2017: 4.31 lbs

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

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!

December 2017 - To Grandma's House, We Go!

Some of what went into my trash jar came from the hut trip I went on this month. Other pieces were packaging from items I ordered, or items I was given over Christmas. All in all, it was a large trash month for me, but I feel like I did pretty well for it being the holidays.

I didn't put all of the wrapping paper from gifts given to me in my jar, because they are recyclable. At my grandma's house the trash collection was specifically accepting wrapping paper for recycling for the week following Christmas. However I did have thoughtful family members who either wrapped items in re-usable packaging, or didn't wrap things at all! 

November 2017 - Comfort Tea

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.

October 2017 - Cheese life

This month I produced 29 grams, or 0.06 lbs of trash.

This is a 0.02 lbs improvement from September, which I am pretty pleased about. 

I feel like I've definitely reached a pretty sustainably minimal level of trash production. By changing a lot of my consumption patterns, habits, and methods, I've eliminated a lot from my day to day life. 

In my trash jar this month was mostly tea bag packages, wrapping from a prescription of mine, fruit stickers, and the wrappings around some cheese. I think there were some other random pieces of plastic from price stickers, and the tops of bottles. 

I've become a bit complacent recently. I've been able to produce very little trash the past few months, an amount that seemed incredibly difficult to achieve earlier this year!  But now that I've attained this level of trash production, I think it's time for me to reevaluate and set new goals. Probably before the new year, but definitely by then!

September 2017 - Sample Struggles

This September I produced 37 grams or 0.08 lbs of trash.

The biggest item in my trash this month was a bunch of sample spoons from our local ice cream joint. This amazing local creamery actually serves ice cream zero waste (which is why I go there). However when my friend and I went there to celebrate her getting a new job (yes we went for ice cream over wine, it was hot out, and it was awesome), the very kind gentleman on the other side of the counter just started giving us a bunch of samples w/o us asking for them! I didn't have the heart to tell him that I didn't want the plastic.

I sort of struggle with situations like this. I want to educate people, and at least feel ok telling them what I'm doing and why. But I also don't want to present it in a way that would insight any resentment. If someone is being very kind, you may make them dislike the whole zero waste movement by not handling that moment correctly. 

I usually just don't say much, but I think I'll need to come up with a better way of handling these moments when they happen.

Oh well, on to October!