I have been through a lot of change recently and upon so I forgot to take a minute and think about what I can do too change my lifestyle to better the environment. So on the first of October I was asked to think about one thing I would change about my life to live more plastic free. I ignored this question for a few day because It was a particularly hard question to answer. Also because I didn’t know I was supposed to answer this question until today. We all make mistakes we have busy lives and recently I have been so engrossed in my work that I forget to take a minute to think about my impact on the environment. To start off I began thinking about my daily activities that I would like to change in my life. On thing I would like to change is the amount of times I go out to eat me and my partner like to try new foods and by doing this we produce a lot of waste and costing a lot of money. Although the dinning halls are not pleasant I need be using them more often they have biodegradable products and are free.

“GMO free food container” by Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Living in a city such as Charleston it is often hard to cut down on waste but there are places that have plastics that are better for the environment. For example I work at a restaurant that have biodegradable packages but behind closed doors we clump the trash and recycling together when throwing it away which doesn’t allow the biodegradable packages to decompose the way they are supposed to. When I take out the trash I make sure to keep the bags separate so that everything is disposed of properly. We are probably one of few that do this when throwing away products. So why do I still decide to spend my money at places where they use products that are not good for the environment? The more I think about it the more I realize I was not thinking about how the packaging would impact the environment but more focused on the food rather than the impact and knowing so know I am encouraged to change. There are many things that have just become habit and buying foods that come in packaging that isn’t biodegradable and tossing the waste without thinking.

“Pollution (plastic bag)” by garrettc is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

In my efforts to change by choosing with my wallet and giving my money to places that have biodegradable options and not spending my money at places that don’t. I also find it hard biodegradable alternatives while shopping recently I went to the store to get more trash bags and now sitting here writing I realize I didn’t have to spend my money I could have used the paper bags we have in our dorm as trash bags for specific trash. But for trash that could easily tear paper and are wet plastic is the only bag that can do the job but by doing this small effort of using less means I wont have to buy as many plastic trash bags. A few items I feel like I can replace such as paper towels by using rags instead. By buying paper towels you also buy plastic it comes in and when using a rag yes it uses water but in all it is less harmful than paper towels.  Another thing I wont be buy anymore are is plastic silverware and plates and or Tupperware from now on I will be using glass wear what keeps food better.