The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is 80% my fault

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is 80% my fault. Or, at least, it feels that way given how much garbage I throw away. Excessive amounts of PET bottles and conbini food containers, the kind of rubbish that I know is just going to end up going out to sea somehow, makes up most of my rubbish. But how did it come to this?

Usually, I consider myself to be a rather green consumer; I will try to buy unpackaged vegetables at the market and keep my waste to a minimum. I also usually refuse to buy bottled drinks wherever possible, preferring to make my own tea during the winter, or iced coffee in the summer. I would in no way call myself a green warrior, knowing that many of my habits are not as good as they could be, but the way I am currently is a disgrace.

These days I will buy two or three large bottles of juice or green tea from the conbini each day. When I go to buy my daily intake of liquids, it is very hard not to pick up maybe a small bento at the same time, or possibly a salad if I want to trick myself into thinking I'm being healthy. Each time I go, I tell myself it's just this time and that I don't usually do this. I also find that I don't take a cloth bag with me because I'm not really planning on buying anything, so its one or two plastic bags added to the pile each time as well.

The result of this is that by the end of the week my apartment is overflowing with plastic; pet bottles line the wall, tracing a path around the rubbish bins up to the edge of my door. The containers from the food I've bought fill up at least two plastic bags, a tribute to my laziness and lack of willpower. Finally, to top it all off, the bag of bags that I usually keep just in case I need to use a plastic bag has finally grown so big I've moved it into the big cupboard just to hide my shame.

I no longer take my rubbish out to the communal bins in the afternoon, now I sneak out at 1am like a thief just to quickly throw my bags of rubbish in and run away before I'm seen. Sometimes, it takes two or three trips just to get all the pet bottles in there. I can't invite friends around for dinner anymore, just in case they see the horror of how much I consume and vow on the spot never to talk to me again. How did it come to this?

The last few weeks have been very busy for me, being exam season and the hand in date for a lot of projects. As well as this, the heat means I need to drink a lot more than usual and being a true Brit I despise the idea of iced tea outside of fruity flavours, a rarity in Japan yet still a source of another bottle or can. However, I think it really comes down to the convenience of being so wasteful, it is just so easy to accumulate this much rubbish without thinking about it.

Going forwards, I am going to work hard on reducing the amount of plastic I'm using (as well as other types of rubbish). I like to think I don't make much other waste, limiting the use of the aircon wherever possible and only travelling by train rather than car. In some ways, the convenience of Japan makes being eco-friendly an easier activity but in other ways you have to try really hard to be good. And from now on, that is what I'm going to be trying to do.

If I'm lucky, it'll be a week before I'm back to downing family mart orange juice and salads while fanning myself in the sun.