You Can Take it With You

There is an interesting experiment going on at Public Radio's Marketplace. Their program host Tess Vigeland has taken upon the challenge of carrying around her personal trash for two (2) weeks. Everything that she would normally throw away now goes into a black trash bag that she carries around with her nearly everywhere. I say everywhere because there are limits, such as not taking the bag into restaurants or stores. But, she carries her bag from home to the office and back home every day. There is some thought provoking reading on her blog. It causes me to pause and think about just how easy we have it. We simply throw our garbage into the big trash container outside and once a week the garbage is hauled away and we never have to think about it again. It just magically disappears. The sad truth is, however, that it does not disappear. It ends up in landfills that are nearing their capacity. The waste in landfills do not decompose like many of us would think. It mostly putrefies and seeps into the ground, often contaminating underground water. Waste in the landfills also give off methane gas, since the matter breaks down in anaerobic conditions. What does not end up in landfills can get washed downstream and pollute rivers, lakes, and our oceans.
Tess does have a bit of an advantage. She has a compost pile in her backyard, unlike most people. She is able to place most food items in it. The one exception is no animal by-products (meat scraps, bones, etc), so when she inadvertently bought a whole chicken from the market, she forgot that she would be carrying it around with her for the next week or so.
If everyone had to take on this challenge it would really get us thinking about the amount of stuff we consume and just toss away. Well, at least I hope it would.