Ideas and advice for all cottage owners, renters and guests. - Ideas and advice for all cottage owners, renters and guests.

Garbage is always a problem at the cottage, but there are ways to keep the trash under control.

How can you reduce cottage garbage?

The worst part of a cottage weekend is loading up all the garbage into the car. If you have a disposal site nearby it isn’t so bad, but many cabin owners have to haul the trash all the way home.

Here are a few suggestions to help you reduce the garbage volume at the cabin.

Buy unpackaged meat
Get your meat from the butcher and have it wrapped in wax paper rather than Styrofoam plates and plastic. It not only cuts down on the amount of trash, but also reduces the awful garbage smell.

Embrace eco-friendly shopping
Take large, reusable bags to the grocery store. This cuts down on the plastic bags you have to haul out of the cottage at the end of the weekend and makes transporting the food up the dock or steep cottage steps a lot easier.

Take plastic containers for leftovers
Use reusable plastic storage containers for as many food items as possible while you are staying at the lake.

Cut down on junk food
Minimize treats that have a lot of packaging such as potato chips, cookies, and puddings.

Avoid glass
Use cans instead of bottles whenever possible, especially for the beverages. Glass is heavy and takes up way too much space when you have to haul it home. It also causes grief when there is an accident and you have to worry about kids or pets running around.

Reuse aluminum foil
Aluminum foil is very handy but it can take up a lot of space in the garbage if we don’t use it wisely. Try to avoid peeling off a new strip for every bit of leftover and look for ways to use the same piece several times.

Use the blue box
Use a blue box to transport groceries to the cottage, and again to take out all the recycling when leaving.

Manage inventory wisely
Take an inventory of the food that is stored on shelves.  If an item has been there for more than two weeks, eat it or take it home and do not replace it.

Purge the spice rack
Clean out the spice rack every fall. Only replace the stuff you use regularly.

Grow herbs and veggies
Herbs and tomatoes are easy to grow at the cottage. This saves times, money, and garbage and provides fresh ingredients for the summer cottage meals.

Need more Cottage Food Tips?
Go to the Cottage BBQ tips page for great info on how to get the most out of the BBQ at the lake.

Check out our simple and tasty cabin recipes on the Simple Cottage Meals page.

Go to the Food Poisoning Prevention page.

Go to our Planning Cottage Meals page for useful tips on how to organize the meals for a weekend at the lake.