Environmentalist Keeps Garbage Out of Landfills by Keeping it in Her Apartment!

A Hill East woman has a novel way to deal with the mountains of waste going to landfill each day: Just keep it. 

“I was abhorred at the amount of waste people are creating,” Andrea Lee told us. “I felt so guilty every time I had to put a pair of worn out shoes or used tissue in the garbage bin. I knew I had to do something about it. The best part is, I’m actually doing nothing!”

The Cherry Swamp stopped by her rented English basement to better understand her methods. When we arrived, Lee asked, “Is that a Starbucks cup? The lids still aren’t recyclable. Just give it to me, I have a place for it.”

While DC has curbside single stream recycling, compost dropoffs, and regular e-cycling events, there are myriad items that simply cannot be recycled or reused. “I tried giving items away on my local Buy Nothing group, but they banned me after my 17th post about random cables.”

One of Lee’s main targets: Clothing. Fast fashion has a chokehold on our closets, and our planet. Fortunately this woman is doing her part. “I have 90s clothing here somewhere. It’s very fashionable now,” she remarked. “I was in elementary school then, but I can make it work.”

When asked for parting thoughts, Lee told us, “It’s nice to be recognized. In fact, my sister has gotten me on a major A&E reality TV show!”