Last year I made a New Years Resolution to start living a zero waste lifestyle, and I'm pretty sure it's the first New Years Resolution I've ever kept.

Obviously, I didn't produce literally "zero waste." I produced quite a bit of waste, several pounds. But I learned how to make different choices as a consumer. I got myself lots of reusable bags, I started making my own cosmetics, making my own bread, I bought more produce than ever before, I switched to a safety razor, and so much more! I took my role as an ethical consumer way more seriously, and meticulously tracked the amount of waste that I produced (as you can see below).

2017: 4.31 lbs of trash

year total: 6 lbs of trash

This year, according to what I measured, I produced 4.31 lbs of trash.

That's less than what you're average american produces in a day.

what didn't go in my trash jar

Recyclables

I had no problem buying and using recyclable materials. I worked my hardest to minimize this as much as possible, and it definitely was less than I normally would have used. But I made no attempt to quantify how much I put in my recycling bin. I am also benefited by the fact that Denver has an exceptionally good recycling program.

Upstream Waste:

Upstream waste felt incredibly challenging to avoid. I didn't know if the items I bought in bulk were shipped in plastic, or almost anything that happened before the product reached my hand. Trying to avoid upstream waste as much as possible definitely turned me into a more ethical consumer. I have always had some attention on the well being of the people and animals responsible for making products that I use, but my zero waste journey magnified the extent I was willing to go to for ethical goods.

Human Error:

In science, we often have to account for human error. Nobody's perfect. Sometimes I forgot to take something to put in my jar. This wasn't a lot, but it definitely happened! I don't know the proper way to statistically calculate for my human error, so I won't. I'm just telling you it exists!

I had 10 grams of trash in my trash jar for November, but that was definitely not all the trash I produced.

Over Thanksgiving I was supposed to go to my parent's house in California, where I grew up. However, I was called last minute to New England because my grandfather had fallen very ill. If you know me, then you know that my personal form of comfort comes in the form of a piping hot cup of tea (with or without whisky). Because I was called away last minute, I didn't arrange to bring any loose leaf tea with me. So, I had regular tea. A lot of it. I think at least 30 bags.

So, after weighing some empty tea bags, I'm going to add an extra 24 grams to this month's jar assuming that I used about 30 bags.

That comes out to 0.075 lbs for the month of November.

Besides tea bag wrappings, there's also a small stir straw, and some plastic wrapping that came with some gifts I purchased for the holidays in there.