Nine days into this no making trash business and it is going… strange. Before the challenge started, I didn’t feel like I was making too much trash to begin with (there is only so much room in a van for garbage). But not making any at all feels nearly impossible. I have already failed several times, but I have been keeping those failures together in a bag so that I can actually inventory all that I did throw away in my month of striving for zero.

What I am noticing more than anything else, is that our culture is so unbelievably focused on individually wrapped everything, almost the entire grocery store is now off limits. Bulk food bins, and fresh produce are just about the only things in my diet. I started with the logic, if the packaging is 100% recyclable then I can still buy it, but that still felt like cheating so it got cut on day 6. The whole point of the challenge was to see if it was possible to do with no trash, and I believe I can make that happen for the remaining three weeks.

The biggest limitation of no packaging is not having a kitchen to cook things in. My body seems to be responding well to a lot of granola, fruit, trail mix, and raw veggies, but I crave hot food and a well cooked meal more often than I used to. This could have to do more with living in a van and less with producing no trash though.There is one more stipulation that needs to be added for the remainder of the challenge. Local produce only. It seems like buying a fruit that comes from thousands of miles away in another country, generates a lot of trash along the journey. So for the rest of the month I will also be adhering to the local produce only rule. If it is grown in Utah, I can use it, if not, no deal.

Sometimes I feel like projects like this are silly. But forcing rules upon yourself often teaches you things you never otherwise would have learned. I’ve heard stories of artists who created their greatest works under strict limitations, but when given creative freedom, they have have no idea what to do. Sometimes we need rules to spark creativity, the restrictions and limitations placed on ourselves serve as the Lego pieces we can’t use. These self imposed limitations actually adhere perfectly to living a life of more with less. When you have a wall filled with photos you hardly ever notice your favorites. But removing the clutter, and leaving only the most meaningful, you get the joy of seeing them every time you pass by.

When your life is limitless in what you can buy and obtain, do you know what you really want? Or do you just go for the most convenient option?