June 10th Update - David

Week 2 Waste

    Garbage                                             Plastic

Week 3 Waste

    Garbage                                             Paper (The bag is flat: about 3 cm thick)

    Plastic

As this project goes on, it becomes increasingly difficult for my family as a whole to abstain from food waste. In week two, the total amount of garbage had shrunk considerably, and the plastic had even more so. This on the surface appears very good, but when we take into consideration the fact that both my father and sister were out of town that week, it is less impressive. Still, the waste was reduced  to a much more manageable size. In week three, the waste levels had increased to be comparable to week one. There were several factors that I believe contributed to this. The first is that all four members of the household were home this week, naturally leading to an increase in food consumption. Secondly, a few large plastic ice cream containers were emptied that week, though they had been in the freezer for some time. Finally, and most critically, it is increasingly difficult to continue to motivate this lifestyle direction to a group of people who are used to a certain way of living. As such, in the final weeks of the project, I will be focusing primarily on motivating this change to my family members.