Warning: watching my neighbor's recycling bin for 3 weeks changed how I sort mine
I used to toss everything into one bin and call it a win. Then I started watching my neighbor's blue bin on trash night, just out of curiosity, for about 3 weeks straight. His bin was always about half full while mine was overflowing every single week. I finally asked him what he was doing and he said he flattens every box and rinses every jar before it goes in. I tried it for 7 days and my bin went from overflowing to maybe 60 percent full. That is when it clicked for me that half my volume was just air and food residue making things stick together. If you are filling your bin too fast, try flattening stuff for a week and see what happens. Has anyone else noticed their bin habits changed from watching a neighbor?
My old roommate Dana used to crush her cans with her foot before tossing them and I thought it was so extra until I saw her bin on move out day. She had two months of stuff in there and it was only halfway full while my bin was stuffed after two weeks. I started doing the same thing with cans and also breaking down cereal boxes instead of shoving them in whole. Cut my trips to the curb way down, like from every week to every other week. The rinsing part matters too because sticky jars make everything clump up and take way more room than they should.