waste on a budget

ZOE TROTTIER

My goal for this project was to quantifiably reduce the waste I produced, while noting whether this practice had any notable financial impact. I did so by purchasing package-less items or items with recyclable or compostable packaging. When I could not find an item that fit these criteria, I discarded the single use plastic in an eco brick to ultimately be reused and to prevent the sequestered plastic from degrading into toxins and microplastics.

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At the academic close of my ELP, I took the opportunity to reflect on what I have learned about myself, what I have learned about the financial implications of waste accumulation and what I have learned about the outcomes of everyday life projects that become a part of your routine and pull you out of your routine at the same time. The implications I drew do not offer an exhaustive list of my discoveries throughout the ELP because that would imply there are no further discoveries to make. My reflections, instead, summarize the most impactful conclusions this ELP brought to light until now and outline a plan on how I can use these conclusions to implement meaningful change in my personal life and advocate for change on a wider scale. Based on my calculations, I have found that the additional cost per year for incorporating these lifestyle choices would be $150.58. That being said, anyone undergoing a similar project would find different results depending on their diet, the stores they shop at, the time available to dedicate to the project and even the waste sorting system in their municipality. Although the data I collected reveals trends, there is still much room for variability. I believe that it is everyone’s responsibility to equally be aware of climate change’s implications and advocate for solutions; however, individual responsibility must be distributed equitably instead of evenly, as not every person has the same means to offer an equal contribution. The utmost pressure, on the other hand, should be on governments and corporations, to make sustainable options accessible to everyone. A common issue that arose was that goods in recyclable packaging tend to not only be higher-end products, and they also tend to come in smaller sizes. The price difference between the recyclable and non-recyclable packaging, therefore, is influenced both by the quality and the quantity of the product. When we think about these concepts, it seems obvious that this would be the case; the problem is that we are not thinking about them or talking about them as much as we should be. We are not conversing enough on waste diversion to challenge policy makers and corporations to change how they package products for a more sustainable future. At the beginning stages of my everyday life project, I ran into the obstacle of deciding between two materials, both being recyclable. I considered glass, metal, plastic and cardboard, but there was never an evidently superior option. Where glass is made from more sustainable materials, it also incurs a much higher transportation cost than the other alternatives because of its weight. It is a choice to prioritize minimizing one evil over a different evil and choosing one source of good over another. The complexity and ambiguity of the issue leaves no peace after any decision I make. I attempt to figure out the most effective alternative, but I am still forced to confront the fact that neither solution is perfect and there may never be a simple answer. As Odell alluded to in her story of the creek, “Like all things we give our sustained attention to, [it] begins to reveal its significance” (Odell 125); in other words, if you do not pay attention to something, you assume that there is no significance to it. If you do not pay attention to your accumulation of waste and its effects on our environment, you are complicit in labelling it as insignificant. There are strong ethical implications to attention in that attention is a means of determining value. The first step of battling climate change is for people to pay considerable attention to it. I see more focus on the issue than I have in my lifetime, but I am concerned that the attention is still not to the degree of urgency necessary for change before the more dire consequences of the crisis.