Zero Waste Challenge: Baseline Measurement
In February of 2018, I did a Zero Waste Challenge and chronicled everything I had learned (which also included learning how to film myself and put together videos)! But I was distraught with my not having a baseline of the trash I produce. I wanted to hop right into the challenge, and while that was probably noble, I ended up sacrificing some important knowledge. So, before engaging in Round 2, I spent a month first collecting my trash. Bear in mind that this box of trash does not include recyclables; rather, only things that would end up in a landfill. Recyclables do have more of an impact on the environment than reusable items, but less of an impact than pure garbage.
The average American makes about four pounds of trash per day. My box of trash after one month weighed one pound! I’m going to double that to account for the trash I could not keep for baseline measurement (read below), and I’m happy with my month’s worth of trash weighing half of what the average American produces in a day! After doing my first Zero Waste Challenge, I can see how it adds up. EVERYTHING comes in plastic. You can’t un-see it! Cucumbers at the store are wrapped up in plastic. Produce bags, not just the bags at the checkout, are made of plastic. Little bits of plastic are wrapped around the bottle tops of glass bottles and jugs of kombucha.
In my box of trash, a lot of the garbage came from the meat I had purchased (some of which I could not save because it would have started to smell). In order from most to least frequently-occurring items, it goes: 1) meat packaging products, 2) toiletries and cosmetic products, 3) delivery packaging items, then 4) re-wrap produce plastic bags. Clearly, points 1 and 2 illustrate the areas where I need to improve. This blog post will focus on what I learned in going through my box, backed by what I have learned from my previous challenge and my research about living zerowaste.
A big part of living a zerowaste lifestyle involves going deeper than what we see on the surface, even though a lot of the above examples were right in front of me but out of site. Even bulk items come to the store packaged in something. How about the strain that meat production puts on the environment? Animals use up farmland and substantial amounts of the water supply, and it would probably be more nutritionally beneficial just to eat what the meat eats. Feces and methane are an abundant byproduct from cattle and other meat sources. And then, the uneaten flesh gets tossed out to rot in the garbage (never mind that 40% of the useable food gets wasted in the US and 20% of households live in food insecurity). That is a lot of waste that we don’t see. Consider also this decision: how about deciding whether to drive farther to get zerowaste items? It’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest information. Just because something seems to be zerowaste, unfortunately, doesn’t mean that it is.
When I did my first challenge, I found that reduce waste is a more realistic, achievable goal for the public, but I also found that when I said that to others, I heard a lot of decisions being made based on convenience (e.g. “I forgot my reusable bag but it’s okay because I’m reducing waste”). Reduce waste, to me, means making a logical decision over the grey area issues (of which there are plenty). For example, one of my local grocery stores offers re-wrap produce for a very cheap price; having debated the issue in my head, I feel that it’s the better decision to purchase the re-wrap produce. Yes, I’m producing some plastic waste, but if I had not bought those veggies, the plastic and vegetables would both end up wasted. My cumulative waste production is less by buying the re-wrap produce. Notice: this is not an example of convenience decision-making.
Similarly, even though I have espoused the literature on the environmental impact of meat production, I still eat meat. I have tried my darndest to be a plant-based eater, but I always feel ill after a few days. I do much better when I eat animal protein, so I have incorporated crickets (a substantially more sustainable form of protein even in comparison with vegan substitute products) into my diet. I’ve also reduced the number of animal-based meals I make, replacing them with plant-based meals. I don’t need to eat meat every day! Even so, I often pick up on sale meat (like the re-wrap veggies) because the cumulative waste seems to be less than if I did not purchase the meat. Although, I question the net environmental impact from the source of production and should consider this into the equation. But what about this: it bothers me to think of an animal’s life being so wasted by having been raised in an unethical slaughter house only to have its flesh tossed away. I find that disgusting. I wish we had laws that required so-called “waste” veggies and meat to be donated to those who are literally starving. But, alas, we don’t yet have that. This is another legitimate example of reducing waste versus totally zerowaste. I think this distinction is important to remember. Nevertheless, living either zerowaste or reduced waste is a daily, on-going process of decision-making. Where can we improve? That process starts with looking at a baseline score.
Having discussed already what I learned about the meat-related garbage I produced, deciding to purchase on sale meats and supplementing my diet with cricket protein and plant-based meals to reduce my impact in this area, it’s time for me to process my toiletry garbage. I had a feeling I would end up with a lot of garbage in the former area, based on my first challenge, but I’m feeling a little surprised by the latter. I ended up with empty make-up tubes, shave gel containers, disposable razors, toothbrushes, and miscellaneous cosmetic products. I’ve purchased ecofriendly toothbrushes before… but they come wrapped in plastic. That’s frustrating!
This next month, I was going to focus on producing less than a 12 oz mason jar of trash. I think a better goal, having examined my baseline, is to reduce my wasted toiletries. This next month, for my Zero Waste Challenge, I will chronical what I learn about toiletries.
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