“I want to be remembered for the things that I did while on this planet, and not for the trash that I left behind.”

Lauren Singer, CEO of Package Free Shop
2015 TEDxTeen Talk https://www.teenvogue.com/story/lauren-singer-zero-waste-lifestyle

We are addicted to convenience. Convenience leads to an overload of waste. Think of a smoker who knows that smoking is bad for them, but it may take the realization of getting cancer or how their addiction is impacting their loved ones for them to want to take action to stop smoking. People need to realize how our waste is impacting our planet and feel guilt for how their action. There are some smokers that do not stop and there are some people that waste so much and are the root of the waste problem. This is not about me or others telling you that you need to make a change, you need to want to make the change.

The first part in stopping any addiction is to become aware of our actions and why they are bad. With the ease of consumerism and convenience of takeout, people have become almost mindless to just accept the wasteful life with disposable cups, conveniently packaged snacks, or online shopping. You do this because it is quick and easy to do, right? But being sustainable can be easy too, you just have to kick out the bad habit and trade it in for a sustainable one.

The second part is realizing the impact of your actions and why you need to change. Part of understanding this is realizing that although you are one of 7 billion people, all our actions together make a huge impact. All it takes is 20 seconds, maybe even 5 to think about your action before you act. Let’s use an iced coffee container with a plastic straw for example. Say you get an iced coffee every- weekday. Multiply 52 weeks in a year by 5 makes 260 cups of coffee and 260 plastic straws. If 7 billion other people did this (I know not everyone does but for this example), that would be 1,820,000,000,000 cups and straws wasted and that is just from coffee addiction in one year.   If this is all going to the trash, it goes to landfill or into our oceans. Think about how this may be affecting people that are living by the trash or creatures in the ocean choking on straw. How does it make you feel? Personally, it makes me feel terrible thinking that I am doing this to our planet, but realizing the impact of your actions yourself will make you more willing to change.

Action for you:

Start making a list of where you consume plastic during this month. Then think about how many of those you need versus how many you think you could avoid by making changes.

“Change starts with us all. We need to change our mindsets, we need to change our perspectives…then we will deliver a sustainable future.”

– Sally Uren CEO, Forem of the Future from GreenBiz

Again, I am not asking you to give up everything wrapped in plastic, but I want you to start thinking about your actions before you change for you to start thinking about what plastic habit you can stop. Maybe it will start with the reusable cup on the coffee run. If you go to Starbucks every day with a reusable cup, you’d be saving 26 dollars annually from the 10-cent cup discount they give you, which can add up when you have a coffee addiction. Starting slow is key and if you follow my tips and work to master one each month, your actions onward can go a long way to stop wasteful habits.