Ruminating

I’ve been thinking a lot about a piece I heard on NPR several weeks ago, the Trash Challenge—carrying everything you generate and would normally throw in the trash with you in a bag for 2 weeks. You may recycle whenever possible and compost vegetable matter. The rest is yours—to haul wherever you go.

It’s all too easy to drag that trash can (or 2 or 3) to the curb and never give it another thought. Out of sight, out of mind, after all.
But, if when you threw something away, it never really disappeared--would we behave differently?
If our waste really was our problem--would we be more careful?
(Because it never really does disappear, and it really is our problem.)

And, although I tell myself that when it comes to generating waste, I’m being “responsible” by recycling and composting as much as possible, could I do a better job with the choices I make? Wrappers and disposables pile up pretty fast. The price we’re willing to pay for these conveniences is far greater than the pennies they add to our shopping bill.

So, how am I doing, really?

I’ll try it, and let you know! Anyone else?

The results of this experiment are recorded here.