“Each year, US consumers throw out 69 million tonnes of packaging waste, 31 per cent of the total US waste stream. In the UK, 25 per cent of the contents of the average bin is retail packaging,” according to recently published in NewScientist.
And most of us do so with little awareness. I consider myself an environmentally aware consumer (I shop with cloth bags, buy my flour in bulk, etc.), conscious of my choices, but I predict today’s Point of Focus exercise is going to surprise me. I’m a little afraid to do it.
But here ‘goes anyway. Throughout the day, pay attention to the food packaging you consume. Note anything that goes into the trash or recycling bin. Did you buy coffee in a paper cup? Lettuce wrapped in plastic? A bottle of water? Carry a small notebook or piece of paper with you to list, sketch (here’s some ) or collage your findings.
If you turn this into a creative project and would like to share it, Flickr has some . And/Or, send a Flickr mail, and I’ll post your pages on the blog.
*Thanks to Alison’s for getting the green part of my brain spinning this morning.
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Sometimes I buy something just because of the packaging.
I love that you have turned rubbish reduction into a creative exercise!
I’m going to try it, but I’m hoping I won’t have much to work with…