Michael and I challenged ourselves to save all our garbage and recycling (save food stuff and bathroom trash) for the month of December 2019. I am here to confess that not only was I incapable of doing so, but my efforts ended in having a meltdown in my garage over all my trash. I knew I felt guilty about the ziplock bags for lunches, the paper towels and the gatorade bottles that come out of my home, but having to wash and save the garbage we made as a family of four, became an insurmountable challenge within a week. In one week, I had more garbage than I could possibly deal with - even in a creative manner, and absolutely no where to put it all.
What it did accomplish was a realization that so much of the plastic we use and the unnecessary trash we produce is irrevocably tied to our struggle for convenience and, I would argue, embedded in an North American cultural concept of a successful lifestyle. This is why it is hard to change people's behavior about environmental actions. It IS more work. Less convenience.
Knowing I was being held accountable by my fellow artist Michael made an incredible difference in this process. We have stopped buying gatorade and the kids now use glass water bottles they have to keep track of at school and sports practices. Looking at it all at once scares me to death, so I am going to take one small bit at a time and solve it and then move on.
The next thing I want to stop using is zip lock bags.
I am going to share this with Michael for accountability sake, and make my kids help me find a solution.
Comments