Fitting one month of trash into mason jar: Waterloo Region residents accept challenge

Could you fit one month’s worth of garbage into a one-litre mason jar?

That’s the challenge some Waterloo Region residents set out to conquer last month.

“I was really surprised that I filled mine up almost in a week,” said Eva Bortolussi, a Zero Waste Challenge participant.

Bortolussi is also a GreenTeam member at United College on the University of Waterloo’s campus. Despite being mindful of her waste at all times, she found the challenge to in fact, be a challenge.

That point was echoed by Mariam Haider, another challenge participant.

“When you’re out and about with classes, it’s hard to bring a reusable mug from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.,” said Haider.

The Zero Waste Challenge has been hosted by environmental charity Reep Green Solutions for the last eight years.

The goal is to make Waterloo Region residents more aware of their trash by getting them to fit their single-use waste into a mason jar for seven, 14 or 30 days.

“This year we did something different,” said Reep Green Solutions communications manager Swatil Mahmud. “We’re reaching more people in the community and also the youth because they’re very important. We’re going to leave the world for them.”

That’s why it made perfect sense for groups like GreenHouse, an incubator for social or environmental change at United College, to be a part of this for the full 30 days.

“It really urges us to think about how we make decisions. When I look at what I put in my mason jar, most of the things I put in the mason jar was out of a matter of convenience. So whenever I needed to do something quick, I felt urgent, I felt in a rush, I created waste,” said Lily Viggiano, GreenHouse senior project manager.

Challenge participants hold up their mason jar filled with one month's worth of trash. (CTV News/Spencer Turcotte)

More than 100 people sign up every year and it seems there are some health benefits that come from it too.

“If you have an unhealthy potato chip habit or candy bars … you can visually see that ‘OK, these things are adding to the waste,’” said Mahmud.

Bortolussi said it also helped her with those habits.

“I was sharing my candy with my roommates,” she said, chuckling.

So while all the participants are left with at the end of the month is trash, they will certainly treasure the lessons that have come from it.