#reasons to live sustainably
There are a lot of reasons to go green and do your part to preserve the environment, but sometimes you don’t have to look far to find them.
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We have produced about 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic since its invention. Of that, about 79 percent of plastic waste is not recycled or burned — just left to sit in landfills or our oceans.
This is a massive health risk for humans and a deadly hazard for animals who think plastic waste is food, not to mention the broader environmental impacts. And yet, the solution may not be to ban plastic outright — it’s complicated.
Source: Kurzgesagt
Today, I received the following package:
I didn’t remember ordering anything, so I had no idea what was inside. I went to open it.
Then I remembered: I’d ordered a camera battery for my new Canon M50.
And that’s it. That’s all that was in the box.
A whole big box, for one tiny thing.
I felt real bad. That’s a whole lot of waste for one little battery pack. Especially considering the conversations and discussions I’ve been having recently about waste, I felt like a complete hypocrite.
I aspire to produce no waste. It’s an overwhelming idea: to be someone who creates absolutely no trash in a world of plastic packaging, trendy clothes that are in one day and out the next, and cyclical technology trends that send us running to the Apple store every year.
How do you escape waste? I have no real idea. But I’d like to figure it out.
So this blog is really just accountability for me. It’s a way for me to think more consciously and take the time to write about my efforts and missteps in my quest to go no waste in a town that might make that difficult.
I think waste is inherently illogical. Even if thinking about waste from the standpoint of someone who doesn’t particularly care about the environment, we should question why and how we got to a point where trash is normal, an integral part of modern life. Why wouldn’t we try to minimize instead of accelerate the depletion of finite resources? We were only allotted so much, and we humans have known that for awhile — so why would we entertain a system so irrational, one that blatantly supports the constant production of waste?
Anyway, I’ll try to stay off my soapbox, because truthfully I’m still thinking through the philosophy of it all. But I will continue to question and learn about my own habits, and if you feel like joining in along the way, I’d love to hear about it.
I’m always looking for more educational materials so if you have any, please send them my way! For any of you who might already be on this path or for those just starting, I’d love to use this blog as a space to connect and share inspiration.
It’s going to be tough, and I’m not sure I will ever be able to say I live an entirely no waste lifestyle, but I’m going to try.
Here goes nothing.
