Here is our family’s plastic that will be either sent to a landfill or recycled from August 2018:
If you’d rather watch a video, here is a video analyses of this month’s trash:
I always like to point out things that shouldn’t be repeated first–I guess it makes me feel better :). The diaper cream, I make my own (recipe here). The cleaning chemical bottles are left over from way back when I did my cleaning supplies detox. I kept them to use to spray my vinegar based cleaner, but then I found the squirt bottle tops fit directly onto some glass bottles I have. May I rant for a second about cleaning and beauty products? When doing my cleaning detox, it made me so upset that there were chemicals in my products linked with causing asthma, fertility problems, and other health issues–not to mention being toxic to aquatic life. WHY do we live in a world where companies are allowed to put hormone disruptors and genetic-damaging chemicals in their products!?!?! I was astounded when I detoxed my cleaning chemicals with how many the Environmental Working Group rated as having “high concern” for causing fertility problems. Of course, it is difficult to do a study proving causation because many of these chemicals are now so ubiquitous it is hard to find someone who isn’t exposed to be a control group. I’m not saying that fertility problems are directly caused by all cleaning chemicals, but I am saying that I clean to make my home a safe, healthy place and when companies make cleaning supplies with chemicals that have not been proven safe and healthy, it feels like a betrayal. Ok…done ranting.
I am continuing to wage war on the waste in our mailbox, not only to reduce plastic waste but also paper. Much of the stuff on the right of the picture came through the mail. I have been calling companies to be removed from their mailing lists. I also have greatly reduced my online purchases from by 1) Buying less in general and 2) Buying from a local store if possible. I wasn’t able to find any bamboo toothbrushes at EarthFare or Whole Foods, so some of the waste is from ordering a 12 pack on Amazon.
The tissue paper was given to us and has glitter on it. Yes, that dreaded substance called glitter. Ever since we put our first daughter in an outfit with a shimmery skirt and were picking glitter off our 2 week old baby for days, glitter has been banned from our house. Now, we realize that it also causes terrible environmental damage because it gets into waterways so easily and aquatic animals mistake it for food. Plus it is difficult to separate for recycling. That tissue paper which would have otherwise been biodegradable now has to go to the landfill.
The plates are extras from someone’s wedding which we bring with us whenever we go to a potluck where we think there might be disposable plates. We wash and reuse them, but being a somewhat brittle plastic they do sometimes break. We have a whole stack of them left still, fortunately!
Alright, what about you? What is one step you could make this month to cut back on the amount of trash you create?
Zero Waste Chattanooga 