A Year of Trash: Man Saves Garbage for a Cause

A Berkeley man has saved all of his trash from the past year in an experiment to see how much garbage he – an average human being – could generate.

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The trash consisted of everything he was wasting in his personal life — the aluminum foil his Burrito came in, empty bags of chips, tissues, plastic bottles, even the tissue that his French Fries in a restaurant came in — and was stored in his kitchen closet in plastic bins and bags.

To prevent the entire trashy pile from reeking, all organic waste was composted. And yes, it did include every type of garbage possible – even used condoms. Toilet paper wasn’t included, but Ari did retain the empty rolls.

Even if the thought of someone leaving their DNA lying around seems icky, you have to love Ari Derfel’s attitude, and dedication. And to skeptics, who say one man attempting to cut down on his consumption and consequently his trash, won’t make a difference, well … you have to start somewhere, and what better place than in your own home?

Ari plans to repeat the experiment again, next time trying to generate lesser trash than this round of garbage, which measured around 96 cubic feet. Over time, the 35 year old caterer plans to have a fun contest of sorts with contestants competing to generate the lowest amount of trash.

So what does he plan to do with the existing garbage? Ari wants an artist, a sculptor maybe, to create something inspirational out of this.

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