I last emptied my trash on December 25, 2019. My current load is close to full, though if I squeeze it, it compresses. That is, it doesn’t weigh much. I consider it too much so I hope to impose less waste on future generations next time.

I’ll wait until at least January 1 to empty it so I can say I didn’t empty a load in two consecutive calendar years. I’ll probably do a video about it then to describe how to pollute less than most Americans. The simple, short answer is don’t buy things that produce garbage and don’t die. You’ll figure out the rest. I mean, people thousands of years ago didn’t pollute.

Are we more or less capable than they were? What does progress mean if it leads us to pollute to where our polluting kills people? I don’t call helping myself by killing others progress.

Is this all of it?

In case you wondered, I bring home trash I generate away from home. So if I eat at a restaurant and use a disposable napkin or fork, I bring it home and put it in this bag. So I minimize using disposable. That said, I’m sure I miss some things, but I think I got nearly everything.

I consider recycling nearly as polluting as plain waste. I’ll take pictures of my recycling too. There’s more of it, but about the amount of garbage. The greater problem with recycling is that it leads people to consume more. I don’t buy the scam that recycling is meaningfully less polluting than straight garbage.

By the way, see how the bag says 2014? I accepted the bag as a giveaway for an event I attended. It’s the only trash bag I’ve used for seven years. Wet things I compost, so no need for plastic ones.

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