In 2017 I started my zero waste journey. Zero Waste is the goal, mindful practice is the action. When I use the term Zero Waste, that is my ultimate goal, but Less Waste would be a more accurate description of my evolving lifestyle.
Ok, this kind of IS a trash audit.
But now, while you’re staying home, is the perfect time to assess what trash you are creating and how to reduce it! We did a trash audit in our 6 More Months of Zero Waste series more than a year ago. Even if you were following along back then, it’s a good time to see how far you’ve come!
An audit sounds so serious. I picture sitting in the middle of a pile of garbage, sifting thru it, to see what’s in there. I prefer the idea of trash sorting. I find this to be more sustainable kind of audit. My advice is to take 3-4 bags, preferably paper, depending on what you want to sort, and replace your normal trash method with these. Label the bags if you like, or just remember which is which. Labeling might be helpful, especially if you are not the only one who throws items away in your household. Set a time limit for your sort. Maybe a week, if that’s how long it take for you to throw out the trash. Maybe a month to get a better idea of your trash habits.
Normally, I have 5 bags or places that I sort garbage into. One bag is for recycling (luckily, we don’t have to sort our recycling into categories. We put glass, plastic, metal and paper together). One bag for general trash (items that go into landfill. This is plastic that doesn’t get recycled, cat waste, human waste, and other items that don’t fit into any other spot. This area is where we generate the least waste). Compost is another area (this is where we put all food waste to be taken out to the compost pile). We keep one bag for plastic film recycling, which we drop off to our local grocery as our city doesn’t recycle it curbside (we try to reduce this as much as possible, but we still have cheese wrappers, bread bags and chip bags). Lastly I put aside plastic items like milk cartons, yogurt cups, and other items that can get a second life at the private alternative school where my mom works (they use cups for paints, create models from milk cartons and other “junk”).
Having this many avenues for waste, when I do an audit, I don’t have too much more to sort. When I audit, I like to make another space to see what plastic I’m throwing away, I like to track how much cat waste we generate. I also like to see how much of each recyclable items we have. I divide the recycling into categories; plastic, (the least), glass, and metal (the most).
If you’ve never sorted your trash before start with the basics. Let’s assume you already recycle (if you don’t, get started!) so you’re starting with two trash bins. Think about the areas you want to reduce. Here is a few good things to identify:
Sort your recycling into categories to see how much disposable plastic you’re using.
Start composting all food waste (except for meat).
Put plastic that can’t be easily recycled in a separate bin.
Pick a non sustainable item to track, like paper towels, and see how much you’re using.
Once you’ve seen how and what you throw away, here might be some next steps:
Try to cut back on disposable plastics in your recycling and trash.
Take you compost to a local farmers market, or start a compost in your backyard.
See what plastic garbage that you could love without buying or find alternatives (instead of buying tortillas, maybe make them at home?).
Try using an sustainable alternative to generate less waste (like rags instead of paper towels).
Write down your findings or leave them in the comments. What did you learn? Where were you able to reduce? What did this exercise teach you about your waste consumption?