Trash in Pasta Bags, January-April, 2016

January through April 2016's Trash in Pasta Bags

Coming off a positive year for waste reduction - I accumulated less than 10 pounds of trash which I contributed to the landfill - I began 2016 with a resolution to reduce my waste even more.  As of the end of April, I am on pace to accumulate between 8 and 9 pounds of waste during the year.  As I've said before, this is only the waste that I am contributing directly to the local landfill.  It does not include the waste that I flush down drains or the waste that grocery stores, restaurants, and other businesses with which I do business contribute to landfills.

So how can all of us reduce our production of waste that ultimately ends up buried in holes in the ground? Here are some ideas:

1. Reduce consumption.  In our disposable society that often emphasizes instant gratification, this can be a challenge.  When I am out shopping, I am tempted by many of the goodies that line store shelves.  I am especially tempted by specific food items.  Whenever I am tempted, however, I take a step back and ask myself whether I really need it.  As I ask myself this question, I reflect on my past habits and on the fact that the temptation will pass.  I know from experience that I will stop craving any item after I choose not to purchase and consume that item.  I know that I can find other, less wasteful things to occupy my time, to fill my stomach, to ease my mind.  By drawing on my knowledge and experience, I can leave temptations behind.  As I try to explain my process for reflecting on potential purchases and passing items by, I realize how short and automatic that process has become.  As with many things in life, the more I perform certain tasks, the easier those tasks become.  I can't even begin to estimate how much I have reduced my waste by choosing not to buy that bag of candy or chips or that other unneeded item.

2. Buy items in recyclable packaging.  When we have options for the items we buy, we can consider a wide variety of criteria when making purchases, and that criteria can include packaging.  We can ask ourselves, Is the packaging reusable or recyclable?  If we purchase more items in reusable or recyclable packaging and fewer items in non-recyclable packaging, we can reduce our contribution to our local landfills.

3. Compost.  Whenever I cut up fruits and vegetables and have leftover leaves, stems, seeds, etc., I don't just throw them away or wash them down the sink drain.  I compost those pieces.  It takes very little effort to create a compost pile in a corner of the yard or inside of a container such as a wooden barrel or even a plastic bucket.  An empty five gallon ice cream container can even be converted into a compost container.  Depending on how you use items like napkins, you can probably place them in your compost pile.  You can also add egg shells and your dryer lint to that pile.  You can even add Subway wrappers and other specially labelled items to that pile.  As a bonus, all of these items can ultimately add precious nutrients to your soil, and to your flowers, your garden food, or your grass.

Every little bit helps.  It all adds up.  Thank you for reading.

140 Days of Trash in Pasta Bags

Trash in a pasta bag?  If you're reading this then you might be asking, How does an idea (and a series of photos) like this come about?  That's a fair question.  I'll try to explain without resorting to my usual short answer, which is that I'm just crazy like that.  First, I'll talk about photographing trash.

During the Fall of 2014, I began taking selfies with my trash.  Yes, selfies with my trash.  I wanted to hold myself accountable for the waste I was producing that was not being reused or recycled.  I wanted to hold myself accountable for the trash that I was contributing to the local landfill, the trash that was going to be buried in a hole in the ground where it would eventually decompose and contaminate the soil and water below.  These photographs of my trash did not include the waste that I washed down drains - soap, toilet paper, shampoo - nor did they include the waste that I was indirectly responsible for - the waste produced by restaurants, grocery stores, manufacturers, etc. from which I bought goods and services - but they did include the waste that I directly produced and for which I could account.

I felt that photographing my trash would help me continue a process I had started years earlier: the process of rethinking my consumption habits and making changes to be a more responsible steward of the earth.  Over the past 15 years, I have seen my trash dwindle from a grocery bag full (about 2 pounds) each month to a pasta bag (about 6 to 8 ounces) every 20 days.  By photographing my trash, I have become more aware of my consumption and of my contribution to the landfill, and I have forced myself to change my habits more than I had before.

Now that I've talked about photographing trash, I'll talk about the pasta bags.  This part is simpler: I eat pasta for many of my meals, and much of that pasta comes in bags.  For me, pasta is relatively inexpensive, it's tasty, and it's filling.  Pasta also provides me with carbohydrates for running, and I run quite a bit.  In fact, I run, on average, 25 to 30 miles per week.  I do buy pasta in boxes that I recycle, but I also buy it in bags that I can't recycle.  Even though I can't recycle these bags, I can use these bags for trash.  And that's what I do - for several months, I have been using pasta bags for trash.  More specifically - and you may note this if you look closely at the photos above - I have been using rigatoni bags for my trash.

And there you have it: trash in a pasta bag.  If you check out this site in the future, you may find some tips for cutting consumption, for reusing materials, and for composting and recycling.  For now, I will leave you with two ideas:

1) Use bags that your food comes in - like pasta bags - for your trash instead of buying trash bags.  You'll save money, and using smaller bags may lead you to rethink your own habits and cut down on your waste.

2) Photograph your trash.  You may not realize how much waste you produce until you begin to document it in some fashion.  On average, we in the U.S. produce about 4.5 pounds of waste each day, directly and indirectly, but we only recycle about one third of that waste.  That's more than 1600 pounds of waste per person per year.  That adds up to more than 480,000,000,000 pounds, or 240,000,000 tons, of waste per year in the U.S. alone.  If we collectively make different decisions regarding our consumption and waste, we can cut down on our contribution to the landfills.  Thank you for reading.