwelling on land owned by the homeowner. )  In our case, the homes are paired (duplex) and surrounded by a small yard with grass and landscaped with flowers.   Although there are a few downsides to attached dwelling living, for us the benefits far outweigh the bad. 

[Photos of our home]

Ours is a very tight knit community with everyone watching out for each other whether it is helping out someone in poor health, keeping an eye on a vacationing friend’s home, or enjoying regular potlucks, a game of cards or holiday celebrations. 

The lifestyle is very much in tune with the zero waste concept, too.  In a single home, often the yard debris is thrown into large plastic garbage bags.  The grass and clippings will either wait on the curb each week for garbage pickup or the owner drives to the nearest landfill to dump.    For us, the small yards are tended by a single groundskeeper with grass and cuttings collected loosely in the back of his open trailer. 

One trip to the organic recycling location once a week and no plastic bags.  A very nice benefit to “communal” living.