Zero Waste...well, sort of

First of all, it's been a while - hello blogsphere, I'm back!

This last week's behavioral challenge was the live with as minimal waste as possible (presumably avoiding overflowing a gallon-sized plastic bag. And, I am proud to say that I didn't fill the bag - I wasn't even close. I keep telling myself that my lifestyle is relatively low waste and that this wasn't much of a challenge...but that's not true.

Before the challenge, I hadn't emptied my waste bin and it was definitely full. Additionally, I found my self composting more than ever before (and by "more" I mean that I found myself composting. period.) Additionally, I cheated in tiny ways to try and avoid throwing things out that didn't need to be thrown out this week. (E.g. the box of Life cereal with one handful of cereal left...it went uneaten for a majority of the week so that I wouldn't need to put the plastic cereal bag in my waste bag. Eventually, I was just too hungry and did it anyways, but I didn't want to.)

Speaking of cheating...I didn't keep my bag on the outside of my packpack. It was too difficult to attach and I was also a little self-conscious about showing everyone my waste. Does the average joe need to know about my daily q-tip use? I don't think so. To make up for it, I kept the pin on my bag and was OVERLY eager to tell people what it meant, or even show them my bag if they inquired about it.

Even though there were times where I felt like I might have been cheating a little, I was still very conscious of the reduced waste I made and surprised at the places I didn't expect to be seeing waste - the twice daily routine of using a q-tip and an acne pad on my face, using tissues, unwrapping the candy I received for a psych study, and removing the stapes and string from teabags. The system by which our lives revolve is so deeply embedded with the idea of one-time-use and then disposal, or even no-time use (e.g. packaging.)

So, overall, though this was a bit of a challenge, I don't think it was an unreasonable task, and I certainly know that I will be more conscious of the waste I create. I just hope that, as with most things, this won't be another trend which is great for a week before I slowly revert to a previous behavior.