All in all, no waste March was pretty successful. It was pretty eye opening to discover how much unnecessary packaging is being used. Nicki and I ended up with just over a half bag of garbage for the month...not exactly my goal, but still much better than before. I realized how much planning goes into making meals( and found out that no one in town sells tortilla shells without plastic wrapping).
The big change for me is going to come in the way of paper composting. I know paper can be recycled, but most recycling places claim they will not take paper with any food or waste on it. I can only assume everything gets lumped together and recycled, and if I put in a dirty napkin it will most likely be recycled, but I'm not 100% sure. I have been very good about keeping my napkins, receipts, and paper towels from restaurants/work and composting them. It's almost automatic now, to the occasional eye rolling of my wife. The way I see it, it takes very little effort to put the paper in my pocket instead of the trash. I understand that the paper will biodegrade in a landfill, but then what? It's still taking up space, its still not being reused, and its wasteful. I feel good knowing that all this paper is being converted into soil that will then be reused and help feed a plant to grow.
We did run into a little issue with the composting this month, however. Our apt got a bad case of the fruit flies. The bad: they are kind of a pain, and used to hang out by the sink. The good: it has turned into a nightly game of "lets see how many fruit flies I can suck up with the vacuum hose" and they really don't bother anything. But like I said, they are slowly going away (into the vacuum bag) and I have started to put more paper in the compost to help combat the situation.
Now on to April. I had a real hard time getting inspired by anything life changing to do this month. My brother in law suggested volunteering, and I flirted with the idea of going vegan, or giving up dairy and eggs, all I think are great ideas. As I was looking around for different volunteering ideas I came across a website that suggested varying ways to give back and help those who need it. I got really excited about doing something nice/helpful for people. I feel like its already a part of who I am. It's my job. After thinking about ways to make a change in myself, I realized that although I help people physically, my job has caused me to make quick assumptions.
Imagine having to listen to peoples pain stories all day long. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but people want to tell me EVERYTHING about their pain. And to be honest, 50% of the information they tell me I pay little attention to. I have to try to sort out their problem so I am constantly redirecting questions, politely cutting people off, in order to try and figure out their problem. Unfortunately, I find this type of behavior has started to take hold in my day to day life. I find myself listening to people tell me stories, and before they finish talking my brain starts making conclusions. I notice I am agreeing with what someone is saying before I even hear what they have to say...and it annoys me.
This month is more about me. Not my health, or the environment, but my attention to the things around me. I want to try to be more aware of the things around me that I can help. I want to start listening to people more, in hopes of finding out what ways I may be able help them with something. I want to be more aware of others when I am out in the community. I want to volunteer and hear peoples stories, I want to help local organizations who share the same ideals I believe in.
My goal for the month is to do "something" for someone everyday, and to volunteer every weekend. Seems easy. But I was a bit naive to think I could just turn the corner and be able to do something helpful. There have been days so far that have been successful, some days not so successful. I'll keep you posted on what I've been up to this month.
If you live in the lexington area, and have any volunteering ideas, send them my way.
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