WE'RE TRASH

1

2
The U.S. produces more trash
than any other country.

5................ Preface
7................ Junk Journal: 7 Days of Waste
54............... Habits to Change
58............... Conclusion
60............... Sources
3

4
The average American produces
4.4 pounds of trash per day.

We are constantly producing trash. We use, we abuse, we
consume, we eat, we dispose. However, our waste build up is
bigger than ever before and our environment is at stake. The
average American produces 4.4 pounds of trash per day - a
2.2 pounds. This amount adds up to 700,000 tons of trash
produced per day, just in the U.S. alone. This waste buildup
pollutes the environment, limiting the space on our planet.
We are slowly killing our Earth and hiding behind the face of
ignorance. Everything we do, everything we buy, everything
we eat, contributes to our carbon footprint.
Our carbon footprint, simply put, is the amount of carbon
emitted into the Earth, or in simpler terms, the amount of
resources we are using. Nature always curbs excess and
law as we create more waste than we are able to use. The
nation. We’re trash.
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6

In this journal, I have documented every single piece of
waste I’ve produced over a seven-day period. Each piece
documented includes what the item is, the location used, the
type of trash, the number of minutes it’s been used before
disposal, and where it will end up. Each day includes a
my efforts to reduce the amount of waste I produce. This is
a documentation of my efforts of reducing the amount of waste
I produce without changing my normal lifestyle.
7

Monday
Day 1 I’ve decided to document my normal day’s worth of trash
without sustainability into consideration. I usually have
class and work during the daytime on weekdays. Besides the
occasional coffee/donut or sometimes lunch, most of my trash
is produced in the evening when I eat the most. Staple foods
in my diet include string cheese, protien/fruit and nut bars,
blackberries, and salmon - all of which have food packaging.
I am not willing to give up these items so their trash
presence is consistent throughout my documentation. I also
chew gum and use cotton pads daily which will be documented
throughout the 7-day period. As a college student,
convinience is very important so I usually use a paper plate
and plastic utencils when eating at my apartment to save
time. Replacing disposable plates/utencils with resuable
ones is a realistic change I can make while still eating the
foods I like.
9

DONUT BAG
Broad Art Center
Paper
30 minutes
FRUIT BAR WRAPPER
UCLA Campus
Aluminum foil & plastic
5 minutes
SALMON PACKAGE
My apartment
Plastic

TOILET PAPER
My apartment
Paper
>1 minute
Ocean
BERRY CARTON
My apartment
Plastic
15 minutes
WIPE
John Wooden Center
Paper
>1 minute
PLASTIC CUP
My apartment
Plastic
15 minutes
PAPER TOWEL
My apartment
Paper
>1 minute
CHEESE WRAPPER
My apartment
Plastic
5 minutes
11

ICE CREAM CARTON
My apartment
Paper
30 minutes
PLASTIC SPOON
My apartment
Plastic
30 minutes
GUM WRAPPER
My apartment
Aluminum foil & paper

13

Tuesday
I woke up and got ready for work when a parking ticket
appeared on my car. Wonderful. After work and class, I knew
that getting food to-go would produce a substantial amount of
trash, however, I needed to have my teriyaki bowl from Flame
Broiler and refusing to eat what I want would be changing
my normal lifestyle. However, this meal kept me full and
so I didn’t produce trash from cooking a meal at home like
the previous day. I could have refused the bag, however,
holding all of the food items would be a huge inconvinience
for the walk home. The rest of my trash for the day was very
typical and I ended up producing slightly less trash than the
previous day.
15

ENVELOPE
My apartment
Paper
> 1 day
PARKING TICKET
My apartment
Paper
>1 day
PLASTIC BOWL
My apartment
Plastic
30 minutes
PLASTIC BAG
My apartment
Plastic
30 minutes
SAUCE CONTAINER
My apartment
Plastic
20 minutes
RECEIPT
My apartment
Paper
30 minutes
16

PLASTIC FORK
My apartment
Plastic
30 minutes
PROTIEN BAR WRAPPER
My apartment
Plastic
15 minutes
WIPE
John Wooden Center
Paper
>1 minute
NAPKINS CHEESE WRAPPER CHEESE WRAPPER
My apartment
Paper
20 minutes
My apartment
Plastic
5 minutes
My apartment
Plastic
5 minutes
17

COTTON PAD
My apartment
Paper

19

Wednesday
I surivived most of my school/work day without producing
trash, however, a substantial amount of trash was produced
when I started eating. Buying any food items will always
produce trash, hence my boba cup. Majority of restaurants,
besides the higher-end restaurants, use paper napkins. For
dinner, I cooked my salmon and placed it on my paper plate,
forgetting that I was trying to reduce my waste. Next time
the right thing to do would be to use a washable plate,
however, I did manage to use a metal fork instead of a
plastic one. I took a trip to the grocery store and used a
plastic grocery bag on the way out - one of the most common
pieces of trash harmful to the envornment. Though bringing
re-usable bag is an easy solution, this was a habit I hadn’t
yet adopted and I was unable to carry all of my items to my
car without the grocery bag.
21

BOBA CUP
Mr. Boba
Paper
30 minutes
STRAW WRAPPER
Mr. Boba
Plastic
30 minutes
NAPKIN
Galbi King
Plastic
30 minutes
PROTIEN BAR WRAPPER
My apartment
Plastic
30 minutes
SALMON WRAPPER
My apartment
Plastic
8 minutes
PAPER PLATE
My apartment
Paper

TOILET PAPER
My apartment
Paper
>1 minute
Ocean
GROCERY BAG
Ralphs
Plastic
15 minutes
RECIEPT
Ralphs
Paper
>1 minute
NUT BAR WRAPPER PLASTIC BAG CHEESE WRAPPER
My apartment
Plastic
15 minutes
My apartment
Plastic
>2 days
My apartment
Plastic
5 minutes
23

CANDY BOX
My apartment
Paper
30 minutes
PLASTIC WRAPPER
My apartment
Plastic
30 minutes
GUM WRAPPER
My apartment
Aluminum foil & paper
3 days
CHEESE WRAPPER
My apartment
Plastic
8 minutes
COTTON PAD
My apartment
Paper

WIPE
John Wooden Center
Paper

Thursday
Though I usually bring my own coffee to get me through the
day, I had forgotten to do so and needed to buy some from the
cafe at school. Nearly all hygiene products come in plastic
containers which are eventually thrown away, however, I did
not feel guilty about throwing away my facial wash tube as
it was used for multiple weeks before disposal. Besides the
usual trash items, I bought popcorn chicken from the boba
shop across the street. They handed my order to-go with
napkins and a plastic fork. I could have used my napkins at
home or a metal fork, but it would be an inconvinience for
food workers to ask every customer if they’d like napkins and
a fork with their order hence the excessive amount of trash
produced from the food industry. I did however refuse a
reciept - a miniscule, biodegradable piece of trash.
27

PLASTIC CUP
Broad Art Center
Plastic
1 hour
STRAW WRAPPER
Broad Art Center
Plastic

GUM WRAPPER
My apartment
Paper & aluminum
< 1 minute
WIPE
John Wooden Center
Paper
< 1 minute
BERRY CARTON
My apartment
Plastic
20 minutes
PROTIEN BAR WRAPPER
My apartment
Plastic
20 minutes
CHEESE WRAPPER
My apartment
Plastic
10 minutes
PARKING RECIEPT
UCLA
Paper
> 3 hours
29

TOILET PAPER
My apartment
Paper
>1 minute
ICE CREAM WRAPPER
My apartment
Plastic
5 minutes
POPSICLE STICK
My apartment
Wood
15 minutes
CHICKEN CONTAINER
My apartment
Plastic
20 minutes
NAPKIN
My apartment
Paper
20 minutes
PLASTIC FORK
My apartment
Plastic
20 minutes
30

SAUCE CONTAINER
My apartment
Plastic
20 minutes
ICE CREAM CARTON
My apartment
Paper
30 minutes
GUM WRAPPER
My apartment
Aluminum foil & paper

Friday
Most of my day I disposed of the usual trash items, until
Friday night happened. Social events usually yield tons of
trash due to the presence of food and beverages so I used an
excessive amount of cups. Sustainability was not really on
my mind at the time. I even used a water bottle - something
daily. College parties go through hundreds of cups which
are only used for a very short amount of time. It is also a
huge hassle to clean or re-use these cups - there seems to be
little one can do to save or re-use these cups when in use by
a large number of intoxicated college students.
33

NAPKIN
My apartment
Paper
30 minutes
CHEESE WRAPPER
My apartment
Plastic
30 minutes
LARA BAR WRAPPER
My apartment
Plastic
5 minutes
TOILET PAPER
My apartment
Paper

PAPER PLATE
My apartment
Paper
30 minutes
BERRY CARTON
My apartment
Plastic
30 minutes
CHEESE WRAPPER
My apartment
Plastic
5 minutes
COTTON PAD
My apartment
Paper

PAPER CUP PAPER CUP PAPER CUP
My apartment
Paper

WATER BOTTLE PAPER TOWEL PLASTIC CUP
My apartment
Plastic

PAPER TOWEL PAPER BAG SAUCE PACKET
My apartment
Paper
30 minutes
My apartment
Paper
30 minutes
My apartment
Plastic
30 minutes
SAUCE PACKET
My apartment
Plastic
30 minutes
PLASTIC FORK
My apartment
Plastic
30 minutes
38

39

Saturday
I bought a few things at the mall which surprisingly didn’t
produce much trash. Lulu Lemon provides reusable bags so
my only trash was from price tags. Because of this, I was
able to refuse a bag from my next purchase from H&M. I did,
however, buy a fruit cup from a vendor which also came with
a plastic fork and a bag. Since it was the weekend, I felt
more free to splurge on buying food. Once again, food is the
main source of my trash and to really reduce my waste I would
have to give up eating out.
41

BOBA CUP
Coco’s
Plastic
30 minutes
STRAW WRAPPER
Coco’s
Plastic
30 minutes
PROTIEN BAR WRAPPER
My apartment
Plastic
10 minutes
TOILET PAPER CHEESE WRAPPER COTTON PAD
My apartment
Plastic
30 minutes
My apartment
Plastic
8 minutes
My apartment
Paper

PRICE TAG
My apartment
Paper
3 hours
PRICE TAG
My apartment
Plastic
3 hours
FRUIT CUP
Santa Monica
Plastic
3 hours
PLASTIC BAG PAPER BAG NAPKINS
My apartment
Plastic
3 hours
My apartment
Paper
30 minutes
My apartment
Paper
30 minutes
43

FOOD WRAPPER CANDY WRAPPER COTTON PAD
My apartment
Paper
>1 minute
Ocean
My apartment
Plastic
15 minutes
John Wooden Center
Paper
>1 minute
COFFEE CARTON
My apartment
Plastic
3 days
RAZOR BLADE
My apartment
Plastic & metal
3 weeks
CHEESE WRAPPER
My apartment
Plastic
30 minutes
44

45

Sunday
On my last day, I bought a sandwich from down the street.
Even though eating out produces more trash, I usually buy
more food from restaurants on weekends and I didn’t want
to change this. I began shopping for supplies for my
project and once again forgot to bring a reusable bag. For
convinience, I took a paper bag from Paper Source. At
Michaels, they handed me a reciept before I could reject one.
Refelcting back, the amount of trash I produced on day 7 was
47

SANDWICH WRAPPER
My apartment
Paper
30 minutes
SANDWICH WRAPPER
My apartment
Paper
30 minutes
PAPER BAG
My apartment
Paper
30 minutes
TOILET PAPER CHEESE WRAPPER COTTON PAD
My apartment
Paper

PAPER BAG
My apartment
Paper
1 hour
RECEIPT
My apartment
Paper
1 hour
PAINT PACKAGE
My apartment
Paper & plastic
1 hour
PLASTIC BAG NUT BAR WRAPPER SALMON WRAPPER
My apartment
Plastic
30 minutes
My apartment
Plastic
8 minutes
My apartment
Plastic

BOBA CUP
Sip Tea
Plastic
30 minutes
STRAW WRAPPER
Sip Tea
Plastic
3 days
CHECK
My apartment
Paper
>2 days
50

51

1. Use reusable plates instead of paper plates.
2. Use reusable utencils intead of plastic
utencils.
3. Bring a reusable grocery bag when shopping
for groceries.
4. Remember to bring my own coffee to work/class
instead of buying one.
5. Refuse receipts and plastic bags when
possible.
6. Reduce the amount of napkins taken when
ordering take-out food.
7. Eat out less.
54

The amount of waste generated
in the U.S. has tripled
since 1960.
55

56

Over the 7 day period though I made some efforts to reduce
my trash came from pre-packaged food items I am not willing
to give up. We live in a society where convinience is one
of the biggest factors in our consumption choices and prepackaged
food is key in convinience. As college student,
convience is more important than a bigger problem that cannot
be seen directly. There are some small changes I am willing
to make, however, it typically takes 3 weeks to build or
break habits. I will try to use reusable plates instead of
paper and refuse plastic utencils, however, I was not able
to build these new habits over a 7-day period. In order to
have to give up many of the foods I like. To truly reduce
your waste, bigger lifestyle changes are needed to be made
and change does not happen fast.
One person can make a difference, but the real change occurs
when the masses contribute.
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