Ring in the New Year with LESS WASTE

With the new year approaching, there is an opportunity for setting new personal goals and of course – New Year’s Resolutions!

This year rather than vowing to exercise more, save money, or maintain a healthier diet, why not try reducing your household waste and increasing your waste literacy?

At the U of T Trash Team these goals are our mission, and this New Year’s we want to help you make positive changes your waste habits. How? Through our Home Waste Audit!

During the Summer of 2020, we ran a Home Waste Audit as part of Plastic Free July.  This audit was so successful that we decided to bring it back for New Years. So, if you’re looking to reduce your household waste in 2020  – join us!

What can you expect? The Home Waste Audit will run over the course of four weeks, from Wednesday January 13 – Tuesday February 9, with an introductory webinar on Tuesday January 12 (and results Tuesday February 23). Throughout, we will be there providing all the tools you need to learn more about your local recycling guidelines, ways to reduce your landfill waste, and of course, ways to reduce your plastic waste.

Register here to join us in january

See below for a summary of results from July and examples of weekly waste. Participants spanned 2 countries, 4 provinces/states, and 8 cities.

Increasing our waste literacy is empowering. It enables us to make smart choices about the materials we buy, how we use these materials, and what we do with them once we when they reach end-of-life. Combined, these smart choices reduce waste and protect our environment.

Together let’s make 2021 a better year, with a common goal to reduce excess waste one item at a time, one household at a time. Start the year off right, with us, building habits that can last for many years to come.

If you have any questions about the Home Waste Audit or how to take part, please contact us at UofTTrashTeam@gmail.com. We hope to see you soon!

Written by Chelsea Rochman; Assistant Professor at University of Toronto, co-founder of the U of T Trash Team, and Hannah De Frond, Research Assistant in the Rochman Lab and member of the U of T Trash Team.