Save in 5: Get Trashy
Welcome to our Save in 5 series: where I try to become more eco-conscious by following five set rules for five days.
For the first week, I chose to focus on limiting excessive waste. Limiting our daily waste is an easy way to help the earth. So, this past week I wanted to be conscious of what I bought, used, or tossed away.
The 5 Rules for Limiting Waste:
- Everything I throw away MUST fit in the plastic bag pictured above.
- Recyclables need to be properly disposed of at the end of the week.
- Recycle items in alternative ways, when possible.
- Focus on using biodegradable products.
- Go all tech for notes, writing, and sketching.
Food For Thought
About a week ago, I learned an interesting fact: college students produce an average of 640 pounds of solid waste every year. This year in Columbus, college students will have produced 59,972,480 pounds of waste. [X] So, in a year, all that waste will be sitting in a landfill, accumulating more and more by the day.
I don’t know about you, but to me, that number is completely astounding. Probably because I know I am terrible at managing my waste and can believe that I produce 640 pounds of waste a year.
So, this week, I wanted to focus on lowering my pounds of waste for the five days. And then, calculate how large my impact would be if I kept this up for an entire year.
Day 1
I actually don’t accumulate as much personal trash as I thought. What I’ve noticed was that I do use a lot of recyclable goods though that I end up just throwing in the trash.
Since I am a college student, I tend to pick up a quick lunch. This habit is not only negatively impacting my wallet but the Earth as well. My lunch today, for example, came with napkins, paper towels, plastic storage containers and silverware, ramekins, and a styrofoam box. By making more conscious decisions, like buying food that doesn’t come with a lot of extra packaging, I can lessen my waste and environmental footprint.
Any easier solution would be for me to pack a lunch. With a packed lunch, I could eat out of food containers I can wash and reuse, thus, I wouldn’t produce any trash.
Day 2
Most of my trash today came from my trip to Kroger.
A lot of plastic gets wasted with individually wrapped items and needless packaging. So, I can start buying fruits, veggies, and other food items with little to no packaging. Though my produce will create waste with the food itself, I can turn that waste into compost.
Focusing on picking out healthier foods with less packaging will help.
Day 3
I realized that I’m not counting another part of my waste; toilet paper. In my research, I learned people use at least 2 rolls of toilet paper every week, or, 104 toilet paper rolls a year. [X]
I’ll count in my toilet paper usage with two rolls of toilet paper for this experiment. I’ll be conscious of how much I use though throughout the week.
Day 4
I did some quick thrift shopping for some new clothes today. Not surprising, but I found some great stuff! On the flip side, I can donate my old clothing here instead of throwing it in the garbage and help the environment.
Also, sketching and taking notes on the computer has been driving me insane. I don’t have a place to doodle when I’m taking notes in Word. Nor, do I get the same effect as a pencil while sketching–even with my drawing tablet.
I hope the trees appreciate it.
Instead of throwing out clothing or other things I don’t want anymore, I will donate them to charity or the thrift shop. I suggest if anyone needs something new, to check there first before buying new clothes at the mall. Your wallet and the environment will thank you.
Day 5
It’s the last day and I’ve realized just how poorly I’ve been eating.
Most of my trash had been from take-out. I had very little time to prep to-go meals due to my crazy school schedule. It's challenging when you leave the house early in the morning and don't return until 10PM or later at night. But at the same time, I often forget that it is saving the environment, my wallet, and my health.
Conclusion
My trash this week weighed in at one pound.
Everything fit into the singular trash bag with space to spare. The cool thing was, throughout of my mound of trash, all but a few pieces were recyclable. It’s crazy to think the in weeks before, all of my trash would’ve just ended up in a dump. While a good portion now, is going to be recycled.
I feel like I probably should have picked a tinier bag to make this more challenging, but it’s good to visually see all my trash. This has shown me what I need to work on, and bigger changes that I need to make.
Overall, with only one pound, I would only be producing 73 pounds per year. That’s one-twelfth of the amount predicted. Even though I thought I'd produce more, reporting what I wasted through this experiment will definitely help me limit my waste in the future.
Thanks for reading the first post for Save in 5! Next week, I’ll be focusing on buying local and sustainability so stay tuned.
Faith Gutzman is a creative intern at Fulcrum Creatives and part of the spring 2016 FORCE team. When she’s not in the office, Faith is on the Columbus College of Art & Design campus working on her senior thesis or going on mini-adventures around town.
Fulcrum Creatives is a certified B-Corp design and development studio in Columbus, Ohio focused on creating, elevating and sustaining brands that care.
