This spring, our Mind Your Plastic May (MYPM) Challenge winner, Renee, inspired us by taking small everyday action to reduce the waste she created.

Six months later, we caught up with her to hear more about her waste reduction journey.

If you value our education programs like Mind Your Plastic May, please consider giving a gift to support future programs.

What inspired you to get involved with Mind Your Plastic May?

Everywhere we go, every purchase we make, plastic is a part of it.

It’s just given to you. Most of the time, you don’t have a choice or an alternative.

I just can’t accept that.

For me, once I started paying attention to what was going on with waste, it was staggering.

That’s why I started to take radical responsibility for the waste I create.

I joined Mind Your Plastic May to reinvigorate this commitment.

Why plastic is such a pain...

Why does plastic bother you so much?

Plastic never goes away.

It just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces that find their way into our waterways, into the ocean organisms that protect us from climate change, into our soil and our food, into the air we breathe, and now there are dozens of studies that show it’s even in our blood.

That should bother everyone.

How did waste reduction become important to you?

My frustration with my own waste pushed me to start bringing reusable containers whenever I went shopping and asking to use them instead of whatever single-use plastic was on hand.

I started to look at everything — the purchases I made, where I ate out. In every way that I lived my life, in all the choices that I made, I started to incorporate the question:

“Can I do that without having to take or use something plastic?”

And if the answer to that question was no, then I asked, “Can that plastic be recycled?

For example, at the grocery store deli counter, they hand you your turkey in a plastic bag. Some grocery stores have plastic bag recycling right outside, but many people don't know that's available. If that bag goes into the trash, then it ends up in the Buncombe County landfill in Alexander— or on the side of the road. Either way, it lives forever.

So now I bring a reusable container to the store and ask that they put the turkey in that. Many stores let you bring your own containers, and people always see what I'm doing and say things like, "Wow, I never thought of doing that."

And that's it—most people just don't know another way is possible.

"Sometimes, I go weeks without taking the trash out..."

Looking back on your time during Mind Your Plastic May, what are you most proud of?

I try to live my life as plastic-free as possible.

Mind Your Plastic May challenged me to amplify my efforts.

It validated that this plastic reduction life that I live truly is important, and it was really nice to participate in a community of like-minded people working together.

"Each week, I’m proud to see how little I can put into the green trash bin I have to drag to the curb."

REFUSE, Reduce, Recycle…

How have you carried your experience with MYPM forward into your regular life?

I consider it a personal challenge to see how little waste I can create.

It’s the thrill of the hunt — I’m always looking for plastic alternatives, or for ways to avoid plastic entirely.

On a recent trip to Mexico I didn’t have any alternative but to use plastic water bottles. I knew there wasn’t recycling locally, so I smashed the bottles down to make them as small as possible, packed them in my suitcase, and brought them home to recycle here.

My motto right now is refuse, reduce, recycle, and I make a conscious choice every day to live my life this way.

Renee's stash of alternatives to single-use plastics.

Spreading the word...

Renee said, “The more you know, the better you do.”

We agree.

That’s why we’ve ramped up our commitment to deliver environmental education programming that helps youth and adult learners recycle right, compost their food scraps, and find plastic alternatives.

In fact, we’ve committed to leading at least one waste reduction education program per week for the next year.

Want to help us spread the word?

Your gift today allows us to equip even more workplaces, school groups, and scout troops with the tools they need to shrink their waste footprint.

Will you give a gift to help Asheville reduce the waste we send to our landfill?

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