What Have I Learned?

Wow. A lot of things.

1. The      vast vast vast majority of trash comes from food packaging. Packaged food      is less nutritious, on the whole, than fresh food. Packaged food, ounce      for ounce, is often more expensive than fresh food. I’ve learned that      making less trash, by consuming less packaged food actually makes me      healthier and wealthier. I’m in the best shape of my life right now and I      can see first hand that it is related to changes in my diet that have come      from this project.
2. When I      ask people to put prepared food in my own containers it disrupts their      flow and makes them think. Some people like this. They enjoy the momentary      distraction from monotony and the novelty of the experience. Others get      pissed off. It makes they have to pay attention, it takes more energy. I      don’t know what to do with this information yet I just know I’ve learned      this.
3. Saving      trash leads to increased consciousness of what I consume. I cannot      purchase a single thing without wondering about all of the energy that      went into manufacturing it, the resources use to ship, how far its      component parts traveled until it was assembled, how far it then traveled      to get to the store where I purchased it, the thousands of miles it may      travel before finding its ultimate home in a pile of other unwanted      manufactured souls
4. Recycling      sucks. There, I said it. Of course recycling is a powerful first step in      becoming more aware of what one consumes and it’s better to recreate      something out of something than it is to gather up more raw materials to      make something new. That said, recycling still sucks. It takes enormous      amounts of energy and clean water to produce plastic bottles and      containers, glass bottles and jars and cans of all kinds. It take enormous      amounts of energy to collect these items at curbsides and ship them to      recycling facilities. It take enormous energy to recycle items and ship      them somewhere to be remanufactured. Almost all recyclable materials come      from food or health and beauty products – both unnecessary items we have      grown addicted to in our modern world. Less recycling also means fresher      food. Health and beauty products is another conversation and I’m not sure      we’re all ready for it yet :o)
5. It      doesn’t take much to make a big difference. If I can do this, someone else      can do this. If two people reduce their consumption radically, 4 people      can do it to, so can 8 people, 16 people, 32 people, and so on. Change is      much easier and much more readily available than most of us are taught to      think and lead to believe.
6. Trash      sucks. 100 years ago most of the trash we produce now did not even exist.      It did not even exist. Now it is at the center of a worldwide economic      system that is lopsidedly built upon mass consumption to create huge      profits for the few at the physical and environmental expense of the many      many many. This makes me sad.
7. Changing      is fun, much more fun than it is stressful.
8. Cleaning      out food packaging takes time and is necessary to get rid of odors and to      ensure bugs and rodents are not attracted to it.