Okay, so here's the list of trash collected from yesterday. Things went well until the end of the day, when two huge boxes of Christmas presents arrived from Southern California (they had to be shipped because all the stuff couldn't fit in our suitcases!). Anyway, that was a lot of packaging. Bummer.
The List
q-tip (you already knew about that one. And yes, it was for my ears)
tea bag and wrapper
tissue (this is a weird one, because I usually use hankies. Hmmm).
2 Lindt chocolate wrappers (yum!)
gum wrapper and gum
cough drop wrapper
yogurt stick wrapper
string cheese wrapper
chicken nuggets bag rip-top
ore-ida fries package
a shit-ton of Christmas packaging
So, a couple of things: this really isn't that much (other than the anomalous xmas stuff). But if I was going to make some long-term changes, it would probably be along the lines of...
MAKING MORE FOOD FROM SCRATCH!
Which is something I've been thinking about anyway. Here are the two current obstacles:
1. I'm not a good cook. I'm trying, and there are a few things I make well, but I'm not good. I botch things regularly (and, to be honest, I don't like handling raw meat. So we might have the wean the girls from nugs). I've ordered a few (vegan) cookbooks and will keep practicing. I would say about 30% of our dinners come from packages (like the fries and nuggets); if I could cut that down, that would be great for our budget, our health, and the amount of trash in the can.
2. Convenience rocks. Yesterday, I got both girls home and, while the fries and nugs cooked in the oven, we had a dance party. On nights when I make a more time-intensive meal, there is no time for a dancy party before dinner. Especially on stressful work-days, the convenience meals are handy.
Summary: Find some easy recipes that can be made quickly from scratch, and begin to think about buying some stuff in bulk, with less (or no) packaging.
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