For the last week I have been trying to see how much waste I make and how I can reduce it.

Day 1: Trash made: Tin foil from a burrito                                   1x box of cheez-its                                    3x wrappers from cookies (Chips-ahoy 2x and Oreos 1x)                                   1x box of instant oatmeal and 2x packs of oatmeal             Thoughts of experiment: So far not much trash has been made, and since the largest pieces of trash (Boxes) is recyclable, there seems to be even less trash. The wrappers from the cookies include the outside wrapper and the paper support from inside the wrapper.

Day 2: Trash made: 1x square of paper towel                                  3x wrappers of mixed fruit fruit snacks                                  1x foam cup used for coffee                                  1x soda can from ginger ale              Thoughts of experiment: I should probably hold onto my trash to help me realize how much trash I make, what trash I have made in the day and how much space the trash takes up. I haven't made much trash in the last two days but maybe because I haven't been going to many places that produce trash

Day 3: Trash made: 1X tea bag + 1x paper wrapper from bag                                  1x wrapper from a Gatorade                                   1x Styrofoam container from 1 dozen eggs                                  1x packaging for mechanical pencils (paper mate 0.7mm                                           sharp writer pack of 6)             Thoughts of experiment: I have been keeping the trash through out the day in the cheez-it box from earlier (I had it in the recycle bin at the time). Still not much trash - I am able to fit the trash in my hand when crushed together.

Day 4: Trash made: 1x pudding cup                                  1x Paper towel                                  1x Wrapper from Chips-ahoy cookies                                  1x backing to scotch tape                                  1x box from a personal pan pizza from pizza hut                                  1x Pepsi cup from Sodexo             Thoughts of experiment: The trash from the day could all be put inside of the pudding cup . Again not much trash in the experiment has been made so far and all collected trash has been able to fit inside of the chees-it box. I am beginning to see how much trash I make as the cheez-it box is getting fairly full maybe with enough room for one more day. Instead of using paper towels I have used a hand towel that I can wash later.

Day 5: Trash made:1x bag from bagels                                 1x teabag with the paper wrapper                                 1x container from microwave macaroni and cheese                                 1x Pepsi cup from Sodexo                                 1x wrapper from a 6 inch subway sandwich              Thoughts of experiment: Trash can no longer fit in the cheez-it box and a paper towel was used to clean up some spilt egg and excessive grease from breakfast (I made a bagel sandwich with a sausage patty, eggs and cheese.

Day 6: Trash made: 1x regular bowl from Flame Broiler                                  1x plastic fork                                   ^^^ I forgot to hold on to these pieces of trash^^^                                  1x wrapper for Chips-ahoy cookies                                  1x wrapper from fruit snacks                                  1x paper box from an elastic bandage                                  1x cardboard support for a thermal undershirt and the paper                                       packaging                                  1x gum wrapper from a stick of gum and the packaging                                             (Packaging thrown away by roommate who I shared the                                       gum with)                                  1x 3/4 sheet paper used to print a picture that took up                                                 around 1/6-1/4 of the page             Thoughts of experiment: This obviously does not seem to be much trash                                                     but as I now look at the amount of trash from                                                         the last 4 days, I am beginning to see that the                                                       amount of trash I make could accumulate to a                                                       substantial amount over an extended span of                                                         time. In order to reduce the amount of waste I                                                       make I will be buying more in bulk, using more                                                       of my own reusable containers. 

Day 7: Trash made: 1x paper wrapper for wood chopsticks                                  2x wood chopsticks                                  1x plastic bowl from Sodexo                                  ^^^ Forgot to keep as I was in the union and did as I would                                          normally do after I finish eating in the union^^^^^^^^^^                                   1x wrapper from fruit snacks             Thoughts of experiment: I have made quite a bit of trash and have been                                                       able to place all of the recyclable waste into the                                                     cheez-it and the non-recyclable trash was able                                                        to be fit in the bag from the bagels.

Thoughts of the experiment: This experiment as helped me understand how                                                      much trash I make over time and in which ways I                                                  can produce less waste. I am going to try to eat                                                      more foods with less waste, such as those a                                                          person can by in bulk. Less pre-packaged foods                                                    will produce less waste and will likely be healthier                                                  option then canned or premade food.

^^^ The trash collected from the experiment ^^^ 

All right, to preface: this blog is experimental. As a class, we were given a variety of options with which we could experiment, we had to choose one, and stay at it for a week. Not so bad. Except the experiments that were given were hard. No corn for a week? For a vegetarian? Yeah, I don’t think so. Other things such as water conservation are things I already implement in my house, but not taking a shower every other day becomes a problem when you run at least 2 miles every day as fast as you can in an ineptly air conditioned gym that’s located right next to your apartment (I swear they crank the heat when I go in there – not exactly conducive when you’re trying to keep sweating to a minimum because you don’t want to shower that day). So, that one was out. So, what did I choose? The trash experiment. If I’m being completely honest, this one looked the easiest. This one was the easiest. All I have to do is carry around my trash with me for a week? I pretty much already do that, with how much trash I just toss in my bag and forget about.  Sign me up.

           So, Wednesday night rolled around and I had decided my experiment, and I figured I might as well start it now! This was September 28, 2016, which I mention in case any one besides my professor decides to read this blog in the future and curses me for not being more specific about the timeline of my antics. Anyway, I got home and I picked out a spare paper bag from Safeway that I could use to keep my trash in. Not too much trash that day, seeing as it was about seven p.m. and I really don’t produce that much trash as it is. But, for dinner I whipped out some veggies and started cooking, only to find that I used all my bell peppers and serrano peppers and had to throw the unfortunate plastic bags away, with the remnants of the stems still left in them. I did that, and felt as though that wasn’t too shabby a start to the experiment.

           Okay, now I am going to compile all the days into one big summary of how it went: I didn’t know I used so much plastic. I have been working for a year on eliminating my plastic use, and this experiment just brought forth enlightenment. Everything is plastic. Literally, everything. A lot of my trash is food waste (I didn’t keep that because after a while old vegetables start to get real nasty) and the rest is just… things that hold food. So, I threw away a plastic bag that my bread comes in, and the plastic that my soyrizo is wrapped in, and the plastic container my tofu comes in. Oh, let’s not forget the plastic container that holds the non-dairy Chunky Monkey Ben and Jerry’s ice cream that I conveniently finished during this experiment. It seemed as though I conveniently finished everything during this week and it just happened to coincide with the experiment. Of course, that’s not true. This is my trash waste for most weeks. This may even be better than most weeks.

           What a reality check. I thought I was doing so well with eliminating plastic, and I am, but to see how it is totally encompassing in almost everything we use is disturbing. This was an eye-opening experiment for me, but I can say pretty confidently that I still don’t have that much trash waste. I filled up one paper bag in one week. To me, that’s better than filling up a gallon trash bag in one week. Now, I’m going to be more mindful of the things I use, and how I use them, but I do think that I was already on this path, and thankfully the majority of what I throw away are things that I can’t get around throwing away, unless I just want to leave sauce covered plastic wraps on my counter for ages. Most of the things I used can be recycled, as well, and that makes me feel slightly better.

           The experiment, over all, was a success. I also tried to implement other aspects of the experiments into my life, as I had been doing already. I try very hard to not use hot water, I eat mostly locally, my vegetables coming from the Sunday farmers market, and I limit my plastic use. All in all, I think these experiments show me that I can do better at the things I’m already implementing, and I am going to continue to try.  

A look at the trash that I collected this week, including vegetable bags, wheat bread, tofu container, clif bars, sozrizo casing (that weird red thing on the plastic bag), dark chocolate chip cookies (I made chocolate covered strawberries with those – no regrets), a spaghetti box, and the non- dairy Ben and Jerry’s (I so recommend that, in the Chunky Monkey flavor, best vegan ice cream I’ve ever had), there were also paper towels and other paper trash as well.