Trashy

A recent episode of Morgan Spurlock's Inside Man has left me thinking hard about the my garbage output. That may not sound like praise, but it is. If you haven't watched the program, it won't be obvious to you that making people think more about everyday things is Spurlock's goal. That particular episode had him following the path his trash -- bagged garbage, recyclables, and electronics -- takes after it leaves his curb. I know more than I need to about landfills, for reasons I don't want to get into now. But what I didn't know was the amount of plastic used just to create (and then close) a dump, from lining underneath to layers in between to more on top to cover it all up. It makes sense that there has to be a way to keep the runoff from leaking into the water supply and containing the methane gas.

The ultimate point was that the more trash we generate, the worse it is for the environment, not just because it means finding more places to put it, but also because that involves the use of materials that either don't break down or break down in a way that's detrimental in a variety of ways. I guess everyone knows that, but I would guess that most people don't know what to do about it. Spurlock addressed that too. He interviewed a woman whose family of four generates less than a half-bag of trash in a month. He went along with her on a grocery trip, where she refused to buy anything that she couldn't take home in her own containers. She took Mason jars for the meat and mesh bags for produce and bulk food items. It was actually amazing, and in the two short grocery trips I've taken since, I couldn't stop thinking about the excessive packaging I was purchasing with my food -- and I didn't think I bought packaged foods. Think about meat trays and coverings, eggs cartons, milk jugs, and cereal boxes. Now multiply that by the number of people who shop at your store. It's staggering.

It has made me more conscious of the issue, which has changed my buying habits a little. I'm striving to contribute less and less to the world of waste. It's a process.