For
the first time in my life I have taken the time to document and think about every
piece of trash that I have thrown away. I have taken pictures and notes conscientiously
to help myself keep track of the trash that I barely used once and then, threw
it away. Thinking about the trash you throw away is a very alien concept to the
average person, which is what I believe, made this project so interesting. When I was obligated to stop and then
think about the trash I was about to dispose of, it made me very aware of the
amount of trash that I was using and never thought anything of it, such as a
plastic spoon I used to eat some yogurt before class. The documentation of my trash
production throughout the week helped me understand my personal problem with
trash, as well as the problem generated collectively by society. Many variables
play into this problem, such as habits, behaviors, and patterns, of myself and
of other people.
When
I was documenting my trash I was surprised. I thought I would have all
different types of trash, but the truth was the majority of the trash that I
threw away was wrappers and packaging. In a dorm setting it is hard to keep
large quantities of food in the room so I bought large packages of individual
packaged snacks like trail mix, for a quick snack on the go. Lets say I wanted apple sauce here in
college, I can’t just call up my lovely grandmother and have her make me a
large batch, then get it in an over sized mason jar. No, here I have to go to
the store and buy a pack of individually packaged snack sized cups of applesauce.
When living in the dorms, having individually wrapped foods can make parts of
dorm life easier. Although the individually wrapped foods do indeed make food
mobile, they also create larger amounts of waste that fill the small dorm room
garbage cans. This means I have to take the trash out and switch the plastic
bag more often creating less time for work and other college activities. When I
came to college I bought a case of plastic water bottles. These water bottles
came in handy on the go; on top of that I never had to refill the same old
saved water bottle over and over again. I also had the ease or convenience of throwing the water bottle
away not having to worry about remembering it everywhere I go. For example when
I had the plastic water bottles I forgot them in classes or at the dinning hall
and when I remembered I left them there, I didn’t have to take time to go
retrieve my forgotten bottle. The reason I did not go to the store and buy
another case of twenty-four water bottles is because the amount of trash the
case of water bottles produced. For those two weeks that the case survived I
had to live with walking into a room with water bottles everywhere, on the
floor on our desk, I even found one in my bed when going to sleep. The other
large determining factor that kept me from getting more bottles was that I was
sick of taking out the recycling every two days. Those bottles were filling up
the recycling bin and the landfill way too fast, so it had to stop!
Coming into college I have been so
busy, waking up late, classes, homework, and still trying to make time for
friends and activities; I never thought a day could go so fast. There are days
that I find myself unable to get one real meal in from the cafeteria before rushing
off to lacrosse practice or another event. It is not that I always don’t have
time for a meal, but that with so many useful activities happening in a day I
just forget to eat. I find myself sitting in my dorm room with friends and I
keep grabbing individually wrapped sacks because of the convenience of these
snacks. I will have a fun size bag of Cracker Jacks then my hand will make its
way into the box of individually wrapped Fruit Rollups. After a few of those I
might have a small bag of fruit snacks. By the time I realize what I am doing
it is too late, I already have created more garbage than my trash can hold and
I am all full on convenient unhealthy and trashy snack food. Thinking about the
whole situation I figured the best way to keep myself from going on these snack
eating, trash-producing feasts is to stop keeping that type of “garbage” in my
room.
The
best way for anyone to reduce the amount of trash they produce is to reduce the
source. The more waste that goes though the checkout line is more waste that is
being checked into the house, and will end up on the curb. Shopping smart is
the best thing that I, as well as anyone can do to help reduce the production
of trash. When going to the store most people are found guilty of buying the
most attractively packaged food or good. I know I am guilty of that. When I was
shopping for food and snacks at COSTCO I know I was not going down the aisle
thinking about how much trash each item would produce before throwing it in my
overloaded cart. I looked around and anything that caught my eye I threw in
even if I did not really care about having it. At COSTCO I remember seeing that
creatively marketed large party/on the go package of Cracker Jacks and I had to
have that for the dorm room. There are more than fifty small bags that I can
throw in my backpack and take for on the go snacks. Can life get any better? I
was falling into the advertisement of convenience Susan Strasser talks about.
“Indeed, convenience meant freedom from work itself” I thought I could buy
those small individual packaged snacks so there would be less work for eating
on the go (185). I don’t think I was in the right mindset when I was constantly
filling up the shopping cart and had my eyes on the packages that are stacked
to the ceiling.
After almost
a month through college I finally realize what kind of food I should have
bought. The items that would be perfect to fill my makeshift dorm room pantry
is a nice loaf of fresh wheat bread, a nice jar of rasberry jam, all natural of
course. Next to that jam I want a jar of smooth non-chunky organic peanut
butter and a reusable knife. With those simple items anybody, including me would
be able to make what I believe is the perfect low trash-producing snack that
not only tastes great but also is full of protein and energy. I will be going
to the store tomorrow.
Too
may people have fallen into this common misconception that they can live their
life however they’d like, buying any product and not the amount of packaging
that product comes with. People also do not put any thought into throwing
something away and where that trash goes after they dispose of it. If people had
to think about every piece of trash they produce and the problems that each piece
of trash creates, I think that our problem of waste would be greatly reduced.
Strasser,
Susan. Waste and Want A Social History
of Trash. Metropolitan Books, LLC,
1999.
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