1) What percentage of your log was plastics vs other materials (such as paper, metal, textile, compost, etc)?
Sadly, I think it was 95% that it was plastic. Since I am still in NYC and was having trouble getting groceries, I am eating 90% of my meal from take-outs. I was surprised by how many plastic containers that Korean food take out would give, they normally give up to 5 plastic containers because they give a lot of small dishes with the meal. And I had two little ceramic boxes from finished skincare thrown out too. The rests are paper boxes from delivery packages.
2) How many items of waste did you produce?
I produced 40 items of waste within the week.
3) Did you notice any changes in your activity over the week?
Before this exercise, I did not think about anything when I have to take out my trash to the trash room. Rather, I would be feeling extreme relief because the mass is no longer my responsibility. However, I would be feeling guilt and pressure when I am eating a take out food now, to think about how much waste I produced from this simple meal. My brain was full of sadness and worries.
4) Do you think the amount of waste you recorded this past week was similar or different than a month ago, before COVID-19— in what ways and why?
I do think that the waste that I recorded this past week is so much more than a month ago, before COVID-19, because I was not eating so much take out foods so I would not have so much waste to produce each day. I am actually thinking to start a healthier diet to lose some weight before summer and with the successful order and delivery from whole food today, I think I can start eating less and cleaner.
5) Do you know of better waste management/recycling programs in locations other than NYC/America? If you are no longer in NYC, what are the different realities of waste recycling and sorting in your current location? Do you know of any inspiring cultural practices related to creating less waste?
I knew that Shanghai is making everyone to recycle and sort everything waste before putting them in the trash can. It is not a super old thing, but it was a new policy that was informed by the government. Everyone was struggling at the beginning because no one has this kind of experiment and the policy was extremely strict that little mistakes would cost you so much money. So it was a trend of people making memes online when the policy just started. However, there was no policy in my hometown yet, so only a few people have the idea of being sustainable. I only know that japan is doing really well in creating new waste, the whole country and culture are just so humble to everything, they would respect and do almost everything solemnly. So they have a lot of successful companies like Muji to help out the environment.
