One morning, I had an unusual amount of motivation and sought to understand just how hard it is to not throw anything away...all. day. First and foremost, let me tell you...IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT, but also very manageable. Here was a run-down of how the day went:
Morning Yoga: Ahh yes. Time to get a little bit of zen in before my day. I took my REUSABLE water bottle to the studio and I was off. Not many opportunities to reduce waste here, but when it was time to clean off our mats, I used their sanitizer but used my personal rag instead of a paper towel. Score.
Breakfast: After yoga, I went to the smoothie and juice bar and asked them if they could just put the smoothie right into my cup. The cashier agreed and even gave a discount (another reason to go waste-free)! I also had an orange and threw the peel in our school's garden.
Study Time: This one was the absolute hardest for me because I love a good old fashion textbook and handwritten notes, but not today. Today I took notes on my laptop and made... (gulp).. electronic flashcards. Update: I survived.
Lunch: For lunch, I had a homemade sandwich and bought some raspberries. The raspberries came in a small plastic container but fear not, I used the container to store some hair ties and other random stuff I had laying around. Up-cycling, ya know?
Classes: Not a ton of waste generation going on here. The only time I noticed that I could limit my waste was when the teacher told us to jot down our answer on a piece of paper. The waste-free me decided to cut the paper into four and share with my peers.
Nap: This was essential.
Dinner: I walked myself down to the dining hall, Tupperware in hand, only to get a very confused look on the worker's face. Apparently, "You don't have to put it in that plastic container. I brought my own to use!" is hard to comprehend.
Shower: The moment I've been waiting for. The time my inner-Earth lover can truly shine and show off her new waste-reducing abilities. I specifically purchased a shampoo bar and micro-bead free face wash for this exact moment in my life. Needless to say, the shampoo bar works just as well as regular old shampoo! Although it did almost tragically fall out of my hand, my hair is now clean (and so is my face).
Bedtime: I'll admit it. I am going to need some sort of sweet before bed or the night cannot end well. Usually, I'll have a mini peanut butter cup or Hershey kiss, but tonight I decided to dive into my homemade Oreo truffles that were not wrapped in foil or plastic. (PS. If you haven't tried these truffles, do so).
All in all, I definitely had to go slightly out of my way to not produce any waste in one day; however, I'm sure with time this would get much easier. Also, is protecting our Earth really that big of an inconvenience?
Sheetal Tadiparty
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