Let's start off with just a sampler of trash data about Americans:
Every year, we throw away...
• 35 billion plastic bottles
• 40 billion plastic utensils
• 4.5 million tons of office paper
This is ridiculous, wasteful, irresponsible, and totally unnecessary. If every other country behaved like Americans in terms of our rates of consumption and waste, we would need five planets worth of resources to meet our demand!
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| But we've just got one... |
Be Part of the Solution
We've got to start somewhere. Just to address the stats above, here are a few tips...
• Carry around a reusable water bottle - don't buy bottled water!
• Keep a set of reusable utensils in your purse, man-purse, or car - a friend just gifted me these great bamboo ones!
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| I dont need yutensills, I need fud. |
Don't Give Up
Still feeling overwhelmed by those stats? Me too. It's hard to feel like my little bamboo utensils make a difference when most Americans don't do things like that. So watch this awesome 2-minute video and try this mantra: "I will be a hummingbird."
Do Your Best.
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| I'll do my best to knock these off the table. And I thought I told you no cameras. Now turn on the faucet for me. |
Reference for crazy stats:
Humes, E. (2012). Garbology: Our dirty love affair with trash.
New York: Avery, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Another good tip to avoid unwanted waste when you go out to eat is to bring your own container to take leftovers in, especially if you know the restaurant doesn't use eco-friendly packaging. Since we have a five year old, we also bring a reusable plastic cup that we picked up at a restaurant one time. While he's fine holding a glass like an adult, servers always assume he needs a 'kids' cup and they bring something that's usually meant for immediate disposal rather than reuse. If we can head them off at the pass, we just ask for a regular glass of water then pour half of it into his cup. After that, the server usually notices it and fills his up when topping off the rest of ours.
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