Take a peek at my trash...

Every month I collect all of my residential waste and photograph and weigh it. In this way, I can document the changes I have made by going zero waste and also keep a diary-like collection of the things I need to improve on. I originally started this back in 2015 (read more about that here) naively thinking I could magically reduce my waste just by paying attention to it. Quickly I learned though that doing a waste audit was only the first step. 

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I publish the photos here every month as a way of being honest about the things I still do that make waste e.g. eating Top Ramen, buying things new, Klondike Bars, etc. Just because I am a zero waste blogger doesn't mean I make zero waste, but I do my best to keep it minimal.

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This isn't my entire impact!

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What's in these photos is a months worth of landfill bound waste from my home. That means it doesn't include recycling or composting or packaging from food I eat at a friends house or waste made from my car or flying or the upstream waste made from manufacturing my products or birth control or my work waste or hospital waste or...or...or... Basically what I'm saying is that this in no way represents my entire waste or my carbon footprint. It just shows me how much I have been able to eliminate plastic packaging and trash in my own home. 

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So click through if you wish! Ask me questions about why something was in my trash. Suggest an alternative! Provide a recycling resource! Just remember, all of us with have a different sized trash "jar". It may be one trash can a week, one a month, or one a year. We don't all have access to the same resources so how easily we can implement waste reduction techniques will vary.

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Join me in auditing your waste!

 

Everyone can't do everything, but everyone can do something.

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Want to join in? Start a waste audit in your house and show your results by hashtaging #zerowastewisdom or #onejarchallenge on Facebook and Instagram.