My Waste

Here is a short stop motion video I made that chronicles two weeks worth of my waste:

http://www.vimeo.com/21725238

The assignment did not require me to collect my food waste, for sanitary reasons. I began to collect my garbage the day before my 22nd birthday. Two weeks later, I was surprised to see the amount that I had accumulated. Let's take a look at the actual numbers:

11 cardboard boxes/pieces of cardboard

5 pieces of styrofoam packaging

1 piece of plastic packaging

37 beer cans

1 glass container

6 glass bottles

3 large mailing envelopes

1 egg carton

1 pack of cigarettes

1 broken wind chime

21 large assorted pieces of paper and/or newspapers

19 small assorted pieces of paper

1 gum package

14 gum wrappers

122 items. Wow.

I am not sure whether or not this could be considered my average for two weeks considering the fact that it was my birthday and I received quite a few packages. I also did quite a bit of celebrating. Excuses, excuses

Here's how my waste breaks down in terms of content:

As you can see, the majority of my waste was made up of recyclable items, as only 7% of it eventually ended up in a landfill (if NYC's recycling service does it's job properly). Now I could give myself a pat on the back and say, "Good job! Most of what you consume is eventually recycled!" but I realistically I still consumed 122 items within two weeks, or almost 9 items per day. 3 of those daily 9 items were beer cans. The average industry brewery uses 8 pints of water to brew a single pint. Not to mention the ingredients in the beer must have a large footprint (where they came from, I have no idea), and the fact that most of the beer I consumed came from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which is 741 miles away.

Truthfully, the same could be said for almost every item that I consumed. I received at least two boxes from home for my birthday, which is 1700 miles away, and another from L.A., which is 2500 miles away. I used a lot of paper, most of which was either wrappings, newspapers, or other, small miscellaneous pieces. While paper can be recycled, it doesn't go too far before it eventually ends up in a landfill.

Furthermore, the items that made it straight to the landfill were pretty toxic, and HARDLY biodegradable (I hate styrofoam).

While most of my consumables could most certainly be reduced (especially the beer and paper categories), the items I received for my birthday either in the mail or through friends were greatly appreciated. It's the stuff they were packaged in that was the main problem. The social practice of packaging presents for someone's birthday inherently creates more waste than necessary. The packaging within the packages I received was a bit of overkill. Yet the air of mystery that surrounds the fact that you have to wait to see what you are receiving is one of the enjoyable aspects of getting gifts. Yet there is always an alternative.

Overall, the company I enjoyed during the course of my birthday ultimately means more to me than the gifts I received.