Tuesday: Consumption (In Guide as Sunday)

Every single day; every man, woman, and child in the United States create an average of 4.4 pounds of waste. The vast majority of this waste eventually finds its way to a landfill, however improvements are being made. For example, a few years ago, the state of North Carolina passed a law banning plastic bottles from landfills, among other materials. While this was not meant as a law to be enforced, recycling of these bottles has increased considerably. A few weeks ago, Mecklenburg County, which is comprised of Charlotte, Mint Hill, Matthews, Pineville, Davidson, Huntersville, and Cornelius; disposed of more waste via recycling than via landfill. There's still a lot of work to be done, in my opinion in the first two R's of the recycling process, Reduce and Reuse.

Colin's Steps for Reducing Consumption
1. Type a list of all the items that you need to buy this week. Delete the items you can live without. For the absolute necessities, determine if you can buy a used item; or if you can borrow it.

My List, Shared List for Family Product "Needs"

1. ACT Practice Book
2. HP Black Ink
3. Food (Food Lion, MP Cafeteria, Restaurant)
4. Dog Bed
5. Leash
6. Gas
7. Takeout

What we can live without:

• Gas
• Dog Bed
• Leash
• Takeout

In the past, I've tried to purchase refilled ink cartridges, which are significantly more price effective than the genuine, however my experience is that they just don't work. I could live without takeout food for the week, which produces a large amount of waste.

My family can definitely reduce its gas purchases, saving us a lot of money; and reducing our dependence on the car. I'd venture to say that my parents are the worst offenders of using a car to go everywhere, while I try to ride my bike or use CATS.

For the rest of the items, me or somebody in my family will need to buy them over the course of the week. There are many grocery stores around CLT that sell organic and all natural foods, however the economic reality is that these stores are too expensive. We do most of our shopping at Food Lion, Harris Teeter, and Walmart. When I go shopping, I tend to go to Food Lion, since they're headquartered in Salisbury, meaning that the food has to travel a smaller distance to reach the store. Also, I needed to buy my ACT Practice book, which will help me prepare for the ACT next month. Instead of going to the bookstore, I bought it from Amazon; so it took public transportation for packages (USPS/UPS)!

2. Place a reusable container around your house and place in it all your waste, including recyclables, trash, compostables.

Above is the all the waste I personally created for the day on Tuesday is shown above on my floor. The majority of the waste is recyclable or compostable. The majority of the items are used for a very short amount of time, a factor in the fact that the majority of the U.S.'s waste is from food packaging. All of the recyclable materials shown above will be recycled; however, I need to reduce and reuse more. The banana peel and the paper napkins in the upper right corner will go to my compost pile. Only the deli bags in the bottom right will go in the trash.

For the most part, I feel that our family buys only what we need; just based off of the economic reality. Something I will work on later in the experiment is to change my family's way of thinking when it comes to waste. I can explain the benefits of composting and recycling all I want, but it will be hard for them to "walk the walk" and not just "talk the talk."

3. For the week, try not to shop for new items. Use your time and money saved more wisely.

I feel that my family doesn't just "go shopping" for fun. When we go to the store, we mostly buy what is on the list and what's needed. Efficient, once a week trips to the grocery store or super center tend to help us cut out the unnecessary purchases.

4. What is the hardest part of decreased purchasing? Reflect.

The hardest part of decreased purchasing (cutting out gas purchases, less/no takeout, not buying a leash) would have to be a loss of convenience. Some areas in CLT are served by transit, however it's more convenient to drive. For instance, tonight I have a meeting about eight miles from my house; and afterwards I have to pick my mom up. A bus route runs to my meeting, but my mom wanted to be picked up in the car, so I have to drive. In order to resolve this issue, CLT citizens must support the current system then lobby for more crosstown transit corridors. Takeout is also something that I could cut, however sometimes our busy lives interfere with our ability to cook.