According to statistics provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Americans were responsible for around 254 million tons of waste in 2013, only 87 million tons of which was either recycled or composted. They estimated that on average, Americans "recycled and composted 1.51 pounds of our individual waste generation of 4.40 pounds per person per day."
That's a significant amount of individual waste. That is, unless you're Lauren Singer.
Singer is a New York resident who can fit all of her non-recyclable materials from the past two years in a 16 ounce mason jar. (Yes, that's two years of waste.) In the video below, Singer shares how she's managed to go "off the grid" and maintain a relatively waste-free lifestyle.
And she's totally open to sharing tips for a more waste-free lifestyle, too. In an interview with New York Magazine, Singer offers up two pieces of advice to kickstart your own sustainable habits:
“The first one is you have to figure out what your garbage is. You can’t solve a problem unless you know what it is. So look in your garbage can and identify what is in there. For me, it was a lot of food packaging and food waste, so I learned to buy in bulk and to compost.
The second one is to pick the low-hanging fruit, which would be the easy, everyday alternatives. Instead of using a plastic bag or paper bag, bring your own. Bring a stainless-steel water bottle, instead of buying a bottle of water. Bring your own coffee cup, instead of taking a to-go cup. Bring your lunch instead of ordering in.”
We will definitely be trying this! Would you?
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