Why Australia's Recyling Crisis is a Good Thing
Australia's recycling crisis is a good thing.
It's sending us backwards, a new kind of progression. It's raising important dialogue about issues we've been ignoring. And it's changing our habits.
When we were kids, Mum sent us to school with our lunch in paper bags (not plastic lined cheap K-Mart lunch boxes emblazoned with Disney characters) and we drank water out of the school taps (not fancy water bottles or worse, plastic ones). We weren't poor, and we weren't unusual - that's what everyone did. And then - progress. Somehow we were sold the idea that packagings and plastics were more convenient, hygenic and somehow cool.
But now, we're facing a crisis. Asia recently closed it's doors to Australia's waste partly due to the fact most of it is contaminated because we don't recycle properly. And so local councils are currently paying to send recycling to landfill. The suprise to me is the uproar against it - not that we should be sending it to China, but that we have to do something about it, and that something can start with us. The power is in the people. Facebook groups are springing up in every town, brimming with advice on what to do with our waste and how we can avoid it in the first place.
The idea now is to NOT recycle, but to refuse packaging in the first place.
Businesses are offering the choice to take away their food in plastic containers, whereas not so long ago they'd refuse because of 'health regulations'. People are demanding such choices.
And so we go back to the past, eschewing plastics in favour of the jars we already have, and where we can refill them with what we need rather than buying them in triple layers of single use plastics.
Coincidentally, three wholefoods shops have opened up in my local area. The old one, run by a co-operative, shut down last year, after some thirty years of business. The new ones are booming - packed with everyone from mothers to grandmothers to young students bringing in all kinds of jars to fill with soaps, detergents, grains, pastas, flours and teas.
Whilst it may be a tad more pricey for some items, others work out the same or cheaper. It also depends on the wholefoods you go to. One also must check if they are legit.. one company apparently just opens a lot of plastic bags to stock their 'bulk' sweets counter. As usual, it pays to ask and do research.
I am very aware of my privilege as I write this - not everyone has the means to spend a few cents more on saving the Earth, and thats indicative of a larger social issue. I wonder if mainstream supermarkets will decide to go down this route to cater for growing demand. Somehow I am skeptical. There is also the problem of whether people prioritise the environment over the convenience of the local supermarket and its packaging, and being lured by marketing strategies.
I don't mind the supposed inconvenience of less packaging. It is all about routine. As soon as something runs out, or gets close to, the container goes in a basket by the door or I write a note on a fresh jar (mostly used coconut oil jars and other glass vessels) or on a list (paper bags are an option) ready for me to simply throw the basket in the car and take it to wholefoods. Too easy.
The best thing to my weekly wholefoods shop? Fair trade, organic, dark chocolate. By the scoopful.
Do you buy food in bulk, sans packaging?
How do your countries manage waste?
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Ah man, the problem is coming to light here too. Canada is having the same issue with plastic going to landfill rather than being recycled. Hopefully there will soon become more bulk buying options here too. It's not caught on as norm yet though. It's nice your city has got up to speed already! Mmmmm, always fairtrade organic chocolate 😊
Open up a wholefoods with a yoga studio above it!!!
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My lifelong dream. Only with Aikido, not yoga (better yet, both!)
Totally agree. I grew up being taught about the importance of recycling and I feel like people use it as an excuse to 'feel good about themselves' but the system is now broken. There is too much of it, we don't bother to recycle properly and what's sold as recyclable just isn't. We've seen a similar start to bulk shops here in England but everyone thinks they are expensive, and well, they are. But their popularity should rise and people who can afford the privilege, use them. My opinion of recycling is to just use less and recycle less, where you can.
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Exactly. I think people might be suprised at cost though... depends where you go. One of ours overprices but the other is reasonable. The more demand for them, the more reasonable the prices might be. I would rather it was cheaper, but Im prepared to pay a bit extra because it matters to me. I can understand why people cant though.
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I've heard a local wholefoods store advertising on local radio here on Hobart, but have not yet had (made) time to check them out. Currently my empty jars are repurposed by a local florist, so they don't wind up in glass stockpiles or landfill.
We're also able to send our milk and soft drink bottle lids off for re-use - https://steemit.com/actnearn/@sparkesy43/when-saving-the-environment-can-change-a-child-s-life
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It's definitely worth checking them out - it's a good thing to do. It seems a hassle to start with then once you get used to it it's a far more rewarding shop! Commented on your post - I've heard of that project before and if we havne't got it started at work yet we might get onto it soon.
I think my daughter would love it. She's happiest when she's "helping" so anything like that is a bit hands-on would be appealing.
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My country is totally a garbage bin for all waste in the world 😂😂 while the massive campaigns against plastic also supported by the government.. still plastic manufactures exist. While I do my best to bring my own shopping bag and sometimes my own food containers anywhere, some people still show funny face and what makes me LOL is a friend I know who talks about saving the earth and green living, still use many plastic bags when she brought things to my house😂😂
I still use plastic sheet as a layer to dry my sweetened bilimbi, can't use banana leaves because it will change the taste. But I agree with you.. the simple thing we can do is to refuse the plastic overruled our life.
We've been at the point where the yellow bin gets much fuller than the red one for a long time now. I wish they picked up the recycling every week instead of once a fortnight.
#teamaustralia
Yeah its a wind up!!!
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I go nuts with all this wasteful packaging, plastic everywhere, and this stuff never goes away. I have been re-using and re-purposing stuff all my life. Almost every piece of furniture in my home was refinished and reused. I never go any where without my cloth sacks, NO PLASTIC PLEASE. I am fortunate enough to have my own well water, I drink from the tap, not a plastic bottle. I could go on and on. I never would buy those lunch boxes, my kids didn't like the paper bags for their lunch, not cool enough. But now that they are grown, they get it. They know now why mom did what she did.
Good on YOU!! Yeah they always get it when they grow up lol.. my son is even more militant than me now!!! Re use, or refuse is far better a motto. And when we were kids we never had fancy water bottles.. we had taps!! You are lucky you have your own well water... how precious!!!
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Oh for sure, having clean water is key to life. without water and food resources we are cooked.
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nice boots and thumbnail!!
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Haha!! My boots are made for walkin'... 🎵🎵🎵
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I prefer to buy in bulk. I think I will even switch to loose tea since I read that the tea bags shed micro plastic.
But here’s my problem. About the only places that sell in bulk around here are places like Whole Food. Unfortunately their prices are so much higher than where we usually shop, I can’t justify shopping there.
I know right!! Some are sooo pricey. The one we shop at is really reasonable, so I dont mind. We worked out pricing for most things... say black rice would cost me 50 cents more than the supermarket, but i dont mind that. Oh yeah tea!! We switched to looseleaf too.
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Yep! That's a big one! Forget about the recycling just REFUSE all those plastics and packaging!