I collected my personal care products and searched them up on the Environmental Working Group site, these are the results:

How do I feel about the results? First, I’ve never really investigated what is in my products. I don’t buy from brands that test on animals and generally try to treat my skin well while on a budget. Since taking environmental science courses, I’ve also looked for phosphorous free shower products, to limit my contribution to eutrophication as much as possible. I was pleased to see that across the board the carcinogen ratings were low. I’ve had family members on both sides of my family fight, survive and lose to cancer. Endocrine disruptors were present in a few of my products, which was somewhat concerning. Fragrance was listed a few times as an issue which honestly confused me. Is this saying fragrance can increase irritation so be cautious if your skin is easily irritated or that fragrance is inherently bad and we should all avoid it? I will say I was pleasantly surprised that the rating for my toothpaste was only a 2, I figured this would be the highest scoring product. I was very surprised however about the rating of 8 for Bio-oil. I have dry skin and use this on my face for added moisture as well as to even out my skin tone and reduce scars. This rating is for the “old formula” and I’m not sure how much it has changed exactly. The Bio-oil had the highest scores across the 5 categories – yikes, perhaps I should find a new oil to switch into the skincare routine. I have to say, I am far from an expert on the subject of chemicals and am not totally sure how to perfectly interpret these results. While I assume a score of zero is ideal, how realistic is this? How many products actually get scores of zero? My average score was 4.7, is this OK? Is this the average rating of products? I’m not sure. I guess while I was considering animal friendly, cost efficient, effective products, I should have also considered and investigated the damage these products could be doing to me as well. This mini experiment has definitely been eye opening and will be a tool I will use prior to future purchases.

Here are my purchases for the week:

The total of my weekly purchases was $47.69. I would say this reflects more or less a typical week. As I still live at home, I am not responsible for my “needs” (ie. food) nor do I pay rent, making my costs low (unless I treat myself). If I had to categorize these purchases into the categories of Good, Bad and Ugly this is what they’d look like:

Good: Netflix, totaling $9.99

While I wouldn’t exactly categorize this as “good” (more so “OK”), I don’t think it’s bad (making it “good” based on the three categories). After a long day/week, cuddling up on the couch watching some Netflix, doesn’t sound all that bad. This is one of my forms of entertainment, keeping me from driving to the movie theatre (GHG emissions) and snacking on over priced, unhealthy snacks. This also allows me some time just for myself, to completely zone out, give my brain a break from all the information crammed into it all day or it can be rather educational. Don’t get me wrong, not all that I watch on Netflix is educational/informative, but this year I challenged myself to watch a documentary a week in order to gain more and a wider range of knowledge. I have missed a week or two but do feel I have more knowledge and have gained new perspectives than I had before as a result. The worst thing I can say about this purchase is that it may take away from time that could be spent outside, with friends/family, used to study/get an extra chapter read, keeps the house from being cleaned. But everyone needs an escape and a night in sometimes, and Netflix doesn’t consume my whole life. I am what most would consider a “poor Netflixer” as I don’t spend nearly as much time watching as my friends do, and am not on top of all the latest releases, but I would say I still get my money’s worth.

Bad: Gas, totaling $30

I decided to place my gas purchase in this category rather than in “ugly” for one reasons: necessity. I, like many others, am heavily reliant on my car to get me places. I do not live close enough to the university to make walking or biking a viable option and the bus I would take is often late, overcrowded (denying access) or both. That being said, I do attempt to carpool as much as possible. If my friends/boyfriend and I are going somewhere, we often take one vehicle. So if I deemed this a necessity, why is it “bad”? This is probably obvious but, one reason, the environmental impacts. I’m not exactly sure of the fuel efficiency of a GMC Terrain but as it is non electric and an SUV, it’s safe to say it’s not good. While there is an “Eco” setting on my car that is always enabled, I’m not sure how much it really does (it also disables automatically when going speeds upwards of 70 km/h).

Ugly: The remaining purchases (all from Tim Hortons), totaling $7.70.

I decided to place my Tim’s purchases in this category for a number of reasons. First, these are unnecessary purchases. If this does reflect a typical week (I think it’s usually more like 2 Tim’s trips a week), annually I would be spending 200-400+ dollars. That is a lot of money that could go toward much better things than a cup of tea I could easily make at home. The second and most important reason I have categorized these purchases as “ugly” is due to the waste associated and the impact of that on the environment. I am not one of those people who brings a re-usable cup to Tim Horton’s with me, meaning every trip is associated with waste. A pile of cups just accumulating worldwide. While the cups themselves are not recyclable, I do ensure I recycle all I can, the lids and coffee collars (probably to make myself feel a bit better). Tim Horton’s, while having roots in Canada, has since become a global company. Companies like these take away business from local, small coffee shops (another “ugly” side to these purchases). The one small plus of my Tim’s purchases is that they mostly occur at school, eliminating the time sitting in a drive-thru releasing pollution.

Is there anywhere I can/am willing to cut back? As I’ve listed Netflix as “good”, I don’t see a pressing need to reduce it, I just have to remain conscious it does not become a “time suck”. Realistically and honestly, I don’t see myself reducing the use of my vehicle drastically. I need to get to school, work, events, other places and my Terrain is the only vehicle currently available to me. For my next vehicle, I will definitely look into more fuel efficient options, both for financial and environmental reasons. I would love to one day be able to buy an electric car if that is a financially viable option and if the proper infrastructure was in place (ie. frequent and conveniently located charging stations). Last year, I decided to cut back on my Tim’s runs for both cost and environmental reasons. I was only getting one tea a week (still arguably too much). Unfortunately, I have fallen off of this with an increased amount of time at school this year. Every morning, I make myself a cup (or two) of tea at home, eliminating the morning Tim’s stop (and GHG emissions associated with sitting in the drive-thru). I used to go home right after classes were done and make myself another cup of tea and study/relax, but now I find myself sitting in Dafoe in need of a tea fix (I am a self proclaimed tea-aholic) quite frequently this year in an attempt to be more productive. This is something I should try and work on, drinking more water and having snacks until I make it home for another cup of tea, or bringing a mug from home in order to at least reduce the environmental impact of my purchases.

This blog question actually came up at a good time. We recently had to dispose of an old laptop and printer as well as the desktop computer of a family friend as they were no longer functioning. When my mom told me the computer and printer had finally died I told her I would look into ways of disposing them other than the landfill. I came across a company in Winnipeg located just off of Kenaston called “Urbanmine” that recycles metal, electronics and batteries. We took our items to the “e-waste drop off” location and left them there – quick and easy! Knowing there is at least one place doing this in Winnipeg is great. I also like knowing they will use and recycle all they can of what is brought to them and will ensure the rest is disposed of properly.

I have tried to compile a list of all the e-waste I have created and disposed of in my 21 years. I’m ashamed to say the number isn’t exactly little – 4 cell phones (one is current), 2 DSs, a Gameboy, PlayStations, and the list goes on. Of this list I know most were donated/sold second hand once I was done with them, but the first two cell phones for sure were disposed of and not in the best of ways (the third sits in my closet). As many of the items were given to others, I’m not sure how they were eventually disposed of. In our society now a days there is always a desire for more; the most updated thing, the thing that’s “in” right now. Where all our old stuff goes is not talked about, or maybe it is and is just disregarded. I’ve heard about the harm of improper e-waste disposal before, making a point to now on dispose of my e-waste in the best way possible. However, this blog question does not just refer to e-waste disposal but also future purchases. As you can see from the list above, the electronic I’ve had the most of is phones. My phone plan is a 2 year contract, meaning I have always gone to get a new one at the end of the two years, even though I could’ve kept using my still functioning one. I am a year into my current contract and this blog question has required me to evaluate my purchasing habits. We as a society already buy and waste so much, why should I go buy a new phone while my current one is completely functional? To me, the idea of “new” things is much more important when you’re younger. People want to fit in and often don’t know the consequences of this mind set. While I am not willing to give up my phone or laptop, I will continue to use my current ones until they give out on me and once they do, I will dispose of them properly. Creating a brighter future for us all requires a shift of our mindsets, this is just one of my small mindset shifts.

As discussed in my previous blog post, overall I would consider my food system to be good, with obvious room for improvement. Are there ways to improve the sustainability? Absolutely! The grocery store we frequent is just a block and a half from our house, we could definitely make a point of walking there more often rather than driving. (Although when we go it’s usually coming home from somewhere else, rarely do we go there right from home and back again.) A few summers ago, we planted a raspberry bush in our backyard and added an apple tree to our front yard, making those fruits readily available to us and improving our sustainability. Many people in our community and family make use of the fruit our yard produces as well. My boyfriend’s condo is just a short walk from the St. Norbert Farmer’s Market, which we plan to visit this summer. I’m sure I will be able to pick up some stuff there for back home making for a fun experience while buying local! As was made evident from our waste audit earlier in the semester (and was mentioned in my last post), we don’t create much if any food waste in my household. My mom was once against composting, she thought it was a great idea but didn’t want to attract mice and she said it created a smell. She has since become a lot more environmentally conscious so I plan to bring up the idea of it again and hopefully we will start composting peels from our fruits, coffee grounds, egg shells etc. very soon! Implementing the bins for the waste audit took a little getting used to but if we just had a little bin live somewhere in our kitchen to collect the daily compostable scraps to be disposed of outside that evening, I think that would be a very doable and beneficial system to implement that I could get the whole family behind.