4 January 2023

My timing to avoid the holiday traffic and crowds was much better in 2022 than in 2021, or perhaps more people were avoiding traffic just like me. The day after Christmas, I ventured out to restock on the few fruits we cannot do without. As I drove through my neighborhood, I was disappointed to see so much garbage sitting at the end of our neighbors' driveways.

Several households had an overflowing curbside container and multiple bags of trash surrounding it. These are individuals whose waste is picked up by a company that gives the option to subscribe to a recycling service---of this I am 100% certain. Yet, they do not.

It is perplexing that, with all of the education about reduction, reuse and recycling, climate change, microplastics, food waste, and overflowing landfills, our society continues to be so "trashy," year-round, but especially during the holidays.

Municipal Solid Waste
The Environmental Protection Agency began collecting data on municipal solid waste (MSW) in the 1960s "to measure the success of materials management programs across the country and to characterize the national waste stream." From the website:

EPA refers to trash, or MSW, as various items consumers throw away after they are used. These items include bottles and corrugated boxes, food, grass clippings, sofas, computers, tires and refrigerators. However, MSW does not include everything that may be landfilled at the local level, such as construction and demolition (C&D) debris, municipal wastewater sludge, and other non-hazardous industrial wastes.

The chart below shows data through 2018. Recycling, composting and combustion have grown since the 1990s as alternatives to landfill however, landfill consistently remains the largest final destination for waste. For more information, visit EPA's facts and figures page.

Consumer Waste
Just how big of a problem is our collective consumer waste? According to the National Wildlife Foundation:

• Recycling one aluminum beverage can save enough energy to run a 60-watt bulb for 20 hours, a computer for three hours, or a TV for two hours. • Every hour, Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles.

• According to the United Nations, the global average e-waste collection rate is just 22.8%.• Nearly 7,000 gallons of water can be saved by recycling just one ton of paper.
• Food waste in the U.S. is estimated to be between 30 and 40 percent of the total U.S. food supply.

During the holidays, a large volume of gift wrapping paper, paper and plastic cartons, beverage containers and cups that end up as landfill, or perhaps somewhere else where they can contaminate the water or soil. Also, consumerism goes beyond online and storefront retail, and into the forest.

Trees are grown to become indoor decorations, later to be discarded. Granted, they come from tree farms where trees are always replanted however, if the buyers do not mulch, compost or otherwise recycle the trees, they are become waste.

Waste and Equity

Environmental problems disproportionately affect Black people, and other people of color. Some might believe that Black people don't care about the environment because we seldom see Black or brown faces in photos or videos of people picking up trash littering beaches and oceans, restoring natural habitats, or speaking out on an international stage. However, the environment, and particularly environmental justice, is critically important to Black environmentalists.

Beyond an interest and a stake in the environment, it takes time, education, availability, and financial means to take part in advocacy and action. As with every other societal problem, racism and lack of equity complicate the responses along racial and economic lines. There are many ways to address excessive waste, and some do not have the same capacity or access to resources to take action.

Taking Action: Waste Management Hierarchy

EPA created the diagram below showing the various ways to address waste. These can be accomplished on an individual level, company/organization, municipal/state and national levels.

Buying less during, especially during the winter holidays, is our top choice. Instead of buying new items, we can repair and reuse what we already own (fix the appliances!).

We can also repurpose items, which is part of the reuse solution. If you have ever taken an old shirt and given it a new life as a shoe, silver or furniture polishing rag, or if you have taken broken glass or bowl pieces and created art, then you might just be an expert at repurposing.

Recycle and compost (awesome for gardening) instead of discarding in the trash. Energy recovery, including biofuels, are an option for some companies. Any efforts to minimize materials sent to the disposal layer of the hierarchy is a win.

Taking Action

So what are we actually doing ourselves besides talking the talk? At home we walk the walk by:

• Buying only what we can eat

• Composting non-meat/fats (kitchen composter, large container in outdoor garden space)

• Growing vegetables in summer and freeze some for later

• Recycling plastics, glass, metals, cardboard and paper

• Using reusable grocery bags and take the plastic ones back to the stores that collect them

• Recently started using a net vegetable bag! (National Wildlife Foundation)

• Recently started using Swedish cloth (National Wildlife Foundation)

• Recycling metals, appliances and electronics

• Donating gently used clothing and shoes, furniture (Salvation Army, Haven of Rest)

At Levvitate, we encourage others to reduce, reuse, and recycle daily---especially during the period of winter holiday excess.