Personal Development Plan to Buy Fewer Single Use Products
Info: 9725 words (39 pages) Essay
Published: 18th May 2020 in
Environmental Studies
My positive change includes not buying any fast food products or beverages from places I usually purchase food from like Starbucks or Tim Hortons. Processed foods often come in trays or containers and are wrapped in plastic. This excessive packaging of foods produces larger amounts of garbage, and much of it is not recyclable. As a result, this garbage ends up in landfills. I decided to track the change of this because I wanted to see how different my life would be if I did not purchase any fast food items and how that would reduce the waste in one week. This is an important consumer choice because it is safer for the environment and healthier choice for individuals.
My Daily Journal
|
Daily Meals |
Consumer Choice -Change |
Day 1- Saturday |
Breakfast -buy Tim Hortons coffee -buy Tim Hortons Breakfast sandwich with Hashbrown
Lunch
Afternoon Snack
Dinner |
Breakfast -made coffee at home -cooked 2 scrambled eggs with 2 slices toast
Lunch
Afternoon Snack
Dinner |
RESULT |
-green bin (egg shells, coffee grinds) -bread is packaged in plastic bag but will re-use bag later in week -one trip to the grocery store today-less fuel emissions from short trips to fast food restaurant -healthier: used omega 3 eggs, whole wheat bread, olive oil spray for cooking |
Day 2 Sunday
|
Breakfast -Order a breakfast from Dennys (eggs, pancakes and potatoes)
Lunch
Afternoon Snack -starbucks Latte
Dinner |
Breakfast -made homemade pancakes -made poached eggs
Lunch
Afternoon Snack
-made own latte at home
Dinner |
RESULT |
-no garbage from store bought packages (coffee, package from Dennys) |
|
Day 3 Monday
|
Breakfast
Lunch
-takeout from Restaurant (food served in small plastic containers) Afternoon Snack -fruit smoothie from Tim Hortons
Dinner -takeout from Astoria Greek Restaurant (family meal) |
Breakfast
Lunch -made chicken strips and vegetables
Afternoon Snack -ate some fruit at home
Dinner -grilled chicken, rice and potatoes |
RESULT |
-less garbage because no food containers from take out, no plastic cup from Tim Hortons |
|
Day 4 Tuesday
|
-breakfast sandwich from Tim Hortons -made homemade breakfast burritos -Real fruit smoothie (no yogourt) Lunch Lunch-made salad at home -buy salad from Revitalize Afternoon Snack Afternoon Snack
Dinner Dinner |
|
RESULT |
-less containers and packaging for the garbage -no plastic cup for recycling -plastic containers are not recyclable -paper packaging from breakfast sandwich is recyclable but unnecessary |
|
Day 5 Wednesday
|
Breakfast
Lunch -buy wrap from Tim Hortons -fruit smoothie
Afternoon Snack
Dinner |
Breakfast
Lunch -made wrap at home -had a glass of orange juice
Afternoon Snack
Dinner |
RESULT |
-no packaging from takeout -no plastic cup from smoothie -less waste in garbage |
|
Day 6 Thursday
|
Breakfast
Lunch
Afternoon Snack
-coconut milk, latte from Starbucks
Dinner |
Breakfast
Lunch
Afternoon Snack -made a coconut milk latte at home
Dinner |
RESULT |
-no container for garbage |
|
Day 7 Friday
|
-Tim Hortons breakfast sandwich and -made egg-white breakfast sandwich hashbrown -made smoothie (strawberry/banana) -fruit smoothie
LunchLunch -made homemade sandwich with turkey, -chicken sandwich from California arugula, tomatoes sandwiches -ate an apple -salad Afternoon Snack Afternoon Snack-made latte -latte from Starbucks
Dinner Dinner |
|
RESULT |
-less packaging for garbage -eating healthier options because I determine ingredients used and how it is going to be cooked |
Research
I chose to not purchase fast food or takeout, and this made a significant difference in the weekly garbage of my household. Due to the fact that I chose not to go out to purchase beverages or food that contain excessive packaging and I used the groceries my family purchased for the week, meant we had very few items for recycling and no residual waste. Instead, most of the garbage went to the green bin organics.
This consumer choice is helpful to my community, the environment and my health. All residual waste in my area is brought to Durham York Energy Centre in Clarington, Emerald
Energy in Brampton and Covanta Energy in New York State, to be converted into energy. The Durham York Energy Centre can process up to 140,000 tonnes of non-hazardous, municipal garbage per year. The heat generated by the waste combustion is used to generate electricity and steam, and recyclable metals are recovered from the ash. Whereas, green bin material is delivered to a transfer station and then loaded onto transport trailers and shipped to licensed composting facilities and the final compost is then used in agriculture and horticulture operations (What Happens, n.d.).
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View our servicesUnfortunately, excessive garbage due to disposable products is a big concern for Canada and is resulting in more household garbage than ever before (Harris, September 2019). Even though many Canadians are more aware of environmental issues, Canadians continue to use convenient, disposable products (Harris, September 2019). Canadians generate approximately 31 million tonnes of garbage a year and only recycle about 30 per cent of that material (Canadians Produce, 2013). Therefore, each Canadian generates approximately 2.7 kg of garbage each day (Canadians Produce, 2013).
According to the Conference Board of Canada, “Canadians use far too much energy and water, and they produce more garbage per capita than any other country on earth” (Canadians Produce, 2013). In fact, The Conference Board of Canada determined Canada is 15th among 17 developed nations studied across different environmental-efficiency metrics (Canadians Produce, January 2013).
As a result, convenience, is costing Canada both environmentally and financially. Single use products save time, but there is more financial cost. For example, if you brew your coffee the traditional way, you could save up to 71 cents per cup compared to using pods. If you drink just one cup a day, you could save up to $229.95 a year (Harris, September 2019).
The increase in garbage is having an impact on the environment. Canada has over 10, 000 landfill sites. The decomposition of organic waste in landfills produces a gas made of primarily methane, which is a greenhouse gas contributing to climate change (Waste, 2006-218). Emissions from Canadian landfills account for 20% of national methane emissions (Waste, 2006-2018). There are policies to help protect the environment, but the best solution is reducing the amount of garbage (Waste, 2006-2018).
Plastic pollution is a significant problem in Canada. Less than 11 percent of plastics are recycled in Canada and 90 per cent of plastics end up in landfills, lakes and oceans which contaminates ecosystems (Khambalia, September 2018). Tim Hortons was rated one of the three worst plastic polluters by Greenpeace in a recent audit, along with Nestle and Pepsi
(Kalvepalle, October 2018). Cups and lids made up most of Tim Hortons trash (Kalvepalle,
October 2018). Greenpeace Canada stated that, “The only way to curb plastic pollution is by stopping corporations from producing throwaway plastics in the first place” (Kalvepalle, October 2018). Greenpeace believes that the Canadian government needs to hold corporations accountable and corporations that use plastic, need to phase out single-use plastics (Kalvepalle, October 2018). However, banning single-use coffee cups will impact many small businesses in communities (The brewing problem, September 2017). Alternatives are already being implemented in some parts of Canada, whereby companies are asking patrons to bring their own cups or take a ceramic cup to return (The brewing problem,
September 2017).
Reflection
By simply, making a conscious effort to not purchase single use products or takeout with excessive wrapping like styrofoam containers, or plastic containers, helped my family and I, to reduce our garbage in one week. If we consider the average amount of garbage Canadians are said to produce each day, then I helped reduce 18.9 kg of garbage in one week. Imagine how helpful this would be if each family in Canada did the same. As well, by choosing to prepare my own meals, ensured I was eating a more nutritious and healthy option. I was able to prepare the food using more natural ingredients. This week’s consumer choice was beneficial for my health. However, not purchasing any takeout will eventually affect the economy. Therefore, it will require both consumers and corporations who use items like plastic containers, to make a change and find suitable alternatives to reduce garbage and help keep our environment clean for today and tomorrow.
References
Canadians Produce More Garbage Than Anyone Else. (January 17, 2013) CBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canadians–produce–more–garbage–than–anyone else–1.1394020
Harris, Sophia. (September 30, 2019). Canadians Piling Up more garbage than ever before as disposables rule. CBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canadians–piling–up–more–garbage–than–ever–before as–disposables–rule–1.3248949
Kalvepalle, Rahul. (October 10, 2018). Nestle, Tim Hortons and Pepsi are the 3 worst plastic polluters in Canada: Greenpeace. Global News. Retrieved from:
https://globalnews.ca/news/4534489/canada–plastic–pollution–nestle–tim–hortons–pepsi greenpeace/
Khambalia, Saphia. (September 19, 2018). The Weather Network. Retrieved From: https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/canadas–battle–against–plastic pollution–environmental–defence–canadian–environmental–policy–national strategy/117183
The brewing problem of the to-go cup. (September 20, 2017). Zero Waste Canada. Retrieved from: https://zerowastecanada.ca/tag/tim–hortons/
Waste. (2006-2018). Community Research Connections. Retrieved from: https://www.crcresearch.org/solutions–agenda/waste
What Happens to our garbage? (n.d). York Region. Retrieved from:
https://www.york.ca/wps/portal/yorkhome/environment/yr/garbageandrecycling/whathap penstoourgarbage/garbage/!
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