#laurensinger

A couple years ago, I read a book called Garbology, which focused on the amount of waste that is created by us (humans) and it’s effect on climate change. It made me sad, but also motivated. I wanted to reduce the amount of waste I created on a daily basis. That is when I found Trash is for Tossers, Lauren Singer, and her store the Package Free shop. 

https://packagefreeshop.com/

I just bought a few more items to replace the plastic that eventually gets thrown out: ziploc bags, which I am switching out for Stasher silicone bags, and foil, which I am switching out with vegan food wraps. I am DEFINITELY not at a zero waste stage (Some people, like Lauren, keep all the waste they have in a JAR). I still use tissue paper and I still buy food items that are wrapped/packaged in plastic. But I figure, a little can go a long way and hopefully also save me some money. 

I don’t think I will ever hit a zero waste stage, but I do want to be more thoughtful and keep it in mind each purchase I make, what impact it makes, where was it made, and if I am supporting a small business and a bigger cause at hand. 

“Why Trash is For Tossers - Lauren Singer explains how it’s possible to live a zero-waste lifestyle” (EAT Forum)

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It’s my senior year at Adrian College, and I have been tasked with creating capstone projects for both my majors, Environmental Studies and English Writing. The possibilities of what I could do were endless and for a while, the task of choosing a project felt daunting for someone like me who is not good at making decisions. 

Thankfully, it didn’t take me long to realize that I should gear my projects toward something I’m interested in and passionate about and focus on that rather than planning my idea around the academic goals I would have to eventually meet (Who cares about grades, right?). Thus started my Environmental Studies capstone journey of going waste-free!

Going waste-free, to me, means making conscious decisions and switches in my daily life to end up disposing of as little garbage as possible that will end up in a landfill. My passion for this started during a class last semester where I created a mock organic composting system to put in place on my college campus. I learned all about the mass amounts of waste that was going into landfills or incinerators and what that did to our planet and it absolutely bummed me out.

Desperate to cut down the negative personal impact I was making as far as waste production, I took to the internet to find ideas. This is where I discovered possibly my biggest inspiration, Lauren Singer, a queen of the waste-free world. It started by stumbling upon her TEDx talk, and before I knew it I was following her social media and checking out her website for more. 

Learning about Lauren got me even more pumped up about my efforts to go green because, like me, she noticed the problem of staggering amounts of one-use waste products while she was in college and made it her mission to make a difference. Like Lauren, I wanted to make it a goal of mine to produce significantly less waste.

Here’s Lauren Singer at her business, Package Free Shop.

Even before I had the idea of turning this passion into my senior capstone, I spent many days over the summer researching ways to become waste-free. I slowly began hoarding reusable canvas grocery bags, I bought bamboo toothbrushes that can be composted, a travel set of reusable silverware, and other things that would help me on my journey.

I bought these toothbrushes and a travel set of silverware from Amazon. Both are modestly priced for a college student’s budget, I might add.

I knew it wouldn’t be easy at all to go completely waste-free for my capstone project, but I was going to try hard to do what I could. Many waste-free individuals follow the trend of putting what little waste they do create into a small to medium sized mason jar. I’ve seen mason jars of people who have been adding their waste in the same jar for years and it’s still not full. I would love to hear about the sense of accomplishment people must have by being able to do that. It has to take some real planning and self-control.

Here’s Lauren Singer’s mason jar with four years of her trash in it.