Waste Showdown: Vote on the 16 most wasteful things in your life

You turn off the water while brushing your teeth and flick off the light when you leave a room—“aren’t I being green enough?” you ask yourself. Well, you’re definitely making a valiant effort. But there are still some sneaky wasteful items that rear their ugly heads in your everyday life, despite your best efforts.

BC Hydro has taken it upon themselves to uncover these items in their Waste Showdown, and they need your help. Last week, they looked at 32 of the most wasteful things, you voted, and they’ve arrived at the Sweet 16. Now they need your votes again—you can vote here!

Here’s a quick recap of the first round:

• Single-use grocery bags are definitely a no-no
• There was a close battle between screen time competitors, with leaving the TV for your pet just slightly edging out watching the holiday fire log non-stop
• Having a second fridge was a clear winner, beating out incandescent light without contest
• Perhaps, most surprisingly, voters felt that driving around to try and get your baby to sleep wasn’t nearly as wasteful as a solo commute to the office—even though the latter is clearly a more committed offense

padu_foto / Shutterstock

With that in mind, we’ll leave it to you, the voters, in the next round to see which wasteful item is the winner (or in this case, loser). Here are the Sweet 16 matchups:

• TV left on for pets vs. game console left on
• Upgrade phone every year vs. desktop computer
• Long, hot showers vs. drafty doors and windows
• Second fridge vs. heat left on overnight
• Solo commutes to the office vs. non-recyclable batteries
• Bottled water vs. Using the drive-through
• Plastic grocery bags vs. Paper coffee cups and sleeves
• Disposable mops and cleaning cloths vs. recyclables put in garbage

silabob / Shutterstock

Ready to vote? Head over here to cast your ballot in the Sweet 16 round. You can also look for updates on Twitter @PowerSmartBC and join in the fun yourself using #WasteShowdown. Stay tuned for the Elite 8—which wasteful battles will be the closest? Find out next week!

Have your say—get voting!