Plastic Free July is up and it's time to do my monthly waste audit. This time however, I also collected the plastic recycling in addition to my trash. Plastic in general is not a resource I want to be using - whether or not I can recycle it. Over the last few years, my usage has drastically dropped but doing a complete audit every once in a while can really help me pin-point the areas that need more work.
First, let's take a look at the trash I produced this month. It totals 6.7 ounces in weight.
18 plastic hooks
4 plastic straws
4 ink tops
2 yerba mate bags
2 broken rubber bands
2 blister pads
1 notebook ring
1 vitamin seal and cap seal
1 broccoli label
Clothing tags
Various stickers from a new printer
A ball of sticky tack
A pile of envelope windows
A pile of packing tape
A pile of BPA receipts
Now let's look at the recyclable waste I produced. This month was exceptionally high compared to usual because I purchased a new printer that came wrapped in Styrofoam and plastic packaging. I also purchased a new set of curtains after scouring thrift shops and came up with nothing.
4 milk caps with seals
3 Styrofoam thin sheets
2 Styrofoam large pieces
2 curtain bags
1 printer cartridge piece
1 Advil bottle
1 chocolate syrup bottle
A pile of film plastic from the printer
Compared to last July which I spent in a hospital and produced upwards of 10 pounds of personal waste plus medical supplies, I think I did pretty good this time around!