Personal Development Plan to Buy Fewer Single Use Products

 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

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.).

  Unfortunately, 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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