2500 Days of Trash. 2014-2022.

It has been 500 days since I last posted any photos of the trash that I could not reuse, repair, repurpose, compost, or recycle, and which I could account for. I have, however, continued collecting and photographing that trash.

This image of my trash in 99 photos does not include the waste that I produced as a teacher. This does not include the waste that I washed down the drains at my house. This does not include the waste produced when getting my car repaired or the oil changed. This does not include the waste produced by any restaurants at which I ate that I could not take with me. This does not include the waste that grocery stores produced in order to put the goods that I consumed on shelves. This does not include the waste produced by the companies that transported those goods to the stores. This does not include the waste produced by the companies that created those goods. This does not include waste produced by family and friends at whose houses I have eaten. This collection of photos documents many of the decisions that I have made over the last 2500 days, but it does not show all of the trash generated by all of my decisions. On average, we in the United States produce about 4 1/2 pounds of trash per day. That means that Americans alone produce more than half a trillion pounds of trash per year.

I have been documenting my trash because it helps me to hold myself accountable. It helps me to make better decisions in order to cut down on my consumption of resources and to cut down on the waste that I produce. Without significant changes to the systems of production and waste that we have created, however, I do not see myself getting any closer to zero waste. We live on a finite planet with finite resources, including clean air, water, soil, and food. What kind of world do we want to live in? What kind of world do we imagine leaving for future generations? If we have the choice to consume or not to consume resources, which choice is the better choice? If we can decide to act for ourselves or to act for the world that exists outside of ourselves, including the future world that we may not live to see, which decision is better? Imagine what we could do if we all made different decisions.