30 Days Zero Waste: The Start

Waste is covering our planet at an alarming rate. For me, I have tried to minimize my carbon and water footprints by changing my environmental impact. One of the most difficult things to be mindful of is trash production. Humans create an average of 4.3 pounds of trash a single day, but it is so easy to dispose of in the United States that we just are not aware. For my final project in my Media Studies in the Environment class at Hampshire College, I am planning to live waste free for 30 days. Maybe people have started to do what is called the, “30 Day Zero Waste Challenge.” I am planning on doing a college twist to that. With the full meal plan at the dining commons and other resources on campus, I believe it will be easier to not collect trash, but there will be lots of trash I cannot count in my trash collect. What waste I do create over the next 30 days (both recycling and trash) I will keep in a jar until the end. There are some areas on campus that have compostable cups, plants, and plastic. I do not want to count those as compost in this project because they still take resources, time, and energy just like other forms of waste to create, use, and dispose of.

Along with just collecting my garbage, I will also reflect on what waste I am creating and why that happens. The access to easily create waste makes it harder for people to avoid it. I want to note where people are more likely to create trash and how that can be stopped. I also want to write blog posts addressing different types of waste and ways it is addressed in the media. My class this semester has talked a lot about resource use, techno-trash, activism and communication, greenwashing, and anthropocentric environmentalism. I would like to talk about how these topics and reflect on how awareness can change. I am also planning a school-wide environmental activism day where students will help clean up waste on campus and prepare people for the People’s Climate March (PCM) in Washington D.C. I have been working with my peers to get a group of 40 students from Hampshire College to go to the PCM on April 29th. I am excited to start this project for many reasons, but mainly for myself. I want to learn about how much waste I create and how hard it is to stop. This next month is going to be an adventure. I am excited to teach, learn, and growth into a more conscious and educated environmentalist and end in Washington D.C. with fellow activist and share stories with them.