Here it is, the first week of Advent, and I’m already contemplating what I want to do for Lent….

Well, since I’m vegan, that’s a given.
Last year I tried to “give up plastic”. The ironic thing about that was that I found myself using a lot of plastic. But I was using reusable plastic containers instead of plastic wrap, and using plastic bags (not grocery bags, but bags products are packaged in) as garbage bags. I don’t know if they’re recyclable, because they aren’t marked with the recycling logo. I also noticed how much plastic there is in my house — including my laundry baskets, hangers, etc. Even my boxed soap is in a plastic bag.

This year I might give up using a credit card as part of my attempt to give up “plastic”. I may also try to plan my food in advance, and buy 6 1/2 weeks worth before Lent starts (except for things like bread which wouldn’t last that long).

I think I’ll also try to go without shopping again. I wonder if I can go without snacks at work. And that won’t work when I have to shop for Easter goodies.

I’ll try to be more “green”. I may try to see how little garbage I can generate between recycling & composting. Maybe I’ll even get active with Freecycle, if I want to get rid of stuff. Maybe I’ll decide not to put out the garbage & recycling can, so I can see how much or little I actually accumulate in 6 1/2 weeks. I was inspired by the Nightline show in November about the lady who only generates one garbage can of trash in a year, and by the EnviroMom’s One Can A Month Challenge.

Alright, so what about a spiritual discipline? What would doing all that add to it?

Last night, I was listening to Nightline while I was on the computer, and stopped to watch a segment on a lady who throws out one trash can of garbage in a year. You might find the segment here, but I don’t think it’s perma-linked. So watch it now. According to the EPA, Americans produced 254 million tons of garbage last year. What can we do to drastically reduce that? It’s simple, really.

I found EnviroMom’s website, and they are challenging us to reduce our garbage to one trash can a month by “pre-cycling” (choosing products with minimal packaging), reusing, recycling and composting. Click here for information on the “One Can A Month Challenge”. (And while you’re on the site, check out other pages.)

This was timely for me, because I try to be pretty conscious and conscientious about what I do with my garbage. On a typical week, I might have the equivalent of a grocery bag. This week I didn’t even have enough to fill a bread bag. So I decided not to put my cans out, thinking, interestingly, that at the rate of one bread bag a week, it would take many months to fill my big garbage can. Other than pet poop, I could probably not worry about the smell for long periods of time. So without knowing what would be on Nightline two nights later, I thought that maybe I would go through Lent without taking my cans to the curb. (I also have a large recycling can. But if I don’t put out the garbage, I don’t want to put out the recycling either, because that might cause both trucks to have to come down my street, and the garbage guy might accidentally trash my recyclables.)

Here’s a picture of my garbage from this week:

I was actually surprised how much the bread bag holds.

But this next garbage day will be different, because I have to clean up the house for Thanksgiving — including changing the litter box. So I might have to use a bigger bag.