“I’m just one person, what difference can I make in the world?”
If you’re interested in truly seeing if you make an impact on the world, try this challenge:
Halve Your Trash.
Why Would I Halve My Trash?
There will always be the argument “I don’t live near the ocean, how does my trash matter when it goes to the landfill nearby?”. Glad you asked.
First, think about how much trash you generate in the first place. Halving means you take note of how much you currently throw away. If you think you don’t matter in the world, you’ll find out quickly that you do.
Halving your trash can also have less to do with the amount of garbage you create and more to do with the impact you have by simply not contributing to the generation of large amounts of packaging, garbage and wastefulness.
Do You Eat Out?
If you request a doggie bag, you generate a need for trash. You pay a restaurant for the food, you pay the cost of the doggie bag you use (rolled into the meal cost). You create the need for the restaurant to buy containers, to provide you with the doggie bag service. They have to spend time shopping for the doggie bag, money to purchase the doggie bag, and the cost of a person to deliver that bag to you. That cost is passed on to you. Then, you pay a trash service to throw away the container you used for one meal.
How Far Does One Doggie Bag Reach?
Your reach in one doggie bag connects you to the restaurant staff, the restaurant owner, the cashier, the food packaging supplier, the manufacturing company, the manufacturing workers, the shipping companies, the patent holder of the doggie bag, your garbage workers, the garbage company, the landfill workers, the city/county/state funding, the gas companies that fuel the machines that push the garbage around, and the motor industries that sell the the equipment to bury your doggie bag in the local land fill, the natural land where it is dumped, and even down to the seagulls picking off your scraps in the landfill.
Think You Don’t Matter?
Think again. You have an impact in a daily choice, for one meal. If you are looking for a simple way to start halving your trash: bring your own container next time you eat out.
How Can I Halve My Trash?
Think about what you buy in general.
There may be two or more choices of things to purchase, let’s say eggs. One package comes with Styrofoam packaging, one with cardboard packaging. The price difference is minimal. Which would you choose? The Styrofoam one, which is non-recyclable and lives “forever” in the landfill? Or the cardboard one, which could be recycled (since it is made of wood pulp that can be reused), composted, re-used for planting seedlings in your garden, or burned on your next camping trip? “But what about the trees”? Consider that trees are used for making pulp, energy is used to create polystyrene and cardboard – so ideally having no container would be the best, right? Until you need to get your eggs home, and are faced with the dilemma.
What about your fruits and vegetables? Do you prefer to buy pre-packaged fruits and vegetables? Convenience is key here, but many packaged fruits and vegetables (and salads) come in plastic clamshells. If you had the choice between loose vegetables in your reusable bag and the clam shell packaging that fills your recycle bin, which is the smarter choice? What if you just made your own salads in reusable containers? Would that make a difference in your trash bin at the end of the week?
Composting
Do you have a garden? Flower bed? Consider composting your food scraps to lessen the load on your trash bin. Have an HOA? Ask if your HOA has a community compost bin for the neighborhood. Give your kids at school or at home a project on composting to see if it makes a difference! While composting is not a practical application for many, it begs the question “why?”. A farm feeds scraps to the chickens and pigs. Many of us seal them in plastic bags and bury them, where they cannot be broken down and returned to the earth to break down naturally. Doesn’t this seem odd?
Convenience vs. Cost
Halving your trash might cost you a bit of convenience. Surely it’s easier to walk through the store and grab the quick thing off the shelf. It’s easier to do what you’ve always done and just get what you want, when you want it. But putting in a few extra seconds to think about what you buy and what you are paying to throw away might make you think twice. And pay less, in the long run.
How much do you spend on paper towels? Diapers? Single use wipes? Could you save yourself money by using a regular towel? Washable cloth diapers? A washcloth? Convenience is nice, and there may always be a need for some of that. But, could you halve the impact you make on your trash can each week? The answer is really up to you, and what you are willing to do. Are you willing?
Setting a Goal: Halve Your Trash Challenge
How can you get started? The next time you shop, think about how much you are buying that you’re going to throw away, and also eventually pay to throw away. See if you can halve your trash by Earth Day. Can you do it? What would you learn? Would you change the way you do business forever? Let us know!
We challenge you!
