Taking a Look at the Amount of Waste I Create

This week I was asked to take a closer look at the amount of waste (as in trash that goes to our land fills), I create in a two day period. I tried to pick to days that were similar in routine. I reasoned that I most likely created more trash on the weekends than on the weekdays. So, my first two days was a Friday and a Saturday; my next two was Sunday and Monday. This way each two day period had one weekday and one weekend day. I also decided to measure the amount of trash my entire household created (household of 4).

My first two days created 14.6 lbs. of trash (3 bags). My second two days my family created 5.5 lbs. of trash. My assignment was to implement waste reduction strategies between the first two days and the last two days. Going by these stats it would appear that I did an awesome job. However it is not the truth.  Despite my best efforts I believe my data was skewed. The reason I believe this is because Friday and Saturdays seem to be the days that many of the large containers that I buy once a week goes empty. For example in those first two day I had three milk containers, one orange juice container, two boxes of cereal, and laundry detergent. These items are used all week long, but only thrown out at the end of the week. Also we had a barbecue on Saturday that also added extra trash.

I wasn't really able to implement any real waste reduction for the second two days, because it would of involved more planning and it would have required me to change my shopping habits ahead of time. I did produce less waste the second two days because we ate left overs from the barbecue and had no need to throw out any big containers. I believe this experiment would have to be done in weekly increments to get a better idea of the effectiveness of waste reduction strategies. 

Below is a list of some waste reduction strategies I got from http://www.epa.gov/waste/wycd/funfacts/index.htm:

• Reduce Your Packaging: Buy bulk or concentrated products when you can.
• Reduce Toxicity or Learn How: Recycle your batteries and use batteries with reduced mercury.
• Select Reusable Products: Sturdy, washable utensils, tableware, cloth napkins, and dishcloths can be used many times.
• Use Durable Products: Choose furniture, sports equipment, toys, and tools that will stand the test of time.
• Reuse Products: Reuse newspaper, boxes, shipping "peanuts," and "bubble wrap" to ship packages.
• Recycle Automotive Products: Take car batteries, antifreeze, and motor oil to participating recycling centers.
• Buy Products Made From Recycled Material: Many bottles, cans, cereal boxes, containers, and cartons are made from recycled material.
• Compost or Learn How: Food scraps and yard waste can become natural soil conditioners.