I’ve been glad to see coverage and growing interest in the Chiquita Canyon Landfill, which I think many in the Santa Clarita Valley just don’t think about too often. As a Val Verde resident, I’ve always been very aware of it, and now, with the landfill seeking to expand rather than close as it was supposed to – by 2019, or when it hit a certain capacity level, whichever came first – I’ve been thinking about the landfill even more and, in general, just thinking about trash.

While I agree with most residents of Val Verde, if not all, that I do not want to see the landfill expand – the 1997 expansion was supposed to be the landfill’s last – I also find myself thinking of the general quandary: We all produce trash, sometimes a lot of trash, and it has to go somewhere.

Of course, I don’t want it in my backyard, so to speak, but who does? The presence of the landfill and all of the issues surrounding it have made me more mindful about the necessity of sustainability in general and the increasing growth in my lifetime of a disposable lifestyle.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard my husband or myself say: “They don’t make things like they used to” – and we’re not really that old (mid-30s). I’m sure you’ve said it at some point, too. So many things are made too cheaply, quickly, easily, but are not built to last. Why should they be? You can always go to Target or Walmart and buy another one for $10, $15, $20 … but what do you do with the broken thing? You throw it away, and eventually it ends up in some landfill. If not the Chiquita Canyon Landfill here in the SCV, then a landfill somewhere.

I recall a downtown, growing up in Texas, with shops that repaired things. I have a mother who patches jeans, and when they are no longer patchable, she turns those same jeans into aprons, potholders, teddy bears and much more – and I love this. I have a family that shops resale and loves it. In general, I love the concept and reality of reuse.

It’s something I’ve sought to embrace more and more since I’ve become a parent, partially to save money, partially to foster creativity for myself and my kids, and definitely to reduce the amount of trash we create. In the process, I’ve discovered that milk caps and bottle tops can be invaluable educational tools. Who knew? And that a box of “trash” – empty containers, paper towel rolls, egg cartons, tin cans – is a new building set to my sons. They amaze me with what they can create from seeming “junk.”

We have reusable snack bags rather than plastic baggies. My mom makes them from fabric scraps, including some of my favorite baby clothes of the boys. I love grabbing a bag to toss pretzels in and finding myself in the middle of a memory tied to that cloth.

I also compost now, and I am amazed at how much this simple act reduces the waste we create. Plus, it became very helpful when I started a small container garden this summer – using cracked buckets as my containers rather than throwing out those buckets and buying something else.

Still, I know I can do more. I know that while I try always to have a reusable water bottle, coffee travel mug, etc., sometimes I forget and buy another throwaway item. Or I find myself baffled at the amount of packaging an item comes with – packing that will go straight to a landfill.

I look back and wish I had stayed with my cloth diapering efforts and not given in and switched to disposables. I’m feeling a bit guilt-ridden to add to the mounds of diapers piled high in landfills around the world.

I hope to raise sons with a sense of understanding of the value of things, rather than an assumption that everything is disposable and easily replaced; sons who will seek to tinker and fix and create, rather than toss things away and get something shiny and new that does all of the work for them.

In short, I’ve developing an improved understanding, living, as I do, near a landfill, of the importance of doing all that I can to reduce the amount of waste – even recycled goods – that our family generates. Because I know that if I don’t want a landfill in my backyard, neither does anyone else. In the end, trash reduction is key.

If you’ve got any great tips I’m overlooking for living a more sustainable life, please share. Or if you think there’s one simple change that all of us could make, share that, too. For me, the simple change is switching to reusable water bottles and coffee mugs.

The truth is, we’re all in this together, and if we maintain a disposable life, well, landfills will be in all of our backyards eventually.

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Jennifer Fischer is co-founder of the SCV Film Festival, a mom of two, an independent filmmaker and owner of Think Ten Media Group, whose Generation Arts division offers programs for SCV youth. She writes about her parenting journey on her blog, The Good Long Road. Her commentary is published Saturdays on SCVNews.com.