If she'd remembered about the candy canes, Amy Korst might have rethought her decision to go trashless for a year.

"Every year for as long as I can remember, we've had candy canes on the tree at Christmas, but I can't fit them into the rules," Korst said.

In July, Korst and her husband decided they would attempt to go a year without producing garbage that winds up in a landfill - candy cane wrappers would violate the rules they agreed upon at the outset. Korst is one of the speakers at this month's screening of "Garbage," part of the Salem Progressive Film Series.

The screening is slated for Thursday, Dec. 10, at the Grand Theater, 191 High Street NE.

In "Garbage," documentarian Andrew Nisker's captures the events in the life of one family collecting all their trash for three months and what they learn about where trash goes once it leaves the curbside.

Bailey Payne, Marion County Recycling coordinator, is also a speaker at the screening.

"I enjoyed it because it relates so closely to what what I do for a living, but even I was surprised by how much trash they collected while trying to be good," Payne said.

The biggest challenge in reducing waste is actually making better choices about what we consume, Payne said.

"Marion County has been a leader in a leading state as far as waste recovery, but what we're seeing now is a change in the type of waste we take in. It used to be organics, but now we see a lot of electronics," Payne said. "There's always room for improvement."

There is one aspect of the film that viewers might find a bit foreign. Not because it was filmed in Canada, but because recycling programs where it was filmed include wet garbage - organics like orange peels, table scraps, etc. - composting.

Marion County is looking at adding such services in the future, with plans already on the board starting with restaurants, prisons and other high-output establishments, Payne said. Successful rollout could be expanded to residential programs.

Korst and her husband embarked on their challenge for a variety of reasons, but a general sense of frustration led the making the leap.

"Despite the changes we made, it still felt like we were throwing out a huge amount of trash," she said.

She's been surprised just how easy it's been to live mostly garbage-free.

"Every once in a while there's something that you get a craving for that doesn't fit into the rules, but generally it's a matter of making good choices while shopping," she said.

Tickets to the Salem Progressive Film Series are $3 for adults, $2 for students. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. The screening begins at 7 p.m.