Week 3: What practices can we integrate into our everyday lives to decrease the average trash we currently accumulate to reach a sustainable average?

Sustainability, waste management, and how we can be more sustainable in our daily lives.

I chose this question for this week's blog post because it applies to our everyday lives, which I feel is important to make a difference in many issues of sustainability. The impacts that our choices make on the environment are very important, and beneficial changes in those habits will lead us in the right direction. We should be observing the consequences of our daily actions to adopt more sustainable practices. Some important solutions to decrease the trash we accumulate are reducing single-use plastics, recycling, and composting. Reducing the consumption of single-use plastics is a very helpful way to reduce overall waste generated by opting for reusable water bottles instead of plastic and reusable grocery bags instead of single-use paper and plastic. A potential disadvantage to this solution is that it is most likely initially more expensive to purchase these reusable items, and many people may not be able to afford these prices up front. Recycling and composting are other great ways to reduce waste that is put into landfills. Many disadvantages limit the benefits of recycling and composting. Contamination and mismanagement result in a large percentage of recycled materials not being recycled. As for composting, it may be difficult for many people who do not have the space to compost successfully. 

In order to better understand the issue of trash and sustainability, it is crucial to educate individuals about the importance of reducing waste and the daily changes they can make to improve their contributions. In addition, giving greater access to communities that cannot afford or lack the resources to make sustainable choices, such as using reusable rather than single-use materials, is important in the overall initiative. It is also important to understand your local waste management infrastructure to know how to recycle effectively. If this is not widely taught, many people will not recycle correctly, lessening potential contributions to decreasing waste.

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