230 million tons. That is the amount of trash produced by America annually. All of us "normal" citizens have contributed greatly to this number of 230 which approximately translates to about 4 pounds of trash per person. My trash for two days was not 4 pounds. The reason for this is because my trash consists of mainly food remains. Some of this such as orange peels are completely biodegradable. Some other types of trash such as wrappers are not. In addition, store receipts, forks, spoons, and napkins were also a part of trash-able items. Going to Starbucks contributed to part of my trash as well.
What are some ways in which I could cut my trash. My personal solutions would be to recycle, reuse, and buy products which prohibit me from needing certain items. For example, what I did in the following two days was wash my Starbucks cups and use them for my morning juice. While this produced trash, it reduced the amount of trash because I no longer needed to buy a special cup.
By buying a proper water bottle can also assist in reducing trash because then water bottles would not be necessary. However, one fact that prevents students such as myself from buying water bottles is that we do not have adequate refilling stations. Water fountains are considered dirty and the water does not seem sanitary. Some other options are the Sparklettes water jugs. These jugs, unfortunately, are readily available around campus. Smaller pieces of trash such as straws can also be eliminated by using cups which allow me to sip the fluid. While a single straw may not seem to be able to make a big impact, we must remember how many millions of straws are used annually. If I continued to reduce my use of straws then I can reduce my trash efficiently.
Some items which I can not eliminate are packaging for electronics. At least with food items I can find alternatives with low packaging use; however, electronics provide no such alternative.
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