39. Go Bin-free
Could you live like your bin doesn't exist? For this week’s #52climatesolutions, we ask you to try to go bin-free. Level up your Plastic-free July challenge and go bin-free. Here's why and how.
Despite best efforts of waste warriors, it is still a cultural norm in Australia to send waste to landfill. On face value, this seems a good idea – hide all that waste in a hole in the ground a whack a lid of earth on top of it. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Besides, the greenhouse gas emissions relating to household waste are quite small when compared to other factors – the waste sector contributed only c. 2.4% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2019.
But, when it comes to household waste, the problems are more than the emissions they directly produce. Litter created intentionally or inadvertently, causes harm to wildlife and creates pollution. For city folk, household waste collection is dependent on diesel-fuelled trucks. But possibly the greater problem is that waste is a visible symptom of the over-consumption of stuff. Each piece of discarded rubbish relates to a product, whether it be some form of packaging, or a product no longer considered useful. And that consumption of stuff is what feeds the industries that generate the bulk of human-caused GG emissions. In general, the more waste discarded, the larger the ecological footprint likely to be associated with that waste. Australians produce more plastic waste per capita than any other country in the world. Our footprint is LARGE.
That’s why, for this week’s #52climatesolutions, we ask you to try to go bin-free. This involves pretending like your kitchen or bathroom rubbish bins don’t exist. The ease of this solution will depend partly on how much waste you already produce, and the motivation of you and your household to commit to trying to avoid landfill waste. Perhaps you’re already doing plastic-free July, or you’ve tried it before and want to tackle your waste output in a different way? This could be the right challenge to level up your waste reduction.
If you can eliminate food waste (e.g. by composting) then you are likely to be able to switch to a ‘dry-bin’ (when you may not need a plastic bag liner), then see if you can find ways to avoid the other most wasteful items you normally put in the bin. Commonly, these involve food packaging, so it might be worth trying to do your weeks’ shopping at a bulk food store or local market (if open). Try to say ‘no’ to wasteful things too!
Going bin-free will make your house smell nicer. It also makes you conscious of any waste you happen to produce because you’ll have to walk outside to put it in the kerbside bin! This can be a great motivator!
Our family’s move to no bins
Something we’ve not talked about much is that before we shifted to living waste-free,
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