Trashy Trash!

It is truly remarkable how in modern society, we do not recognize the abundance of materials we accumulate daily and throw away. In comparison to many other people, I do not think I throw away a lot of trash. Living in the dorms definitely has helped to improve living sustainably and filtering out unnecessary resources which has created a lot of trash in my life in the past. I lived pretty simply in the dorms prior to this exercise, but now I am even more aware of the small numbers of trash items, like gum wrappers, I gather throughout the day which collectively plays a significant part in my trash inventory. The small pieces of trash accumulated from gum, candy, and coffee is where my trash inventory struggles the most. These are the few things I take for granted eating every day but do not realize the impact that the packaging is having on the amount of trash I must throw away. Just as I use a refillable water bottle, I could potentially ask the coffee shops to use my own personal coffee mug to put my coffee into rather than using a new coffee cup that they supply every time I go in to buy coffee. Gum and candy are two items also accumulate a lot of trash, but I had never previously realized it. By cutting back my gum and candy, or buying candy which is not individually packaged will lessen the number of wrappers I have to throw away (that is if I choose to continue to eat these pleasures).

My trash inventory reflects my current lifestyle. My eating habits can be seen through my trash inventory. I try not to munch outside of my two dining hall meals, but if I do, I usually eat fruit which is why daily I have fruit waste. I use a reusable water bottle which is why I do not have water bottles to throw away, but I do value my almost daily coffee from Kerkoff. I value not using excessive amounts of plastic because there is a significant problem with society’s excessive consumption of products in plastic packaging. My values however differ from my family's values because I acquired a lot of my values about trying to avoid plastic bottles and plastic bags from my peers back in my hometown. Culturally, in the two different areas I have lived over the past two years, the Bay Area and Los Angeles, the population is well informed and affluent. This is reflected onto my values because my surrounding community commonly uses reusable water bottles or reusable bags for grocery shopping, making these sustainable decisions norms for my community. I believe that modern society often packages products unnecessarily. For example, it is not necessary to individually package every piece of gum within an entire pack of gum. I also believe that there are many ways we can remove the excess trash from our lives by making slight changes to our own individual lifestyles, such as not using water bottles, paper dishes, or bags (all items which must be thrown away eventually). I try my best to practice minimizing excess trash.

By looking at my trash inventory for a week, I still feel that I can change the way I live to decrease my trash inventory even further. Basically, my trash proved to me that there are a few things I am obsessed with:

1. I eat fruit several times a day.

2. I chew a lot of gum.

3. I need to get over my slight coffee addiction.

In Radical Simplicity, Merkel advocates for a sustainable lifestyle. In comparison to a lot of other Americans, by living in a dorm with hundreds of other kids and not having a car, I already have a lower ecological footprint then most other Americans. Although I may not have direct control over the types of food and fruits used in the dining hall or how much electricity and water is being used and what kind of measures are being taken to improve it, I think because I am aware of the issues at hand, I am living integrated and a part of the society the best I know how to. Once I am out on my own I can improve my ecological footprint more, but as of now, living on campus I can only really improve my own personal decisions such as my addiction to chewing gum and drinking coffee.

	Paper Towels 8’’ x 26’’	Toilet Paper 4’’ x 30 ‘’	Napkins 5’’ x 8‘’	Paper Gum Wrappers - Gum	Plastic Candy Wrappers	Coffee Cup	Sugar Packets	Plastic Stir Sticks	Tea Bag	Fruit Waste	Plastic Food Packaging
Tuesday March 30	2 x 208 = 416 sq. inches	6 x 120 = 720 sq. inches	2 x 40 = 80 sq. inches	3	2	1	0	1	0	2	1
Wednesday March 31	4 X 208 = 832 sq. inches	5 x 120 = 600 sq. inches	2 x 40 = 80 sq. inches	3	2	1	0	0	1	1	2
Thursday April 1	2 x 208 = 416 sq. inches	5 x 120 = 600 sq. inches	0	4	2	1	2	2	0	2	3
Friday April 2	4 x 208 = 832 sq. inches	5 x 120 = 600 sq. inches	4 x 40 = 160 sq. inches	3	0	1	4	2	0	2	3
Saturday April 3	2 x 208 = 416 sq. inches	6 x 120 = 720 sq. inches	3 x 40 = 120 sq. inches	2	0	0	0		0	2	1
Sunday April 4	2 x 208 = 416 sq. inches	4 x 120 = 480 sq. inches	2 x 40 = 80 sq. inches	2	0	1	2	2	0	1	3
Monday April 5	6 x 208 = 1248 sq. inches	5 x 120 = 600 sq. inches	2 x 40 = 80 sq. inches	4	1	0	0	0	1	2	0
Total	4576 sq. inches	4320 sq. inches	600 sq. inches	21 pieces of gum/ wrapper	7 candy wrappers	6 coffee cups	8 sugar packets	7 stir sticks	2 tea bag	12 pieces of fruit waste	13 plastic packaging pieces