Don’t Throw ANYTHING Away

From October 2nd to October 9th, I began collecting my trash in a shoe box, hoping that by the week’s end, it would all fit. Surprisingly, the shoe box didn’t overflow after the 7 days, though bulging on top and sides. Here’s what I’ve found:

I have a lot of food waste.

From left-over eggs to banana peels, I seem to collect a lot of wasted food that could be used elsewhere and/or by others. It’s eye-opening in showing me how much I really eat in reality to how much I think I will eat, which only leads to a lot of wasted food.

I love coffee, which means lots and lots of Nespresso pods were used.

I can’t go a day without caffeine, at least one cup or even two. This translates to numerous Nespresso pods that I’ve used throughout the week, 1-2 times a day. And given my busy weekend with sorority formal recruitment, I definitely had a few more cups to get me through that. In total, I had nearly 20 pods by the end in my shoe box. This shows me that there can be a way for me to get my coffee but also not produce so much waste.

Easy food for an on-the-go girl = many, many wrappers.

Usually for breakfast, I just grab a protein bar and head out. Each protein bar is individually wrapped, which tallied up. I also recently bought my whole apartment Halloween chocolate candies, and needless to say those are too tempting sitting on the table when cramming to get homework done. Additionally, when I do have more time in the morning to make breakfast, I’ll opt to make oatmeal. The oatmeal I buy is also individually packaged based on serving, which I can also just run through so fast. I think for me it could mean buying foods in bulk and with less packaging, as packaging does contribute into so much waste in the end.

Overall, this experience was interesting to document and see what most of my personal waste adds up to. Though I though I would have more (so I guess I’m happy that it all fit in a shoe box), I still can make drastic changes in my lifestyle to better the planet and the future.

Check out these moldy photos of my little shoe box 🙂

I present to you, the infamous shoe box of trash.
Check out that mold! Peep the Nespresso pod.

By Kelly Kavousi

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