September 1, 2020

All My Trash for August

I’ve been saving my trash in a “plastic audit” since October of last year. I live a generally plastic-free lifestyle but I’m not 100% plastic-free…yet. So, to see where the last 1% of my trash was coming from, I started keeping track of all of it. And at the end of each month, I take a look to see where I could improve.

A few reminders of the rules. This is just my trash not my whole family’s (although they don’t generate too much more than this). Normally, I do not include my family’s trash because I am not with them 24 hours a day. Also, my husband is not as stringent on plastic as I am, so he buys a weekly tub of yogurt for himself and I don’t include it in my trash. But again, his trash is not too much more than what’s shown here.

I do however save any trash generated from feeding my family meals at home. So, while I don’t drink milk (being basically lactose intolerant) my kids drink milk. So, the milk caps are technically trash that my kids generate but I add them to my trash since I decide what they eat at home.

Finally, in the city I live in, there’s compost and recycling pick-up along with trash. Now, given the state of recycling, I only recycle metal, glass, and paper. This generally includes an occasional drink or food can, glass jars with metal lids, and glossy junk mail that can’t be composted.

So, now that we’ve covered the ground rules, let’s dive in! Here’s all my trash for the month of August!

Overall, I’m pretty happy with how my trash has decreased over the year…despite the pandemic. Let’s break it down to see what I learned each week.

Week 1

During Week 1, I started some new habits. I recently started drinking decaf green tea again. During quarantine, I drank coffee everyday but now I’m switching back and forth between coffee and green tea. I would normally get my tea in the bulk section or at our local tea house, but those options aren’t available right now, so I ordered some decaf organic green tea from Amazon.

Everything else the first week is pretty normal: cheese wrappers, produce stickers, and butcher paper. I try to get the largest quantity of meat in one purchase to minimize on butcher paper and plastic bags. So, I use a little bit of chicken during this week and then freeze the remainder to use during the rest of the month.

Week 2

I mentioned in my June trash audit, I’ve stopped buying prepared salad dressings and most prepared sauces. They contain sunflower or canola oil which are a part of the Hateful Eight oils that are not great for your health.

So, I’ve been slowly using up what’s left in my fridge and then I stop buying them. Note, I didn’t say I tossed out everything in my fridge that had sunflower or canola oil in it. I’m a firm believer in not letting things, especially food, go to waste.

Week 3

Week 3 is exciting because this is our last milk cap! Since my youngest has finally weened off the bottle last month, we’ve been drinking considerably less milk. Also, my husband stopped eating cereal for breakfast, so our two main sources of milk consumption have gone away. After having to throw out part of this last bottle of milk because it had gone bad, my husband and I agreed to stop buying milk!

Also, this week, I’m almost finished replacing the polyester in my closet. I’ve been slowly eliminated a lot of synthetic fibers from my closet and only replacing it with things I actually need. I’ve sold, donated, or recycled nearly a third of my closet!

Week 4

Week 4 went well! I usually place an order from my favorite online zero waste bulk store each month. This month, when I placed my order they were out of olive oil, so I picked up a glass bottle from my grocery store instead. While it is adding to my trash pile, I do the best I can and don’t fret over tiny additions like this because I know there’s an overall solution.