ZeroTrash® Revolution Blog Blog
Explore articles on recycling, waste management and sustainable habits by category
Survey reveals trash sparks more fights than ch...
There are two kinds of people in the world: the ones who bring the garbage to the curb, and the ones who rinse out the peanut butter jar before it...
Survey reveals trash sparks more fights than childcare, and why recycling Is at the heart of It
There are two kinds of people in the world: the ones who bring the garbage to the curb, and the ones who rinse out the peanut butter jar before it goes to recycling. Oftentimes, they live together. According to a Clear Drop survey of 800 adults living with partners, soft plastic recycling and waste management have become unexpected sources of household tension, with trash duties causing more arguments than childcare decisions. To understand how this division plays out at home, we surveyed adults to map out the mechanisms behind household waste management: who does what, who gets thanked for it (or doesn't), and what that says about gender, guilt, and modern domestic life. Trash duties spark more fights than childcare — 1 in 2 couples admit to arguing about trash, survey finds While big parenting decisions or figuring out what's for dinner can stir up conflict, the real flashpoint in modern relationships might be taking out the trash. According to a Clear Drop survey, 52% of couples have argued about trash duties — more than about childcare. While 30% of respondents said they don't argue about chores at all, the rest named garbage as one of the top 4 conflict triggers, right after cleaning, cooking, and laundry. Why waste management gets no recognition One reason for such contention? Trash and recycling are 6x less appreciated than cooking. We celebrate a home-cooked meal, but barely notice where the scraps go. We unwrap gifts with joy, then immediately forget about the packaging. Dealing with our trash is the final act of everything we consume, yet 72% of Americans say waste management doesn't feel like a valued task. Gender roles in waste and recycling tasks According to the survey, 52% of respondents said the man usually takes out the trash — a rather visible chore. But behind that single action are numerous tedious tasks. At-home recycling involves sorting, rinsing, decoding triangle symbols, deciphering which plastics are accepted, which takeout containers are not, and whether a lid needs to come off a bottle. Key findings on household waste division: 52% of men typically handle trash removal 54% of women handle recycling sorting and preparation Women perform 1.5x more invisible waste management tasks In this way, recycling has become a mirror of domestic inequality: the visible gestures skew masculine, while the invisible tasks are seen as more feminine. Why women feel more recycling guilt than men The emotional weight of sustainability isn't shared equally, either. When asked if they'd ever felt guilty for throwing plastic in the trash without sorting it, 63% of respondents said yes. But the guilt also skewed sharply by gender: women are 1.5 times more likely than men to feel guilty about not recycling properly. This emotional burden is particularly heavy when it comes to soft plastic recycling, where clear disposal options are often unavailable through traditional curbside programs. Most people don't trust the recycling system Even for those who do the sorting, they don't have much faith in the system. Over half of Americans (58%) say they're not confident their recycling actually gets recycled. Women are even more skeptical: 62% of women doubt their recycling efforts make it through the system 54% of men share similar doubts It's a telling contradiction: The people doing more of the emotional and invisible labor are also the ones least convinced it matters. Their doubt has merit — in the U.S., only about 5% of plastic is successfully recycled. Why soft plastics are a hidden source of household stress When asked which type of waste feels hardest to manage at home, hazardous items like batteries and electronics topped the list, accounting for nearly 25% of all answers. Food waste came close behind at 24% — both categories stood out as the most frequently mentioned trouble spots across households. Glass ranked third, with 17% of all answers. It's technically recyclable, but many cities have specific rules. People often wonder if they need to remove labels or if broken glass can be recycled or not. For 13% of respondents, soft plastics (including wrappers, bags, mailers, and film packaging) were most difficult to manage. Since most of these materials aren’t accepted by curbside programs or specialty drop-offs, they often end up in the trash. With no clear path for disposal, soft plastics have become one of the biggest blind spots in household waste. Paper and cardboard accounted for nearly 12% of answers, while cans and metal made up about 9.5%. In short, no category felt entirely frictionless, but hazardous and organic waste were flagged most often. Less arguing, more efficient recycling We live in homes that produce waste daily, yet most of us don’t know how to properly handle it, don’t believe our systems work, and don’t fully recognize the people who do the work anyway. While sustainability often feels like a personal responsibility, it’s also deeply social. It’s often shaped by how couples talk (or don’t talk) about fairness, trust, and what counts as “real work.” Talking openly about waste — who handles it, who gets thanked, and what happens after it leaves our hands — is a first step toward shifting both habits and norms. It also means being honest about the gaps in the system: how confusing rules, broken infrastructure, and low transparency erode trust. Clearer guidance, better tools, and public solutions that match the effort people already put into recycling are the missing pieces. That’s where Clear Drop comes in. At Clear Drop, we’re building solutions that don’t just offload responsibility but offer real solutions to the existing recycling issues. Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC) finally gives you a real way to recycle tricky-to-recycle soft plastic packaging: it turns soft plastics into dense blocks, ready to be recycled by our partners. Organics Collector (OC) makes it easy to collect food scraps at home, cleanly and mess-free, also preparing them for composting. You get the right tools for closing the waste loop and peace of mind.
Fixing the broken recycling system: why Clear D...
“Why did Clear Drop come to life? Because the way we deal with waste is broken, and the future deserves better,” - Ivan Arbouzov, founder and CEO of Clear Drop. From the Soft...
Fixing the broken recycling system: why Clear Drop® exists
“Why did Clear Drop come to life? Because the way we deal with waste is broken, and the future deserves better,” - Ivan Arbouzov, founder and CEO of Clear Drop. From the Soft Plastic Compactor and Organics Collector to new inventions in development, Clear Drop’s mission is simple: to fill the gap between home waste collection and the recycling industry. Clear Drop aims to create a practical and truly impactful pre-recycling system, one that ensures materials are properly prepared for final recycling and 100% recycled with our partners. We created Clear Drop to fill the gap between home waste collection and the recycling industry with an ultimate ZeroTrash goal. We believe that real environmental change starts not with complicated recycling systems, but with smart, seamless solutions. Pre-recycling concept That’s why we’re pioneering the future of pre-recycling: a simple, effective way to prepare waste for recycling right where it’s created with the help of our home appliances. From tricky soft plastic packaging to everyday organic waste, we’re transforming how homes handle waste, and helping people move closer to a Zero-Trash lifestyle. We address the issues of fluffy, always-flying flexible plastics, which are hardly accepted by recycling facilities as-is, by compacting them and making them easy to collect, transport and recycle. Similarly, we tackle the often-pungent smell and messy organic waste that require constant removal by making them easy to collect and neutralizing odors still saving their compost features. Clear Drop team Founder and CEO Ivan Arbouzov brings 34 years of experience in the hardware industry. Over his career, he has launched several ventures, including a media company, multiple product development businesses, and most notably, a multinational optics and electronics company that became a global leader and an industry standard in its niche. Ivan has been an inventor since childhood, always driven to create innovative solutions. With Clear Drop, he envisions a future where recycling begins at home, enabling households to pre-process waste in a way that benefits the entire system. This vision underpins Clear Drop’s mission to revolutionize soft plastic recycling and organic waste management for a cleaner, greener future. Plastic, especially soft plastic, is almost invisible in how ordinary it is. And yet, it's almost impossible to recycle.We unwrap something and immediately discard what’s left, often into a system that’s not ready to deal with it. ”I wanted to work on something that truly mattered. Something that could help shift how we treat the world around us. That’s why I built one of our products, the Soft Plastic Compactor. Not just as a tool, but as a way to catch the problem at the moment it starts, right when waste is created. I reinvested what I earned from past ventures because I believe it needs to exist. I believe we can do better, not through greenwashing or gimmicks, but with real, practical tools that help people take action at home, right when something becomes waste,“ shares Ivan. That’s what the Soft Plastic Compactor and Organics Collector are for. It’s not just a machine. It’s a small shift in how we deal with what we throw away, and a step toward a better system. How the pre-recycling concept started The active development phase of Clear Drop’s first devices began about five years ago. The company’s product development is based on the experience of multiple specialists: mechanical engineering, electronics, programming, chemical analysis, design, and ergonomics. An initial prototype of the plastic compactor, the flagship product that doesn’t have analogs, was unveiled at CES 2021, where it received highly positive feedback from attendees. Clear Drop’s products are designed to integrate seamlessly into daily life. They are simple, convenient, and habit-forming, preparing waste for being recycled and consuming minimal electricity while complementing industrial recycling systems. We have initiated collaborations with numerous projects, recycling facilities, industry stakeholders, and local authorities to create a more sustainable waste management ecosystem and to take responsibility for closing the loop with waste collected and compacted with our devices. Clear Drop envisions a future where households actively participate in waste pre-processing at the source. Backed by industry leaders To make our recycling systems truly work, we brought in top industry experts. David Nix, with over 30 years in plastics and recycling, helped us build a collection strategy that aligns with real-world recycling processes. His experience spans global producers, sustainability leadership, and launching Green Group Consulting. Robert Render, founder of Lakeside 360 Partners and a longtime leader in circular systems, guided our approach to closed-loop programs and measurable impact. His past work includes advising Ravago, leading national recycling committees, and launching over 200 sustainability programs. Their expertise ensures that Clear Drop isn’t just convenient - it’s built for real-world impact and future scalability. Our long-term goal is simple: to shift how waste is handled at the point of generation in any form, starting with flexible plastics and organic waste. By working with partners across recycling, policy, and technology, we’re laying the foundation for scalable, lasting solutions to one of the world’s most urgent problems.
Composting: electric vs. professional or tradit...
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "only about 5% of the annual 66.2 million tons of food waste is composted", which leads to landfill overfilling and emissions of methane. The...
Composting: electric vs. professional or traditional options
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "only about 5% of the annual 66.2 million tons of food waste is composted", which leads to landfill overfilling and emissions of methane. The rising environmental needs for composting and new legislations in separating organic waste for households create a new market for solutions and home appliances. This market for various devices for composting or preparing food scraps to compost-like material is already overcrowded by different technologies. Here also comes electric composters, which have become a separate category, and are being introduced by more and more brands these days. They claim to conveniently convert organic household waste into plant food or soil amendments without unpleasant odors or pests. But do they really make compost that can enrich the soil and introduce a genuine solution, or is it a misleading trend? This is a point that has been questioned by many environmental experts and gardeners. Let’s look at the facts! How do electric composters work? The features of electrical composters may vary from the producer, but the general logic of their work stays the same. Basically, all of them use heat, grinding, and aeration technologies inside the devices to dehydrate and grind up organic waste. They get rid of bacteria and pathogens while heating your organics to a high temperature, depending on the model, to about 160°F or over 212°F. During the heating process, the device starts to grind your food scraps into small pieces into dry brown powder or chunky and fibrous material, depending on what waste you have. The rotation of the material and charcoal filter simulates compost aeration and helps to prevent odors. This process takes a few hours and reduces the volume of your organic waste to 70-90%. That sounds perfect for keeping your kitchen odor-free and pest-free, but suspicious about fully dehydrated and ground material being used as a compost that usually needs microbial decomposition and compost bacteria for benefiting the soil. The composting misconception Despite marketing claims, the material that is the final product of electric composters’ work is not one that can be called compost and doesn’t have the same ‘composting magic’ features to help plants grow better and contribute to soil health. Even naming it differently can’t guarantee good output for the soil, as it’s declared by electric composters’ brands. “Right from the moment that I saw the first unit, I questioned the 'composting' aspect. How can they compost so quickly when composting is a very slow process?” – said Robert Pavlis, an educator, gardener, blogger, writer and chemist, in an interview with GardenMyths.com. As stated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the output from these devices is more accurately described as "dehydrated food waste byproduct" rather than compost. This material is not biologically stable and often requires further decomposition before it can be safely and effectively used in soil. Applying it directly to plants may not grant the intended benefits to soil health and could potentially harm plant health due to incomplete decomposition and possible high salt content. Some of the tests of environmentalists challenge the statements of electric composter producers, showing that the final material could be detrimental to plant growth and does not eliminate the odor of food scraps, which can attract pests. As outlined by horticulturist Ron Alexander, "it’s not only the missing bacteria that may be problematic, as the freshly ground material can contain concentrated levels of certain nutrients and salts that, when added to garden beds, create an imbalance in the soil's nutrient profile". It may also heat up during the decomposition process, harming plant growth. In addition, the organic waste could become moldy or attract pests if immediately used in the garden. In cities where composting options are limited, such devices provide a practical way to separate food scraps. But since they don’t make a real compost, meaningful progress in reducing food trash and proper composting requires a professional approach and participation of municipal systems. Professional composting: a sustainable alternative Unlike electric devices that grind and dry organic waste without microbial action, professional composting systems rely on natural decomposition to produce true compost.Professional composting, as understood by the US Composting Council, involves large-scale, controlled composting processes that handles significant volumes of organic waste and ensures rapid decomposition under managed conditions. What are these conditions, and why can they process organic waste more efficiently than home setups? The professional composting process entails the following steps: aerobic decomposition with oxygen; strictly controlled temperature, humidity, and airflow levels conditions; the use of microorganisms and sometimes mechanical turning or forced aeration to speed up the composting process. One of the main differences between professional and home composting is time. A professional composting service will create the ideal conditions for the breakdown of organic waste into efficient compost, supporting soil health. Another key difference is in the variety of waste that can be composted. Professional composters can handle a much wider range of organics, including things like bioplastics and bones, that can’t be processed in domestic outdoor or indoor compost bins. Alternatives as part of the solution For those seeking to make a meaningful contribution to sustainability, engaging with professional composting services or traditional composting methods is advisable. By supporting systems that produce genuine compost, individuals can enhance soil health, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and participate in a more sustainable waste management cycle. At the same time, there are other solutions for those households for whom doing a traditional compost is not an option and coping with flies, leaks, and odors is a mission. At Clear Drop, we investigated the current issues with organic household waste management and solutions with their benefits and drawbacks to introduce our own technology. We created a kitchen appliance, Organics Collector, that solves the challenge of convenient household organic waste management without full dehydration.Suppression of your organic waste is carried out using a combination of 3 technologies: dry without heating, aeration, and ozone treatment. Drying reduces the moisture content of your food scraps and other organic waste by only 30-40%, which is still preserves the essential organic matter, allowing it to be effectively composted in industrial facilities or in your own or community pit. Aeration is the process of saturating the waste mass with air. Ozonation - regular treatment of the contents of the container with limited and safe doses of ozone. Additional protection for the consumer from unpleasant odors is carbon-filter adsorption. With its help, all air coming out of the device is filtered and cleaned. While electric composters offer convenience, they fall short of delivering true compost or contributing meaningfully to soil health. Real sustainability lies in supporting systems that return nutrients to the earth through natural decomposition. Whether by engaging with municipal composting services or exploring home methods rooted in biology, the smarter path is one that nurtures soil, not just simplifies disposal. In tackling organic waste, we need solutions that close the loop - not just reduce volume.
