Reducing Waste
Hi, I’m Nikole Brashear and I’m trying to survive my normal, everyday life while producing less waste than usual for five days. I wouldn’t say I produce a lot of waste day to day but my waste products are far from waste free. During this trial, I will not be counting toiletries as waste or food wastes, which I compost at home. To start this journey, I automatically started using the Tupperware instead of ziplock bags and reusable water bottles instead of convenient bottles of water. I wasn’t aware before starting this that being waste free is so difficult. Everything you own, touch, or use becomes waste one day. You will one day throw away the device you are reading this on and possibly what you sit or lay on right now. It will all wither away, strange to think. Stay tuned for my adventurous five days of reduced waste.
Day One: I walked out of my house and made it halfway to school until I realized I had forgotten my reusable water jug in my fridge so that unsuccessfully started my first day. I was forced to revert back to a plastic water bottle which I finished and had to dispose of in a few hours. Of course, I recycling but that kind of kill my plans of a waste free day right off the bat. I got home and was dying for a snack when, out of habit, I reached for the paper plates and mistakenly used one of those which I then had to throw away after using it. But for dinner I ate off a glass plate and washed it, being able to reuse it. After dinner I chose to each some starbursts which are individually wrapped and had to throw away all those wrappers. But other than that, I feel like my first day wasn’t a total failure!
Day Two: Today is my shortest day of the week but before leaving to head back home I decided to use the restroom, and this is where I discovered that this bathroom had no hand driers. I was forced with regret to dry my hands with the paper towels. I get home and reach for my snacks. I then finish a bag of cheezits and I had to dispose of the cardboard box in the recycling but also the plastic bag in the trash. For my lunch and dinner I used reusable dishes and Tupperware. I also remembered my water bottle today! Successful day two!
Day Three: In exchange for my water I grabbed a Lipton Peach Tea for my stressful day of exams to keep me centered. But once I finished the tea, the plastic bottle went into the recycling. I also cheated today and put my lunch sandwich in a plastic ziplock bag instead of a Tupperware bowl, I really need to do dishes. I threw away the baggie after my lunch. Also for dinner,by habit, I ate off a paper plate which I also had to throw away. And to finish off my cheaters day I went through some old papers and threw a bunch in the recycling. Today was not a good day for my reducing waste streak. I realized today that I have really bad habits! Tomorrow should be better.
Day Four: Today again I found another bathroom that doesn’t have hand dryers where I was again forced to use paper towels. Only upside to not finding hand driers is I could actually get my hands completely dry, usually hand driers aren’t strong enough to remove all the water or you stand in front of them for ten minutes trying to dry off all the water. Then, for my midday snack, I had a pop-tart and had to throw away the wrapper. As happy as I was from my waste for today I was disappointed to get home to a package. Receiving things I ordered is exciting but with receiving a package comes recieving all the packaging wrapping that I had to throw away like the packing bubbles and the package wrap that the item came in and also the cardboard box. Today wasn’t much better of trying to reduce my waste than day three but I sure did try!
Day Five: I was really good about my waste production today. I learned what bathrooms didn’t have hand driers and used those today while at school. I also was spoiled by my family and we went out for Hacienda. I did get a Styrofoam doggie box to carry home my left over, a box for chips and a small thing of ranch in a Styrofoam bowl for my chips. I ended up eating those for a late night snack and had to throw away both styrofoam boxes and the bowl. I can’t recycle those with the company I use because they don’t accept them, so I had to throw them in the trash. I easily could’ve anticipated the leftovers and brought tupperware but I can’t imagining anyone doing that! I would say it was not a good day for my trial but a good way to end this week with a good supper!
I’d definitely say that this was harder than I expected. It made my realize how much I throw away a day and gave me the perspective of how much I throw away a week and lead me to think about even a year! It’s crazy how our society is driven by trash production. Everything we throw in the trash goes to a landfill and rots for longer than we live. I like knowing that I can reduce my waste footprint by simply being conscious of what I throw away. I can also influence my friends and family by reducing my waste and educating them. It feel good to make an impact! But it’s not convenient to live waste free. You must go out of your way to remain waste free and put a lot of effort into it. I found myself becoming tired of using glass plates instead of paper then having to wash those dishes later and also becoming tired of packing my lunch into tupperware everyday. I don’t want to say that the world is lazy and turns towards the easier products, but that seems to be the case. If I had to take extra time out of my day, I didn’t really want to do it. It also may be because we aren’t committed enough to take the first step. We do the bare minimum and ship away our problems to the dump.
To explore the work of my partners:
Click HERE for Ashley’s week
Click HERE for Annabell’s week
