Day 7: A Trashy Week in Review

The pit bull likes to pose with the trash.

Time Elapsed: 1 week
Level of Frustration: Minimal
Bags of Trash: half of a grocery bag
Major Lifestyle Changes: Eat out less, carry own to-go containers, no ramen noodles

So it has been a full 7 days of our experiment.  Things aren't going perfectly, but we have made progress.  Most importantly, Bret and I have not killed/maimed/ flipped out on each other...yet.  Creating no trash keeps us constantly thinking and constantly adjusting choices.  We have been watching out for each other and gently reminding one another when a trashy choice is about to be made.  Except when we both forget-- as in the sample cup scandal of Saturday.

Today's trash: another apple sticker.  I see no way around this other than picking my own apples.  Maybe the local apples at Ellwood's are sticker-free.  But I always buy the organic apples...and they always have stickers.  I will check out the local ones next time I am there.  Until then, expect at least and apple sticker a day in trash.

Today's trash picture features the trash from all week.  I am not including the aluminum pans because I am not giving up hope that we will find a place to recycle those.  I am also not including the the 4 bags of rottweiler poop I picked up because that is just gross. (And I threw them away as soon as they were created) 

Our main issue so far is trash-making policies.  Pharmacies cannot reuse our bottles, Lowe's employees are required to put purchased keys into a labelled bag, the vet's office insists of cleaning between patients (ok, I am fine with this one).

Our main source of trash is food packaging.  The biggest trash-maker was our trip to Moe's even though we ordered everything for eat-in and _tried_ to make sure no trash was being made.  That will continue to be a struggle.

The non-edible compost is already too big.   One trade-off in the rules has already been made.  But all in all, I think we did well.  We will see how we fare as our 2012 products dwindle and we have to buy more dog food, detergent, deodorant, birthday gifts, etc.