I recently had a conversaton with a fellow classmate, who said she was going to try and live waste free for the summer. That inspired me and got me thinking – should I try it too?
It’s still in the works for me – I am not committing to it until I first fully learn what it means to live waste free :
1. What is waste? One of the blogs I follow ( click here!) defines waste as “any item that can’t be reused, recycled or composted and is therefore sent to the landfill”. Pretty straightforward right? Until you realise that different plastics have to be recycled in different ways. For example, many bottles have to be disposed off of differently from their caps, since they are made from different plastics. If we don’t dispose off of them separately, they will not be processed properly and thus not really recycled! (That is a whoooole other blog post to write on). Essentially, if recyclable products are part of your waste free process, it is something you have to be extremely educated on and keen about so that you are actually recylcing properly and actually reducing your waste. That being said, many people attempt to cut out non-reusable products or materials in the first place, so that the issue of recycling does not even come up.
Whew, now that we go that out of the way. An important thing to do before I decided to attempt this new lifestyle, was to analyse my current situation: what do I currently consume/own that is waste (Non-compostable, non-reusable, non-recyclable) ? To assess whether the plastic containers/products I had were recylable, I used this guide:
I specifically looked at products that I use daily, some reusable (long term) and some that I usually THINK are recyclable. This is what I found :
The first picture, Ketchup bottle, Make up remover bottle etc, fall under the “Yes recycle” categpry. However, their lids do not! I.e. the Vitamin E bottle lid, falls under the “maybe recycle” category. Which means taking additional measures to call recycling centres to ask if they accept this material. As far as I am aware, that should be the process. (Please comment if there is an alternative!)
The second picture, falls under the “No, throw away category”. My UBC water bottle is obviously something that I reuse. But everything has a life- say it cracks tomorrow, unable to serve its purpose. I would have to throw it away knowing that it sits in a landfill.
The third picture, falls under the “Maybe recycle category”. The outer packaing of the cotton pads and the container for the body cream. These are evryday products I use. Which means I buy them multple times a year, and have been recycling them without really knowing if they do end up recycled!
Doing this exercise really opened up my mind to how much waste I personally generate – even when I think I am doing the right thig. Trying to go waste free is going to be a very very long journey. But I am willing to take initial steps. I will follow this post up, by shopping and product alternatives to help live waste free!
Links used as guides:
https://www.plasticsmakeitpossible.com/plastics-recycling/how-to-recycle/at-home/keep-your-top-on/