The challenge came about as a sort of New Year's Resolution after we cleaned up the Christmas mess. We were all quite spoilt last year, but the amount of rubbish that we had to dispose of after all the celebrations made me feel physically ill. Not only was there a pile of wrapping paper a mile high and a recycling bin full of the remains of Christmas party drinks, but the amount of packaging on the toys and other gifts and on the food was disgusting! And then there were the cheap gift items that didn't last more than a few days and ended up in the rubbish bin too. All in all, we contributed way too much to landfill for one small family - even after I meticulously removed all cardboard to recycle.
So the very first challenge of the year was to reduce the amount of household waste we produce on a regular basis (Christmas waste challenges are already set for this December! Stay tuned!). This turned out to be the catalyst for a vast number of changes we've made over the last 6 months - changing the way we shop, eat, give, dress and even renovate our home! Because it was such a big month of change, I'm writing it up in two parts - this part will focus on general rubbish.
So, over the month of January, we paid close attention to each and every item that we went to throw in the rubbish bin. We asked - could it, or any part of it be recycled instead - by us, or via the recycling bin? And was there an alternative product that we could use that would produce less waste?
The first question was the best one for the children. They would ask (and still do) whether an item should be recycled or was rubbish each time they went to the bin. We got better at seperating items so that at least part of the packaging could be recycled, and I taped a list of normally disposable items that I could reuse to the inside of the bin cupboard so we could wash them and put them aside - tin cans, plastic bottles and jars in particular.
The second question was my big revelation. I noticed that every single loaf of bread produced a bag and a tag; that the cat food we used produced a decent sized pile of packets; that fruit bought from some places came in ridiculous plastic containers and plastic bags; that tissues and paper hygiene products took up a large amount of bin space; and that sooooo many products that we buy (even the ones we called basics like pasta, plain biscuits and noodles) came with at least a plastic bag if not more rubbish. This made me feel a bit silly that I hadn't noticed before, and a bit angry that even without meaning to, a family produces a huge amount of non-recyclable and non-organic waste.
And then I got creative.
I hunted the web for some ideas and I used the resources I already had and I started to reduce our waste by making better choices in the supermarket and also making nearly everything from scratch. By making my own bread, pasta and biscuits, I not only reduced the waste that we created to a small pile of recyclable products like flour sacks, I was also able to give my family a better quality product for a smaller price. I changed the way I shopped too, choosing to buy a weeks worth of fresh pet mince for the cats instead of the small packets and buying my fruit and veg where it was not packaged (and using my homemade produce bags instead of the plastic ones at the shop).
Plastic bags got the total flick too. We used to use green bags most of the time, but if we forgot and got plastic bags, that was OK as we used the bags as bin liners. We learnt that you actually don't need a bin liner (duh!) and rubbish now goes straight into the household bin and then into the big bin for collection. And if the bin gets a bit dirty? We wash it! So our green bags became essential items and we got much better at taking them with us (because if we don't, we still can't get a plastic bag and therefore have to carry the shopping with no bag which isn't fun!). And as I mentioned, I made some produce bags for the fruit and veg.
We looked at every item we bought, and thought seriously about its packaging. Sometimes we chose to buy with more packaging (money and quality still had to be considered), but often we decided to do without or buy an alternative with less waste.
Paper products got a big overhaul too, but I'm going to discuss those tomorrow.
As I said, it affected our dressing too. We introduced a "one in-one out" policy for clothes which seriously makes you think twice about buying that "bargain" and we started fixing more items if they still had life in them, all in all, less waste from newly purchased products and also from us throwing things out. And the renos? When we decided to renovate the kitchen, we thought of as many ways as possible to avoid throwing things out - before we pulled out the cupboards, we allocated them new jobs in the shed and the greenhouse (which we haven't built yet.....) and before we pulled up the lino, it had new homes set up in the kids cubby and my mum's laundry.
Producing a certain amount of rubbish is, sadly, inevitable, but the amount that we produce is controllable. By changing our ways, we find that most weeks we produce only one small kitchen bins worth of rubbish and a couple of boxes of recycling. This is about 1/4 of what we used to produce. Imagine if everyone in the world reduced their waste production by 75%..........
To be continued
You've just inspired me to keep persisting at making my own bread('not real bread' my kids say!) and reduce our waste. Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck! Our kids were keen to reduce waste so I played that up, but I also make rolls (which they love) and bought a good tin so my bread is square like shop bread. Plus, I stick with white. I figure I win on homemade bread if I style it to suit the kids.
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