Walking the Talk

When was the last time you threw something “away”?

Did you think about it? What you were getting rid of? Where did it come from? Where is it going?

Well, until this year, I was right there with you, my friend. Throwing things “away” without ever thinking about where “away” was, what it looked like, or whether it would ever connect back to me. And then I stopped.

That’s right, I stopped.

On Jan. 1, I began a yearlong experiment of keeping all my trash and recycling it in my basement. Now I know what you are saying: “He’s crazy! A nut job! Greenopolis has gone off the deep end!” And I can’t say I blame you for thinking it.

On the surface, it seems like an irrational thing to do (it doesn’t get much better if you look down in the basement either), but before you all click away, let’s talk about this for a minute.

For the past eight months, everything that I have disposed of has gone down in my basement after being cataloged on my blog. I know what it was, where it came from and where it has gone. I can quantify it, play with it if I so desire (I don’t), sing to it (no comment) and even re-use it a month or two later should I find a need. As a result of this new consciousness and the changes in purchasing choices it brought, my trash total is just around 30 pounds, as opposed to the national average which would have put me right around 900 pounds. In the process of my experiment, I’ve started a worm compost, switched from plastic milk bottles to glass (didn’t even know these still existed), have started French pressing my morning java, and have all but eliminated my junk mail. And that’s just for starters.

But I think the most enlightening aspect of this challenge is discovering how hard it was to change a basic habit. Try training yourself to never throw anything away and you’ll see what I mean. Having said that, now that I have gotten used to it, I don’t even think of heading for the garbage can anymore. It’s actually become a part of my routine. And that got me to thinking.

The “solutions” that we all read about daily are all out there, yet many find it hard to change. For some, it’s a matter of not knowing where to start. For others, it’s a question of information. And for many more of us, it’s a tendency to give up due to how overwhelming it all can be. Well, fear not eco-sensitive reader. Starting with my next post, we’ll take one issue at a time, explore it, and work toward a viable solution you can live with. We’ll spend a few posts going over the problems associated with something—say bottled water—and then I’ll throw out some simple ways to make cutting them out altogether easier.

Finally, I’ll ask everyone to pledge to go without for a week and then we’ll all check back in and see how things went. My hope is that by the end of 12 months, we’ll all be much farther along than where we are today, and the difference we make will add up. Simple enough? And lest you think that I have all the answers (I don’t, just ask my wife) I’ll be looking for your ideas and feedback to come up with even better alternatives. After all, we’re all in his together, right? So how about it?

Ready to start walking the talk?

Dave Chameides is an environmental educator and freelance filmmaker. He writes alternative fuel articles for Edmunds.com and maintains the blogs 365 Days of Trash and Achieving Sustainability. While he is presently saving all of his trash for a year to better understand his environmental impact, his main focus is sustainability through education and believes that with knowledge all things are possible.