An environmental issue important to me is reducing the waste that I and my household create. While the gender element of this issue is not immediately clear, it is obvious that natural spaces are destroyed for the creation of landfills for human use. Therefore, I plan to take an actionable step to reduce my waste for a week. While reducing the waste I create is not monumental in scale, it will make a difference. If everyone were motivated to make some small changes to their personal habits, a significant amount of environmental destruction could be prevented. These changes could be as simple as using re-usable grocery totes instead of plastic bags, walking or biking to work instead of driving, or watering their lawn one less day each week to conserve water.
I eat Greek yogurt with granola each morning for breakfast. A container of yogurt provides me with two breakfasts, and a box of granola lasts about four days. Yogurt containers are made from polypropylene, which is the plastic marked with a “5.” Polypropylene is not recyclable in Montana. I am throwing 2-3 plastic containers in the trash each week. I also throw away the plastic bags that granola is packaged in inside of a box. It bothers me to contribute so much plastic waste to the landfill.
My solution will be to make my own Greek yogurt and granola at home, enough to last for at least a week. The primary ingredient for the yogurt is milk, which comes in a recyclable plastic jug (HDPE). The ingredients for granola I can buy in bulk (less packaging) and they have a long shelf life (oats, nuts, seeds, and things already in the cabinet). While making things I usually buy is not revolutionary, it will create less waste, and it will perhaps encourage me to spend more time in order to pollute less.
If every consumer were to invest time into being more environmentally minded, we could make an incredible amount of difference.
Hi Eric,
I found an article that links gender to waste management and attached below, I hope it is helpful but if not sorry! It’s clear that you have really thought about your contribution to waste and have a plan to manage it go forward, I’m also working with food for my plan and am currently researching women owned businesses to purchase from as well. Good luck!
https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/why-gender-dynamics-matter-waste-management
Hi Eric,
Thank you for sharing.
I appreciate your project choice. I know my household could be better about reducing waste, as well. And, like with my project, I can see how yours relates to the women-nature association, in the supposed disposability of women. Rather than the comparison to meat, women are still defined by limiting beauty standards which disregard age and worship youth. Women’s work is still devalued, and even women’s lives are considered “disposable.” Adams writes, “consumption is the fulfillment of oppression” (14). When she described this, she was referring to the denial of autonomy by viewing animal/women’s bodies as products to consume. However, when we contribute an excessive amount of waste, I would argue, it reinforces this belief system, considering the environment (which that waste contaminates) consumable, and devaluing nature, as with how women are dehumanized. If you are worried about how your project may relate to women’s issues, you could always research the ways in which plastic waste contributed to the landfill, as you note, actually encourages environmental degradation and further harm to women in different communities (like climate-related hazards, or gender-based violence). Not to mention, choosing where and how you spend your money is a form of moral activism. Sadly, there are still many companies which engage in environmental degradation, and violate human rights. According to Gillis & Jacobs, “seventy percent of the detected victims of trafficking are women and girls,” (300). And, according to the U.S. Department of State, “As environmental conditions worsen, the percentage of those vulnerable to exploitation will increase. The UN Environment Programme indicates that human trafficking has the potential to increase by 20-30 percent during humanitarian disasters due to lost livelihoods and disrupted families.” Perhaps, you could research companies, and make part of your project avoiding those which cause the most harm; I can definitely see different ways in which your project on consumption and waste reflects both environmental and gender issues.
Nice job, and I hope your project goes well.
Piper
Works Cited
Carol J. Adams, interview by Annie Potts. “The Politics of Carol J. Adams.” Antennae, Autumn 2010, p. 14. University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, myCourses, WGS 307-7101: Ecofeminism: Philosophy & Practice – On-Line (2025 Spring CE1). Accessed 11 April 2025.
Gillis, Melissa J., and Andrew T. Jacobs. “Chapter 9: Gender-Based Violence.” Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2017, 2020, New York, p. 300. Accessed 11 April 2025.
n.a., “The Climate Crisis: Exacerbating Vulnerabilities and the Looming Increase of Exploitation.” United States Department of State, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, July 2022. state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/The-Climate-Crisis-Exacerbating-Vulnerabilities-and-the-Looming-Increase-of-Exploitation-.pdf. Accessed 11 April 2025.
Hi Eric! Greek yogurt with granola and berries (and chocolate chips) is my go to breakfast! I would love to see the process of how you will make these things so I might try it at home too! Have you considered posting a video on your blog when you begin this process? You will have st least one viewer in me!
Hi Eric! This is such a great and practical idea. I’m also sensitive to the amount of waste I generate, so I try to bring my own lunch (leftovers) and snacks to work every in reusable containers. This ensures I won’t buy something wrapped in plastic in a desperate moment of hunger, and I can usually end the day without generating any lunch or snack waste. This is a huge improvement from my approach a few years ago, when I bought lunch and snacks on a whim and created huge amounts of plastic waste. Small choices build impact over time!