All My Trash for November
Last month I started a project to collect all my trash in a sort of “plastic audit”. The best way to find a solution is to thoroughly understand the problem.
So, in an effort to get to 100% plastic-free, I systematically kept my trash in a small container on my kitchen counter. I wrote about my trash for October in “What I Learned from Saving My Trash for a Month“. And I’m happy to report that there’s been progress!
Before I jump into this month’s trash, a few reminders of what exactly I’m collecting.
First, this is just the trash I generate. I’m not with my kids or husband 24 hours a day so I can’t expect them to collect their trash while I’m not with them.
Second, I am however responsible for the meals I feed them while at home. So, while I don’t drink milk, my kids drink milk and I use milk to cook meals for them, so any waste generated from milk is included.
Finally, I recycle paper, glass, and metal. My city recycling still takes plastic, but I’m not convinced they can find a buyer for their plastic and thus I’m assuming recyclable plastic is ending up in the landfill. I dig more into the subject of recyclables ending up in landfills in “Recycling is Not the Answer“.
So, without further delay, here is my trash for the month of November!
I break down each week to see what I can improve on for next month.
Week 1
Week 1 had the most amount of trash given Halloween had just passed and I was still had to finish some of the ingredients from my fancy pizza making from the last month.
Here is a breakdown of the items:
- Plastic Bags from Clothes Ordered Online
- Halloween Candy Bags
- Milk Caps
- Ricotta Tub
- Deli Liners
- Caramel M&Ms Bag (Yes, I stole some of my daughter’s Halloween candy)
- Mozzarella Block Wrapping
- Plastic Bag from Magnets
- Produce Stickers
Like I mentioned last month, I’ll be skipping the Ricotta when I make pizza the next time. It doesn’t add that much flavor to the pizza considering how much plastic it ends up wasting.
For the plastic bags from online shopping, one of my best friends mentioned that before switching to reusable bags she would hoard plastic shopping bags in a drawer. Since she never reused the plastic bags, she felt bad throwing them out, so she gave them to someone with a dog! This is a great idea and I think I’ll try that with my plastic bags from the clothes I ordered online.
I ordered two of these cute metal Bento Boxes from PlanetBox to pack lunches for my kids while we’re on the go.
The boxes arrived in a cardboard box with no plastic…except for a little sleeve the magnets for the top of the box came in.
Had I known, I would have skipped the free magnets, but you can’t win them all.
Week 2
- Bag of Butter Toffee Pretzels
- Pasta Box Windows
- Mac & Cheese Powder Packet
- Plastic Cork
- Wrapper for Glass Hot Sauce Bottle
- Wrapper for Glass Curry Bottle
- Zebra Metal Pen Refill
- Gummy Snacks
- Hi-Chew Candy Wrapper
- Plastic Cap to Curry Bottle
- Produce Labels
- Milk Caps
Trader Joe’s is my Achilles heel. Years ago, when I still lived in DC, I did all my grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s. But since adopting a plastic-free lifestyle and moving close to a Whole Foods, I avoid Trader Joe’s. In part because, they have so many delicious products that are probably not great for my waistline (and waste-line, get it? :P).
So, of course I caved when I had to stop into the store. I spotted butter toffee pretzels! I love butter and toffee so I could not resist. While they were good, they were not worth the huge plastic bag. Just like the bag of chips from last month, this was a great reminder that I should leave things I’ve given up in the past. No more junk food from Trader Joe’s for me.
This week also reminded me that even glass bottles can have plastic lids and plastic wrappers. Trader Joe’s killed me this week. The pre-made curry sauce I bought from Trader Joe’s came in a glass bottle but had a plastic lid with a plastic wrap. This has motivated me to start making my own curry sauce or find an alternative glass jar with a metal lid.
Finally, I want to talk about my favorite pens! I try to go as digital as possible, but I do have pens at my desk at work and I have one in my notebook that I carry with me to meetings for my volunteer job.
I love Zebra pens. They are mainly metal, and have a refill ink stick you replace when the ink runs out. It’s much smaller than throwing away a whole plastic pen and I just like the sleekness of this pen. Isn’t it beautiful?
If you purchase the larger box, you can avoid plastic packaging. But even in the two-pack there’s minimal plastic.
Quick tip: make sure you check the model number on your pen when ordering refills. I’ve ordered the wrong refills before and they are not compatible with all models.
Week 3
- Amazon Mailer Bag
- Paper Envelope Covered in Plastic Shipping Tape
- Milk Caps
- Travel Contact Lens Solution Bottle
- Caramel M&M’s
This was a pretty good week. I figured out a way to reduce my consumption of contact lens solution while traveling. Since contact lens solution needs to be sterile, there’s no good way to get solution in a refill manner.
However, I realized that I can fill my contact lens case with solution from my large bottle at home before I leave my house for a trip and this will save me potentially a quarter of the travel size bottle!
Week 4
- Plastic Top to Glass Honey Jar
- Plastic Cap to Glass Curry Bottle
- Plastic Wrap to Glass Curry Bottle
- Milk Caps
This was my best week so far! I already have plans to get rid of the curry bottles and after I finish the huge jar of honey I just bought (with the same plastic lid) I’ll check out honey at the farmer’s market to see if their lids are metal.
Changes from Last Month
The biggest change from last month is I started making pasta from scratch to avoid the little plastic windows in pasta boxes. I know, that seems crazy but I love fresh-made pasta and I’ve had a pasta machine on my wish list for nearly a year.
So, I bought this Italian beauty and started making fresh pasta.
While the small amount of plastic seemed like a tiny win compared to replacing any of the other items, I don’t regret this one bit. Between the little plastic window and my local Whole Foods switching all the paper pasta boxes to plastic bags, this was the last push I needed to start making my own pasta.
And it’s soooo good! I’m not sure I’ll ever go back to dried pasta. Stay tuned for a post about plastic-free pasta!
Biggest Takeaways
My biggest takeaway for this month is I need to avoid Trader Joe’s like the plague! Even their sauces in glass bottles have plastic caps and a plastic wrap around the cap and I’m too weak to resist their buttery sweets. (Don’t judge me.)
Overall, I’m stoked that my trash for November can fit into a large sandwich-sized plastic bag and excited to see how this hopefully shrinks over the next few months. Stay tuned!
What do you think? Are you interested in keeping your trash to see what you will learn? If you do, report back with your findings! I’d love to hear about your experience!
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