I often go to my backyard to get away from the phone, computer or the poor winter indoor air if the woodstove acted up. My animals are there and so is my garden, so it is the perfect away for me. But that’s not the away I’m talking about.

I’m talking about away as in “Throw it away”, a phrase we all still use even though there really is no away. “Throw it in the landfill” is technically more correct and in some parts of the world we should be saying “Throw it in the ocean.” These semantic changes might make us face what really happens to our trash.

Not that long ago (on a human existence time scale, not a cell phone technology time scale), most rural people lived on farms. Goods, after being fixed several times and finally used to their full potential, went to a corner of the farm. Households didn’t send large quantities of trash off to landfills as we do today.

Most of us don’t live on farms anymore, but what if we still had to stow away our trash on our own property instead of sending it to a landfill? Here’s how our world might change.

1. There would be more reusable containers for buying goods in bulk. We would most certainly take these containers to restaurants rather than accept the Styrofoam clamshell for our leftovers.

2. We would demand state-of-the-art recycling programs. If we can recycle the plastic bottle then we don’t have to keep it for 700 years in our backyard.

3. We would demand companies use minimal and biodegradable packaging. I bet most of us would leave anything less at the store.

4. Canvas bags at the grocery store would be the norm.

5. Everyone would compost! Or, at least there would be no organics in landfills.

6. Goods would be made to last longer, perhaps even a lifetime, and people would know how to fix them.

7. The amount of plastic, Styrofoam and other non-biodegradable materials stored in your backyard would affect the value of your house.

8. There would be quarrels among neighbors. Instead of “Hey, your leaves are blowing into my yard!” it would be “Hey, your trash is blowing into my yard!”

9. People would leave their trash in public places instead of taking it home (to reduce consequence #7) so our green spaces really wouldn’t be green and our environment would be terribly ugly.

10. We would get by on less and share more.

This thought experiment might seem farfetched, but at the very least it does give me a renewed appreciation for the people who manage our waste.

But perhaps it isn’t all that farfetched. While we might not have garbage heaps in the corner of our backyards, we do have landfills in the corner (or center) of our communities. Yes, the landfill is probably more actively managed than our backyard trash pile would be, and might even produce some electricity. But the reality is that a landfill never really goes away. It is a permanent part of our communities.

And while the amount of trash each of us produces doesn’t affect the value of our own home, it might be affecting the value of someone else’s home. When there is a landfill, our away is always in someone’s backyard.

As spring returns to my backyard, I’ll be getting away there more often, feeling grateful that the melting snow reveals only compost piles, not mounds of trash.