900 Days of Trash in 1 Taco Shell and 41 Pasta Bags

The image above contains 42 individual photographs of my trash - 41 in pasta bags and one (the first one) in a taco shell bag.  These photographs are in chronological order and document 900 days' worth of the waste that I produced and could not reuse or recycle.

If you opened up these bags, you would find plastic frozen food packaging for items such as vegetables, seafood, and pizza.  You would find packaging for shredded and chunk cheddar cheese. You would find butter wrappers and plastic packaging for crackers and soft shells.  You would find the greasy parts of pizza boxes (I remove and recycle the non-greasy parts) and styrofoam Chinese take-out containers.  Put simply, you will find many of the decisions that I made over the course of two-and-a-half years in terms of food and packaging.

You will not, however, find many of the other decisions that I made.  You would not find the cardboard and paperboard containers - the non-greasy pizza boxes, the cracker and butter boxes, the pasta boxes, etc. - that I placed in the recycling.  You would not find the junk mail, the receipts, the paper instructions, and the paper bags that I placed in the recycling.  You would not find the lint or the napkins, or the fruit and vegetable trimmings, or the coffee grounds that I composted.

You would not find the toilet paper, the dish soap, hand soap, toothpaste, and shampoo that I flushed or washed down drains.  You would not find the gasoline and oil, electricity and natural gas that I consumed, or the air and water pollution that I produced.

You would not find the trash and recyclables and pollution produced by the people and businesses that prepared my food or created the packaging in which my food came.  You would not find the trash and recyclables and pollution produced by the businesses that shipped and stocked the items that I bought.

By documenting my trash, I have helped to hold myself more accountable.  Each and every decision makes a difference when you take a step back and look at all of the decisions together.  One bag of trash does not seem like much, especially when it disappears from sight.  42 bags of trash, even small bags, placed in a row might illuminate the impact of your decisions.  My goal is not to get to zero waste because I do not see how that is possible.  My goal is to get as close as I can to zero waste with each decision.

Something to keep in mind is the idea that you will also not find other decisions that I made if you opened up my bags of trash.  You will not find my decision to pass by that bag of candy or that box of cookies or that bag of chips because I decided that I really did not need them.  You will not find my decision not to get a cup for water (or another beverage) at that fast food restaurant because I understood that I could easily go without it.  You will not find my decision to walk to work or to the grocery store instead of drive.  You will not find my decision to pass on dessert at that restaurant or my decision to use that napkin for my snack food at that potluck instead of a styrofoam plate.  You will not find my decision to stay at home and not to hop in my car and make that trip to a certain destination.  You will not find my decision to make due with what I already have instead of going out and getting more stuff.  These are the decisions that truly make the difference.  These are the decisions that help me cut down on my consumption and, therefore, help me cut down on my trash.  Many of these decisions occur in a moment's time; but when you add them all up, you might just realize how important each one is.

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

365 Days of Trash in a Pasta Bag

Trash in a Pasta Bag for 2016.

Over the course of the year, I managed to cut down my consumption a little more. I was also able to reuse and recycle most of the packaging in which my food and other items came. When all was said and done, I ended up sending about eight pounds of trash to the landfill, about a pound less than I sent to the landfill in 2015. This trash primarily included packaging for food items, wrappers for fast food items, and styrofoam and wax paper cups and plates from potlucks.

Even though I can account for the trash that I have directly sent to the landfill, the companies that made the items that I consumed, the companies that made the packaging in which those items came, the transportation companies that moved those items around, and the restaurants at which I ate, all produced trash that went to landfills as well.

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.