For two weeks recently I decided to save all the plastic waste that my family generated, whether it was bound for the trash or the recycling bin. It was an experiment for me, really, to see how much plastic actually passes through my hands. I do really try to avoid plastic where I can, because I know that it can persist in the environment more or less forever. And even recycling isn’t a perfect solution, since plastic degrades with re-use and overseas recycling plants are unsafe.
During my two weeks of plastic saving I didn’t deliberately avoid plastic, but I also didn’t deliberately go out and buy more. I wanted to give a fair representation of a typical two week period in our home. However, when I see how much plastic I actually used, and how little of it is recyclable, I start coming up with excuses. I really want to say this isn’t a typical two week period, and explain why. I want to believe that this must be an anomaly.
Honestly, though, I’m sure that something ‘out of the ordinary’ happens almost every couple of weeks, so I will more or less always have an excuse if I want it. Which means that this isn’t an anomaly, it’s reality. So, here it is, no excuses or justifications. Two weeks of plastic at my house.
All of the plastic.
The recyclable plastic.
Mail-order non-recyclable plastic.
Fast food non-recyclable plastic.
Kid non-recyclable plastic (that bag was used to hold dirty diapers, it’s so not getting re-used).
Food non-recyclable plastic.
I could definitely reduce my food-related plastic. After seeing this I dug out the re-usable produce bags I haven’t been using . I also won some more re-usable produce bags in a giveaway recently so I am set on that front. By buying more things in bulk I can also cut down on plastic waste. However, I’m not sure there are good ways to eliminate everything here, like pill packs or the plastic wrap from cheese. Also, the tops of glass milk bottles are already a compromise.
No matter what, this experiment was a wake-up call for me, and I certainly hope to reduce the plastic I produce substantially. I might repeat this in 6 months or so, so we can all see how well I’m doing in my efforts to reduce plastic waste.
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Very eye opening. Good for you for trying to do something about it.
We are currently in the throes of a garbage strike, so no dry garbage, wet garbage or recycling have been picked up in a month. Believe it or not, we have appreciated it – it had taught us to be even more vigilant about the amount of waste we produce, and are happy to report that so far, we have only had to take 2 bags of trash to the dump.
I should really save ours for a week and see what happens. I think I’d be a bit gob-smacked by how much it really is. In fact, I’m doing this next week. I’ve had it on my life-to-do-list for awhile that I want to reduce the amount of plastic in our lives… how can I do that if I don’t know what our starting point is.
I bet you’ve got a lot fewer water bottles and food containers than the average family. I’m tempted to try this myself.
Since we began using fabric napkins and stopped buying paper plates and plastic sandwich bags I’ve been amazed at how little trash we generate. I think the fact we drink only home-brewed iced tea (adults) and water (kid) we also avoid using a lot of plastic–our recycle bin is never full and they pick up every other week!
You’re definitely right about the mail-order plastic–my goodness it is excessive! I ordered two memory books from the Wal-Mart photo center and they came wrapped like they were made of glass?!?!? Granted, I appreciate the effort to keep my albums from being bent or damaged, but really–too many plastic bags, wrappings and bubble wrap!!
This is a great lesson! We make an effort to avoid plastic packaging as much as we can. We try to find ways to buy bulk for everything, even laundry soap (www.greengals.yolasite.com). Great information!
Amazing. I suspect my family’s piles would be similar.
Interesting. It’s awfully tempting to feel sanctimonious because we recycle/reuse as much as we can, but it’s a real eye opener to see how much plastic is still generated, even if a family is careful and conscious about the choices they’re making. This post has inspired me to do the same and see how much plastic my family’s using. If we all did this, I’ll betcha it would knock a lot of people (myself included) off their high horses…
Thanks for sharing this with us!
astonishing, isn’t it?
I’d be interested to see how much plastic my family accumulated, including the non-recyclables. Each weekend when we collect our debris and recyclables for the week, my husband always comments that most of what we put at the curb is recyclable, with just a bag of garbage for the week . . . but now that you’ve shown us your family’s experiment, I have to wonder how much of our weekly “garbage” is full of plastic.
Great idea. Great post.
Twitter: pomomama
says:
We have a huge new recycling bin, collected every 2 weeks, from PoMo and we fill it. I’m not too antsy about plastic grocery bags as they are either recycled in the bin, or we use them to line the waste bin in the kitchen. And I now keep our re-usable grocery bags in the car so there’s no excuse for the trips to the store. ANother investment was a purse-sized tote bag (alot of stores now sell them) so I’m never ‘caught short’ on quick trips out shopping.
But the trade off is that water is used to wash the reusable bags, and also to rinse off the recyclables before they go in the bin. In an area of water rationing this would be a bad plan, and I’m not that convinced that it’s any better here.
Does anyone have any impact data on all this recycling/re-using stuff we’re (and note, it usually falls to the woman in the house to set up the green timetable for the family – yet another job to add to the list gals) adding in? I’d like to see what we’re really saving, factoring in extra water use, extra truck usage for collecting, recycling factory emissions and so on, potential food poisoning and toxin hazards, ….
You don;t get something for nothing after all
Wow!! It's impressive and scarey. Thanks for sharing your experiment with pictures. I may try it myself as I think I'm pretty good with the 3 R's.??
Way to go, Amber! I'm trying as hard as I can, too, but it takes constant awareness (and remembering to bring the bags) and determination. It's amazing what can be done. You're also setting a great example for your children and other families.
Pictures are worth a thousand words, aren’t they? In addition to all the wasted resources, I think of all the TIME I waste by trying to open up all this garbage all the time. I got so irritated every time I’m in some part of the house trying to open a new package and find that I need scissors to break a seal. I know manufacturers think we all need to be protected from those sinister package tamperers, but I really wish I had a dollar for every time I needed to open something like that. So aggravating AND wasteful.
Twitter: ladymrules
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My freshman year in college, there were two guys who did a quarter-long experiment and carried everything that they used that couldn’t be recycled or composed. (Obviously easier as a single student than an adult with children!)
This forced them to choose only food not wrapped in non-reusable or recyclable wrappings, and so forth. I think the heaviest thing with which they got stuck was a bicycle fender, when one of them got in a bike accident had had to replace the fender. Other than that, they did very well, and the paper wrote about what they’d learned from their choices.
That takes a lot more commitment than I can make these days, but the small steps we’re making in our households are starting to have momentum.
Honestly, I expected to see more in your pic… not to discount your learnings or anything. Based on my recycling alone, I think my plastic use totally is more than yours. hmmm..
That is eye opening! I think it’s funny that you washed the fast food containers before photographing them…did you bleach those suckers??? They are CLEAN!