green

This post is a response to the Show us your (plastic) trash challenge at Fake Plastic Fish: collect and document all your plastic trash for one week. Simple enough.

This experiment ran from 5/13/09 – 5/21/09, during which time I set aside most of my plastic trash (a few items went straight to the bin before I’d had a chance to photograph, but are noted below):

One week's worth of plastic trash (recyclable)

Recyclable Plastic

• 1 large container for strawberries
• 1 tofu container
• 1 empty okonomiyaki sauce bottle
• 7 newspaper bags: we get daily home delivery, and they’re bagged almost every day. We do use the bags for cat waste, so while the bags in the picture didn’t get tossed this week, relative equivalent bags did.
• 1 peel-and-remove seal from a carton of milk

Not pictured: two plastic produce bags

One week's worth of plastic trash (non-recyclable)

• 1 plastic liner from pasta box (liner thrown away, box recycled)
• 1 tofu peel-off top
• 2 packages for purchased travel chopsticks and carrier
• 1 takeout bowl and lid
• 3 condiment cups and lids
• 1 outer bag for yakisoba
• 3 yakisoba individual serving bags
• 1 outer packaging bag for okonomiyaki sauce
• 1 frozen pineapple package
• 1 tsukemono bag
• 13 feminine napkins (not pictured!) and wrappers
• 2 2-serving veggie burger wrappers
• 1 strip of plastic from a bag of tortillas (removed to open the package)
• several stickers from oranges, bananas, bell peppers

Not pictured: 10 wrappers from individually wrapped pastries for a party I hosted; 1 large bag for garden mulch; 1 outer wrapping from a multi-pack of paper towels

59 total items.

Results
While tossing things into the recycle bin instead of trash is second nature to me and I have a background hum of trying to purchase items without excessive packaging, I’d never really stopped to measure just how much plastic I’m acquiring in the first place. I was surprised at how prevalent plastic is in packaging. Less surprising is the fact that there’s more plastic in convenience foods (like the pastries) and wet foods (like tofu).

I don’t buy huge quantities of convenience foods, but the ones I do buy are precisely because they help save me time: veggie burgers, frozen fruit, tsukemono, condiments, tortillas. I’m not sure I’m willing to give these up just yet.

Harder, I think is, is resolving how to purchase wet groceries without plastic. There are sometimes glass alternatives, but that’s not always the case. Will need to mull that one over.

I also think that one week isn’t a realistic indicator of total plastic consumption. There are many bottles, containers, and packages that are currently being consumed or haven’t yet been opened just lurking on my shelves, so I plan to monitor this moving forward (albeit a bit less rigorously than this).

Still, here are a few of the things I’d like to change moving forward:

• Although this wasn’t a high-volume week for these, I do tend to use plastic produce bags for wet items like lettuce, small items like bean sprouts or mushrooms, or bulk items like oatmeal. I’ve typically recycled or reused these bags, but I’d like to explore re-usable mesh drawstring bags as an alternative.
• I’d also like to explore alternatives to disposable feminine napkins. I’m not a fan of tampons, but the pads generate lots of waste each month. I’m not sure how I feel about menstrual cups.
• Why do I not buy pasta and flour in bulk? I don’t know! There’s really no reason I shouldn’t do so.

All said, this was an interesting experiment. I encourage you all to try the challenge and track your plastic trash for a week or more! The results may surprise you.