* Drum roll * The month’s over with, and the results are in. For the entire month of August, my plastic consumption totaled 64 items. I’m not proud of that number, but I am proud of the little changes I’ve made so far to reduce my consumption.
- As a recap, In the first week I totaled 36 items, which was more than half the entire month.
- During the rest of the month, the largest day of consumption was 15, again on a grocery day. The first grocery day totaled 25 items. This had to change.
- I’ve learned that I should bring my own bags/containers for raw foods that need to be weighed at the grocery store. I made decisions to forego packaged items.
- During the first week I noticed that I utilized the plastic utensils that was available at my workplace and have since brought in my own fork and spoon that I would wash after each use. A small change, a big difference in the total.
All this might seem like a “duh” point to the choir of environmentally conscious, but I was surprised how uncanny plastic can trick-le in unnoticed. Until we assert changes in our buying process, plastic will remain inevitable. There are items I couldn’t find ways around buying with plastic. Quite frankly, it became frustrating the more I took this competition seriously. Especially with sentiment of peers being that the little plastic I was refusing wasn’t significant, or I was being tedious.
I’ve gained a good amount of discipline in this month long exercise. While small, It’s made life closer to how I want it. That being said, I predict I’ll half my monthly plastic use in the next few months. Wish me luck.
