The
Rebel Badge Club has an Environmentalist badge which I originally blew off because I didn't want to do the first two requirements which are a) to keep track of all your trash for a month and b) do it again while actively working to reduce your trash. I have already (especially after reading
No Impact Man) made a lot of changes in my life to reduce trash. Here are some I can think of off the top of my head:
* Use a sponge instead of a paper towel for most things.
* Use cloth hankies instead of tissues.
* Use a metal water bottle instead of buying water.
* Use cloth bags for shopping.
* Buy some things in glass jars instead of plastic (like peanut butter).
* Use a silicon mat instead of parchment paper or waxed paper except when making pie crust. (It is possible to pat pie crust into the pan like with a graham cracker crust, but now that I finally figured out whole wheat crust needs more water than regular, I'm back to rolling it out. Hmm, maybe I could roll it out between silicone mats.)
* Recycle and compost--my city has a great recycling program including glass, paper, cardboard, metal, and hard plastic. Though I now only recycle #1 and #2 plastic because I've heard the other numbers are really a mess. And I bring my plastic film to the grocery store for recycling. My city also has a composting program and I finally got a replacement bin after my last one went missing. So there's a place for egg shells, banana peels, etc.
* Buy in larger packages when possible (one big container makes less trash than several small containers, in cases where I can keep things from spoiling).
But it turns out I like the rest of the badge, so I've decided to make a go of it. I tried to keep track of all my trash for the month of September (though I'm sure I forgot a few things). I'm not counting recycling here, though some of that (most of that?) is also problematic. I didn't buy anything big or do much decluttering, so this is probably a below-average month. And now I will try to brainstorm ways to reduce, though I don't expect to get any new ideas. (Skip to the bottom to see what I came up with.)
Here goes:
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dental floss - plenty. I did find a new floss that comes in a cardboard container rather than a plastic container inside a bubble pack, but it has "sponge" floss instead of "glide" floss. It's supposed to be more effective, but I don't like it and of course the most effective floss is the floss you actually use. I'm going to try to finish it anyway. Currently I'm rewarding myself with the floss I like for my second flossing of the day, so that's actually good.
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receipts - plenty. Receipt paper is known to be kind of toxic especially if you're touching it with wet (sweaty) hands. I could join the modern world and get my receipts electronically. However, I like having them on my desk when I enter the information into my financial spreadsheet. Maybe I could try it next month when I have options. Mostly I shop at HEB, where you just get a receipt automatically, but I'm not sure if you have to get one at Trader Joe's. Some places I shop do ask whether you want a paper receipt.
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toilet paper - plenty. Some people use "family cloth" (like hankies) and then wash them like diapers. Some use it only for #1. I don't wanna. I have already experimented with finding the minimum amount to use that keeps me happy.
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sweepings - plenty. After sweeping, whatever's in the dustpan goes in the garbage. A bunch of it's probably compostable, but there are probably bits that are not. I will not worry about this or stop sweeping.
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yogurt container - 2. I was trying several new flavors and only wanted to get a small container of each. I like Skyr. And I like the plant-based yogurts--it turns out they are based on coconut milk, which I like. Especially after mixing in some pineapple (even from a can). I'm back to buying only big yogurt containers.
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restaurant items 1 sheet of paper, 1 cardboard tray, 3 plastic cups holding butter and jelly, 1 holding ketchup - One day I tossed paper and a paper tray from crispy tacos (from Taco Shack). (Yum!) I actually had way less trash than the folks I was sharing a table with, who both had giant styrofoam containers full of food plus multiple little plastic containers of extra ingredients. In the future, I will want to try other things at that restaurant that come with more trash, but I do also like just getting their crispy tacos.
In another restaurant (Monument Cafe) we got biscuits. Delicious complimentary biscuits. And we like the butter, though may say no on the jelly in the future. We will continue getting these in the future. Another place gave us ketchup.
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salad bags - 4 big bags + 5 packets. I buy spinach in plastic bags, pre-washed. I could buy it in bulk, held with a twist tie, and wash it myself and store it in a re-usable bag, but I'm not willing to go through the trouble. I don't eat many vegetables, and anything that encourages me to eat more vegetables is a higher priority for me than reducing trash.
I also buy chopped salad kits that have chopped cabbage plus packets of dressing and packets of other toppings. I mix this with plain spinach. I could instead just buy dressing in a glass jar that I could recycle except for the lid or I could make dressing and then also buy extra toppings (like seeds) in bulk. But again, my current strategy makes it much more likely that I will actually eat salads.
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TV dinner container - 7. I like to buy paneer tikka masala (vegetarian Indian food) and palak paneer (creamy spinach) (paneer is a soft cheese) and mix them together with a can of chick peas and then put some more cheese on top (weirdly, I'm enjoying cotija, which is a Mexican cheese that is often compared to parmesan though it is milder and less dry and also way more affordable where I live). So, this is yet another way that I'm eating vegetables, so I won't be changing this.
I also like Trader Joe's macaroni and cheese. There are no health reasons for me to keep buying this, but when I make macaroni and cheese myself, I cannot make it this yummy. This is a special treat and I will continue buying this. This tray is now paper instead of plastic, but it's still sealed with plastic that tends to partly stick to the tray, so I don't try to recycle or compost any of it. When in doubt [about what's recyclable], they say to throw it out.
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cream cheese wrapper - 2. I get my cream cheese in a foil wrapper. I have seen recipes for cream cheese but have not tried any. As one recipe writer says, it would 'not contain commercial stabilizers or preservatives.' I don't generally go through cream cheese very quickly, so that would probably be a bad plan. But it might be worth trying if I'm planning to make a cheesecake.
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bread wrapper - 1. For bagels. I'm not making my own.
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candy bar wrapper - 4. I actually snack on chocolate chips as often as candy bars. They're cheaper and tax-free where I live, but I do also like candy bars, especially when they are on sale or on clearance.
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paper napkin - 3. I sometimes end up with paper napkins from restaurants. I could try harder not to (and just wash my hands in the bathroom afterwards).
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straw and paper from straw - 3. I don't even use straws, but sometimes restaurant staff give them to me. Usually I tell them I don't want one, but sometimes I don't have the energy--it feels like making more work for them. Okay, I can definitely make more of an effort to refuse straws next month.
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disposable cup - 3. Sometimes I end up with a plastic cup from restaurants, even though I just drink water. I try to remember to bring my water bottle with me and use that instead--I can try harder next time. (I also bring them to parties, but I didn't go to any parties last month.)
I also got a paper cup from the blood donation place where I get juice. I like getting juice, but it occurs to me they would probably happily pour it in my own cup if I brought one.
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snack packet - 6. I got two packets of snacks from the blood donating place. I could bring my own snacks; it's not like I even love theirs (except for the juice), but I also like getting free snacks, so I won't.
I think I was gifted 2 more snack packets later. And I got a box with 4 breakfast cookie packets on clearance. Yes, I can be bought.
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bandages - some bandages and wrapping tape and other medical garbage were generated by my blood donation. I will not be changing that.
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food sample containers - 2. I will eat food samples from grocery stores. This definitely results in trash (tiny cups, napkins, tiny cupcake liners), though at least it's tiny. For a while I was trying to bring my own little silverware with me, but then I had trouble remembering to wash it when I got home.
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wrapper from plastic bottles - 1. Some plastic bottles have a plastic wrapper on them with all the printing. It doesn't seem like those should go in the recycling with the bottle, nor am I confident that it counts as plastic film, so I just take it off and throw it in the garbage. Okay, brief googling was unhelpful, so I'll continue doing this. I got one from a stain-remover bottle and the rest were from some protein drinks I inherited from my mom (they were just going to be thrown away if I didn't take them). I'm using the protein drinks to flavor milk--normally I make chocolate syrup to do that (1 part cocoa, 1 part sugar, 1 part water, boil 1 minute).
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A/C part and packaging - 2. Our air conditioner broke, so we bought a couple of new parts, which came in a package and we threw away one old part.
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chocolate chip wrapper - 3. I can buy chocolate chips in bulk from a place that lets you bring your own container, but they cost more, they don't taste as good, and I don't go to that particular store very often, so I will continued generating this waste.
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tortilla wrapper - 1. I have successfully made my own tortillas, but the ones I buy have more fiber, taste better, and have better preservatives. I will continue generating this waste.
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butter wrapper - 1. The box the butter comes in is recyclable, but not the wrapper. I've also made butter myself and I do not want to do that. Hmm, per
Zero Waste Butter (Meridith Tested), sometimes you can get the folks at farmer's markets to give you butter in glass jars. She also says you can buy ghee in glass jars--I'm sure that costs way more; maybe I should check it out. (She also says you can recycle Kerrygold wrappers by washing them and crumpling them, but I don't want to use that much hot water and soap.)
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cheese wrapper - 1. This is from a package of sliced cheese--there were also some papers between the slices. I've heard of people going to delis with their own containers and asking them to use those containers and then, after getting a lot of weird looks and maybe going to speak to their managers, they will let you do it. I will not be doing that, though.
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bits of moldy cheese - once. Yep, I went too long without using that kind of cheese. I saved most of the cheese but not all. Usually I'm good about using up my food in time. It helps that I try to store things in the same place so I know where to look for things. But I fail sometimes.
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rice packet - 2. I'm trying to eat less rice since I found out that conventionally grown rice is as bad for the environment as eating chicken, so I'm getting this rice made from vegetables and flour. It comes in smallish plastic bags and is not available in bulk.
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old sheet - 2. We had two bottom sheets that were just so old and worn that patching no longer makes any sense because the fabric itself is just too fragile. It's not too fragile for hankies, so I cut some squares out of the edges for that and will sew them up during craft night, but the rest is finally gone.
I'm looking for ways to buy just bottom sheets instead of whole sets. I've already tried making top sheets into bottom sheets but that has turned out, shall we say, unsatisfactory. I've also tried just tucking in top sheets to use as bottom sheets like hotel maids have to, and that doesn't last very long. Of course top sheets are easier to find in thrift stores.
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book - 1. I acquired a paperback cookbook with severe water damage. I finally got all the recipes I wanted to try from it and tossed it.
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ant poison - 1 plastic bottle + many saturated pieces of cardboard. - I have tried many non-trash ways to beg the ants not to come into the house, but they just don't understand.
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ant trap pieces - 4. When that bottle ran out, I had to get a different kind of ant trap, and each one is a little plastic house. I cut the ends of 4 of them off to set out.
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bakery wrappers - small bag x 5, small metal tray x 4, paper tray x 1, cup x 2, box x 1 - My favorite Asian bakery (85 degrees) sells everything individually wrapped. It was already pretty bad before covid, but at least then you could ask them to put several things in one bag. Now we can get the egg tarts in a box of 2, but the rest is all individually wrapped. I will continue generating this waste. (Um, at least it all goes into a re-usable grocery bag I bring from home.)
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frozen food bag - 2. I buy vegetarian sausage patties in a plastic bag. Googling because of this badge, I found a recipe for
easy vegan breakfast sausage patties that I might try (but without the maple syrup). I won't try it next month, though, because I still have another bag.
I've also started buying
vegetarian fake fried fish that I love, I get it every time a restaurant worker insists on giving us ketchup we don't want. I do like ketchup on fried fish.
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glass jar label - at least 3. I like to try to get the labels off wide-mouth jars and bring them to our local craft re-sale shop (Creative Re-use).
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paper towel - 1. One of the labels came off a spice jar from a company where the label usually comes off cleanly, but this time I could never get the glue off, even with alcohol. I'll keep trying, but for these spice jars, if the glue doesn't come off again in the future, I won't waste a paper towel again.
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air filter - 1. I change the air conditioner filter every month during the hot months, even though we have 3-month filters. This is supposed to be good for the air conditioner. There are re-usable filters, but they look like a real pain to wash, especially the ones that are really good at filtering. Plus it's not like clean water is an infinite resource either. So I will continue generating these. At least I do recycle the paper and film it's wrapped in.
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wrapper, block cheese - 1. For cheddar, sometimes I get the 16-ounce block to minimize plastic. But sometimes I still get 8-ounce blocks for grass-fed or other fancy cheese or if it's on sale.
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yogurt tube - I was gifted a plastic tube of yogurt.
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cough drop wrapper - Um. Apparently you can
make your own cough drops, but no, she's not convincing me.
I have heard that cough drops don't actually work, or maybe only as a placebo effect. I like to get the reward of cherry candy when I'm sick sometimes, though. So I suppose I could think of a trash-free treat for when I'm sick. I don't like tea, but I do like chicken broth, and even just plain hot water is good.
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plastic from bananas - 1 set - There's a strip around the bananas so cashiers know they're organic and another bit at the top for freshness. I'm just going to be fine with this. I have seen banana trees in my neighborhood, but I don't know if they actually make bananas.
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business card - 1. I found this in the yard and it was all dirty, so not recyclable, but also looked plastic-coated, so I assume also not compostable.
Well, I did manage to come with a few takeaways for the future, though they don't add up to much:
* Check out prices for ghee in glass jars.
* Refuse more receipts.
* Try making vegan sausage patties.
* Try rolling out pie crust between silicone mats.
* Make my own cream cheese for cheesecake.
* Be more consistent in refusing straws.
* Bring cup for juice when I donate blood.
As usual, suggestions are encouraged! In fact, another Rebel posted an idea I could make a huge improvement on which is deleting old emails I don't want. See
Digital Cleanup Day for more information.
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