After the Challenge

I was curious about our recycling numbers AFTER the Challenge was over. I knew they would be higher because I could see that we backed off a bit right after the last weigh-in. But we got back on track & talked about staying focused. So today I weighed our trash again. It was two pounds! I was so excited! Then I thought about it & realized that the packing material from my new computer wasn't in the bag... It finally hit me - there was another bag in the garage - something that hadn't happened since the challenge started! The other bag had the computer syrofoam, plastic wrap and a mildewed bathroom rug that wouldn't clean-up even with bleach. So now our trash was up to seven pounds! A lot less than our baseline, but still disappointing. I suppose those weeks are going to happen given all the "stuff" we own & the relatively short lifespan of most of it...

On a more positive note, we received multiple requests from other parents at our school to give a talk about recycling & how we won the Challenge. How fun to be able to help so many other families reduce their waste stream!