Today, I finished my week of not throwing anything away. It was definitely an odd experience not going immediately to my trashcan with the trash created in cooking or making my morning coffee, but overtime, it became habit to save it. Most of my garbage throughout the week came from ordering things online. I found that when packages come, each item is individually packed and then there is the packaging they are all shipped in together. This was frustrating to me because this was trash I didn’t directly create, and even if I had gone directly to a store, the garbage still would have been created, just thrown away by them. However, I tried to control what I could. I bought items in bulk so that I could use them more before finishing a package and creating garbage, used less paper towels and opted for plates and Tupperware, even if it is less convenient, and ate more leftovers rather than leaving them in my fridge until they go bad and cooking a new meal, which in turn creates more garbage. Overall, I think I became much more aware of the easy things I would do that end up creating more garbage and will opt for more sustainable ways in the future.
-Annike Cummings, Fall 19
