What I Found in My Trash- And Why It Changed How I Think

I didn’t mean to do a trash audit.

It just… kind of happened.

One night I was taking out the garbage. Nothing special.

But for some reason, instead of tossing the bag and walking away like I always do.
I stopped.
I opened it.
And I looked inside.

And then, it hit me.

There were three plastic to-go containers.

Two crumpled Amazon mailers.

A shampoo bottle I forgot to rinse.

Some receipts. A spoon. A sock?

(I don’t even know how that got in there.)

So much clutter.

Too much.

It wasn’t even a “bad” trash day. Just normal.

The kind of normal that sneaks up on you and turns into four full bags and a mild existential crisis.

I stood there looking at it and realized… I don’t really think about what I throw away.

I just do it. Like brushing my teeth. Or swiping away a notification.

I’d tossed bags like this a hundred times. But this time, something caught.

And it stayed with me.

I started wondering how much of this stuff I actually needed to throw out.

How much of it was avoidable.

How much I’d already tossed — this week.

This month.

This year.

How much of it looked like convenience... but felt like clutter.

I’m not here to be preachy.

I’m not writing this from a tiny cabin in the woods with zero internet and a toothbrush made of moss.

I’m just a normal person.

With a trash can.

And a brain that won’t shut up now that I’ve started paying attention.

And I don’t know about you, but once I see something — I can’t unsee it.

Now, I notice how fast my trash fills up.

I notice how many things are single-use.

I notice how wasteful habits don’t always feel wasteful in the moment — until they’re piled up in a plastic bag on a Thursday night.

I’m not perfect. I still toss things I probably shouldn’t.

I still buy stuff in packaging I know is trash.

But I’ve started asking better questions:

“Could I reuse this?”

“Do I even need this?”

“Is there a less trashy version of this?”

And that alone might just change how I live.

I’ve found that thinking about waste doesn’t make life worse.

It actually makes it feel less messy.

Less reactive.

More conscious.

Even if I’m still figuring it out.

If you’re reading this and you’re also not perfect — cool. Same.

This space isn’t about doing everything right.

It’s just about noticing.

And maybe changing one small thing.

Then another.

And seeing how far that takes you.

Look inside your trash this week, actually.

Don’t change anything. Don’t write a journal about it. Just… notice.

You might be surprised. Or grossed out.

Honestly, probably both.

Either way, you'll see something you haven't seen before.

And that's where it all started for me.

This is my first post, by the way.

I’ll be writing more stuff like this — but not too often (organization isn’t my thing).

But if this made you think, hit subscribe. Preesh.