I chose the topic of consumerism and waste and mentioned this to my parents. They made a comment about the amount of waste next to our house that was caused by our neighbours, who tend to just throw things away instead of trying to fix them. Unfortunately, they didn't get a photo before the garbage truck came, but there was a Keurig coffee machine next to bin of "compost" (filled with plastic garbage bags). The machine looked basically brand new, so my dad picked it up and took it into the garage. He did a small amount of research and managed to fix the problem and went to return it to our neighbours. However, when he got there, they explained that they had already bought a new machine and no longer needed the old one. Their household consists of a younger couple, their two kids and two grandparents.
After hearing this, I got upset and decided to have a conversation with my neighbours. When I went over there and explained why I was there, they were not very happy to see me. I explained my stance and mentioned that as they carelessly throw away their trash in the compost and disregard broken products, they are significantly contributing to the problem of todays "throw away" society. In the end, they told me that they would be more mindful of their waste, recycling and compost and the proper bin that it goes in. I was happy to hear this, but unfortunately they are not the only people like this as it has become a societal norm.
Photo Credit: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/do-you-need-compostable-bags/