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In 2015, a video of a plastic straw being painfully removed from a sea turtle’s nostril went viral, igniting worldwide outrage and a larger conversation about modern societies’ “use it once and throw it away” mindset toward our goods and products.

Globally, people have begun to analyze their own waste and ask what can be done to reduce or eliminate it, and even governments have begun enacting laws to cut down or reduce single use plastic waste, including Canada’s announcement last month that the country is working to entirely phase out certain single-use plastic products by 2021.

Our plastic waste in particular is a serious problem. Plastic never fully degrades or “goes away” — it is simply broken into smaller and smaller microparticles.

This means that every plastic toothbrush you’ve ever used, every McDonald’s kids toy you ever played with, every Lunchables box you ever ate out of, every diaper your mom put on you, every Tomagotchi keychain you ever lost — all of these plastic items still exist somewhere out there in the world, possibly in nanoparticles, or is possibly still completely intact.

This Yoplait yogurt cup was designed to commemorate the 1976 Olympics and was subsequently thrown away, but nearly 45 years later, it shows no signs of degradation. (Source)

Meanwhile, gigantic islands of floating trash, mostly plastics and discarded fishing nets called “ghost nets,” sit swirling in our oceans. Researchers call these islands of floating trash “gyres,” and the largest gyres are two patches in the Pacific Ocean collectively called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Together, they’re more than twice the size of Texas.

More recently, scientists discovered that microplastics are literally raining down on us. Microplastic particles have been found in rainwater samples in the Rocky Mountains and the Pyrenees.

They’re in our tap water, with the United States having the highest concentration of microplastics (94% contamination) in samples tested. For perspective, the tap water in the visitor’s center of the United States Capitol building tested positive for 16 plastic fibers in one sampling.

Scientists are now discovering that microplastic fibers are even in the air we breathe, particularly in our household air, where it’s estimated that we consume 114 microplastic particles per meal, as microplastic-contaminated dust particles settle on our plates.

As of now, health researchers don’t know the full, long-term ramifications of inhaling and consuming plastic, but initial findings are not positive.

What’s the Solution?

While the lion’s share of the blame rests on companies that insist on using excess and non-recyclable materials in the products we buy, and plastics might be an irrevocable part of our lives and ecosystem now, we can still choose to adopt a “zero waste” or “less waste” lifestyle, where we cut down on our personal waste production.

To see what a “zero waste” lifestyle looks like, and to gain perspective of the ubiquity of plastics in our everyday lives, I recommend watching YouTube. One woman can fit all of her single-use waste from the last two years in a Mason jar.

However, for most people, coming off of our plastic addiction needs to be eased into. It’s more feasible to learn how to reduce our waste as much as possible, to start, which is why this video might offer a perspective that’s a little more relatable and doable for most.

But if the zero waste movement has any flaws, (and I believe there are several) one of the principal offenders might be its adherents’ implied insistence that everyone produces the same kind of waste, in the same quantities.

For instance, I have never insisted on a straw for my drink at restaurants, and I don’t have any medical reasons for needing a straw. However, having a reusable, metal straw is often trotted out as one of the first things those transitioning to a zero waste lifestyle should acquire.

However, I struggle with an undiagnosed issue with my right nasal passage, and multiple times a day, I rely upon tissues to clear the airways so I can breathe through my nose properly again. My trashcan, when opened, looks like I’m trying to build a replica of a snowy mountain. While tissues aren’t made of plastic, toilet paper still causes massive environmental damage.

In my case, then, does it make sense to invest in a stainless steel straw, or invest in a zero waste, reusable solution to my Kleenex dependency?

This question is what led me to create and perform what I call a “trash audit,” and I think it’s the most sensible way for anyone to get started with reducing their waste.

How Does a Trash Audit Work?

For the next few weeks, before placing your trash curbside, go through the contents (use reusable gloves, if needed) and note the most-common item.

Let’s pretend that the most-popular item in your waste bin is paper towels. Yes, there might be some other repeat offenders in there, but start with the biggest first.

A quick search on Ecosia for “zero waste paper towel alternative” turns up tons of affordable suggestions and easily-implementable ideas.

Switch to your preferred alternative, pat yourself on the back when you see your paper towel-free trash (it’s a great motivator), and then conduct another audit, looking for the next “biggest single-use waste offender” in your bin.

Watch your trips to the curbside decrease.

More pats on back.

Repeat.

But Why Stop There?

Once your trash has been reduced in your waste bin, look to your recycle bins. Take the time to educate yourself on what can and cannot be recycled in your municipality. A recycling facility in San Francisco can probably recycle more materials than a recycling facility in a small town in Idaho, for example.

More importantly, keep in mind that much of the contents of our recycle bins don’t get recycled now, anyway, due to China’s recent decision to stop buying foreign recycling waste.

You’ve heard of the 3 R’s — “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” — but have you heard of the 5 R’s of zero waste? They are “Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot.”

That first one, “Refuse,” is important when considering our recycle bin’s contents. We have to make conscious decisions to refuse single-use items that are given freely (good examples would be cheap party favors, or useless conference “swag bags”), but we also have to refuse purchasing items that come in packaging we know we cannot recycle or rot (compost).

In your recycle bin audit, consider what can be recycled, according to your municipality’s recycling rules. Are there any items you’ve been buying assuming that you can recycle its packaging, but you actually can’t? What are some zero waste alternatives you can implement?

For example, most potato chip bags are not recyclable because they are lined with mylar, that inner coating that looks like aluminum but springs back when crumpled. If you were hoping that it was just plastic and can be recycled, unfortunately it cannot.

Instead, frying up fresh-made potato chips at home is surprisingly easy. I like this how-to video, though I’d skip the paper towel part.

Other culprits in your recycle bin can be plastic juice jugs, cardboard boxes, and junk mail that you haven’t unsubscribed from yet. (Did you know it’s pretty easy to opt out of receiving junk mail? Follow the instructions provided by the Federal Trade Commission here.)

Go Further: Make Smarter Buying Decisions

Stop waste at the source. Before you buy something new, or replace something old, try to find its zero waste alternative, or look for its sturdier cousin that’s made of more natural materials (big bonus if there’s a lifetime warranty on it).

For example, I needed a new scrubber for my shower. I mindlessly picked up a plastic version with plastic bristles while at the supermarket, when I thought, “At the end of this product’s life, when it’s old, disgusting and falling apart, how will I properly dispose of this? Could this potentially break down on its own, in a natural, non-harmful way?”

My answers were “I have no clue” and “No,” respectively, so I put the plastic scrubber back and bought a sturdy, wooden version with stiff but non-plastic bristles that will last a long time. If I have to chuck it in the trash at the end of its life, at least the wooden handle and the bristles have a better chance of breaking down over time and causing minimal to no environmental damage.

Another example is buying items that have a lifetime warranty and can be repaired. In an effort to reduce the environmental impacts of “fast fashion” and throwing away damaged clothing, Patagonia encourages customers to send back their ripped or damaged clothing for repair, no matter how long ago you bought it.

I also love my Bendetti sunglasses, which have a classic look at a price I can afford, and have a lifetime warranty that covers scratches, bends or breaks.

Be Gentle with Yourself, and Write Targeted Letters

Once you begin to realize the magnitude of the problem, and the unwitting role you play in the issue, guilt and despair can come creeping in. I see so many people come into the zero/less waste movement who agonize over every piece of trash or obsolete thing in their home, or they question the true efficacy of their actions, and it’s heartbreaking.

“I take prescriptions for my anxiety, but I feel horrible about the trash generated by managing my mental health. Should I ditch my meds so I’m not creating waste?” [Author’s quick side note: NO.]

“My kids’ trampoline tore, and I feel guilty about throwing it away! How can I upcycle a torn, fraying black sheet, a ton of springs, and the metal bars?”

“What’s the point? Just on my street of 10 houses, imagine every family is a family of four, so there’s 40 people on my street. And every person in the family has their own toothpaste tube that’s replaced every month. That’s 40 toothpaste tubes thrown in the trash every month, or 480 toothpaste tubes thrown away every year, just on my street. And that’s just toothpaste tubes! So what difference does reducing my consumption make?”

We live in a system where things are made to be thrown away and replaced, where items are so specifically designed they usually can serve no other purpose than what they were initially created for, and once we realize the scope of it all, we can feel defeated before we even begin.

We have to acknowledge limitations, and refuse to let “the perfect” be the enemy of “the good.” This means we accept that, yes, some things are too important to sacrifice to our environmental cause (like managing our mental health), that next time we will consider our purchases more carefully beforehand (again, “What will I do with this item once it’s reached the end of its usefulness?”), and we remind ourselves that it only takes 25 percent of the population to lead a societal revolution, so our individual actions do matter.

More than that, we need to take action in the form of writing letters and expressing our frustration with stores we frequent and manufacturers of items we buy. We need to ask them, “Why do you place the onus of properly disposing of a product on us, your customers, when you are the ones who control the packaging and materials used for your products?”

If reducing your single-use plastic consumption feels like a massive undertaking, it’s only because companies, whose products we rely upon in our modern lives, are making it harder for us to properly handle the waste generated by their products.

This is why I’ve started writing letters to companies whose products I enjoy, but am frustrated with the packaging or materials of the product. Packaging and materials that make it harder for me, a responsible, environmentally-concerned consumer, to use the products I need while conserving the planet I care about.

Companies are listening. If enough of us speak up, they will change, or a new company will come in and replace them to offer customers what they want.

It’s a huge task, but this can all start with doing a humble trash audit, and learning to question our previously-ingrained patterns of consumption.