You might be asking yourself right now, “Wait, is June really over?” And you would be right. No. It’s not the end of June. But yes, I am doing my one month review right now. Why? Well, let me explain.
I’m leaving for Mexico – tomorrow. I’ll be gone for exactly a month and I would like to keep track of the trash I produce while away. Therefore I am cutting June a little short and making July slightly longer to cover my entire trip. Don’t worry, I won’t push any trash under the couch while switching up the days!
This month I produced 0.7 ounces of trash! I went through the majority of my house and picked up little things that have been lying around. Some of those were stickers hidden behind dressers or left on containers that I took off to reuse.
Here’s a breakdown of the contents and what I might do to avoid it:
-1 packing slip sticker: I always put in the comments section that I prefer paper packaging only. I had never seen a packing slip on a sticker before this one arrived. How disappointing!
-2 alfajores wrappers: I have no regrets on these. Sometimes you have to enjoy life and when an old exchange student showed up holding my favorite Argentinian treat, I chose to eat them wholeheartedly and accept the consequence of the trash.
-3 vitamin container freshener packets: At this point, my vitamins are more environmentally friendly than not taking them and going on prescription meds or waiting till I get sick.
-1 vitamin container seal: Ditto to the statement above.
-1 stamp sticker: I don’t quite see a way around this one unless I stop sending mail…
-1 magnet from my health insurance: I have tried to get my health insurance and internet providers to stop sending me promotional mail but they just can’t seem to stop!
-9 stickers from various containers: Avoid. Avoid. Avoid containers with stickers!
-1 ice cream container seal: I know now that Snoqualmie Ice Cream is local and has no seal so I’m buying that from here on out!
-1 ice cream container sticker: Again, ditto to the above statement!
-A bunch of price tag clips: These are all from buying used clothing at Goodwill. My hope at eliminating these is just to reduce my need to buy more clothing by purchasing items that last longer and are multi-purpose.
-1 piece of tape: I try to use masking tape whenever possible as it is compostable but this one slipped in somehow.
-1 eye drop seal: These are left over from several years ago when I had quite the dry eye issue. I am bringing one just in case Mexico kicks it up again and so I can finally use it up.
-A few staples: Some of my documents are so much easier to handle when stapled. But alas, I am trying to avoid using these too.
-Elastic string: This was one of those little things I found lying around in my house that I don’t really know where it came from. Hmm…
Now I am all settled for my journey to Mexico!
My trash jar is empty.
My suitcase is full.
I’m ready for an adventure!