Waste minimisation
Australians produce over 18 million tonnes of waste per year. That's the equivalent of 3 million Cleanaway trucks full of compacted rubbish! And of all this waste each Australian family would contribute enough rubbish to completely fill a three-bedroom house from floor to ceiling.
Our current patterns of production and consumption are not ecologically, socially or environmentally sustainable. By far the most desirable objective is to avoid waste at all costs before it becomes an environmental or human health problem. There are many benefits for us and our environment through reducing the amount of waste we produce:
- It conserves valuable resources
MINERALS - used to make many materials, e.g. bauxite is used to make aluminium
ENERGY - used in mining, harvesting, manufacturing and transporting
NATIVE FORESTS - used to make some types of paper and wood products
PETROLEUM - used to make some plastics and machinery
LANDFILL SITES - the life of existing tips is extended
- It saves money
Cutting waste can save you money in many ways, e.g. if you waste less you get more out of what you buy, Council waste disposal costs are lower so rates may stay lower. Businesses become more efficient, and household budgets stretch further.
- It reduces environmental impact
Fewer areas are affected by resource extraction (e.g. mining), harvesting or solid waste disposal. Less fossil fuel is burnt during production and transport so greenhouse gas emissions and pollution levels are reduced.
The Waste Hierarchy
The waste management hierarchy outlines the actions that governments and communities must prioritise and follow in order to achieve a more sustainable future regarding our waste.
Avoiding, reducing, reusing and recycling are the simple actions that we need to follow for waste minimisation.
Waste Hierarchy Actions to Minimise Waste
Avoid
Avoiding waste altogether is the place to start. Ask yourself - Do I really need this item? and thinking about the waste that it will produce as a result. Avoidance is also about choosing an item that has the least packaging and impact on the environment over one that has more.
Reduce
By far the most important of the four actions is reducing. Reduce means to live more carefully, so that you have less waste producing items and habits in the first place. Consuming products with less waste by-products is the most effective means of minimising waste. Buy less rubbish when you are shopping and become aware of the materials that you are purchasing so that you can minimise the quantity of waste you will discard in the bin. Where you can buy recyclable or reusable packaging, and always make a choice to purchase the product that has the least amount of packaging possible.
Reuse
Reusing means to find a second application for an item so you save buying a new one and save the energy and resources that would have been used to make a new product. It also saves the reused item from ending up at landfill. A lot of our single use household items can be used again for a second function. Repairing is also an important component of reusing. Electrical equipment, books, toys and clothing can often be repaired and reused by the owner, sold, or given to a charity or a second-hand market. Householders can reuse food scraps, garden clippings and leaves in their own backyards by Composting or Worm Farming.
Recycle
Recycling involves collecting and sorting discarded goods so that they can be returned to the manufacturer to be reprocessed into the same or a different functional product. Some materials require a lot of energy and valuable natural resources to produce. Recycling means that these materials can be remade into products with much less impact on the environment than when making them from raw materials. The recyclables collected in each council area are different, depending on local markets and packaging trends, and the companies who will buy and actually recycle the material collected. It is important to check with your local council to find out what may be put in your recycling bin or taken to the landfill to be recycled.
Tips for Smart Shopping and Other Waste Minimising Behaviours
One of the difficulties we all face as consumers is knowing how to identify and to evaluate a product's environmental performance. When it comes to waste all we have to do is take a closer look at what we are purchasing. There are many choices that we can make at the shops to buy less waste that we will end up putting green general waste bin to go to landfill. This not only has environmental benefits, but also saves money because you get more out of what you buy and waste disposal costs are reduced. And of course there are many behavioural changes that we can make. It is important that we move away from the 'throw away' mentality that we have adopted in recent years. With a growing population and pressure to make best use of all our resources, including land space, there is little sense in an argument that promotes using more raw materials while throwing away readily recyclable and reusable materials.
- Give preferences to these waste-conscious features (and let suppliers know you value these features):
- Products designed for extended life (e.g. durable, repairable, don't quickly become outdated, reusable rather than disposable);
- Products made with minimum amounts of material and maximum recycled content;
- Products which are recyclable;
- Products which have waste conscious packaging (e.g. minimum effective amount of packaging material, reusable/refillable, recyclable, made from recycled materials)
- Only buy what you really need and try to buy bulk where you can to save resources and money and hire rather than buy where possible
- Transport and store products in reusable containers, i.e. use bags, boxes or baskets to carry your shopping home, use plastic or glass containers to store products,
- Make more meals at home rather than buying take-away or convenience food OR choose carefully the packaging materials that will also be purchasing
- Repair toys, clothes, appliances and tools rather than discarding and buying new ones, and carry out proper maintenance to ensure maximum life in the first place
- Pass on unwanted, old or used items instead of throwing them away. Remember one mans junk is another mans treasure
- Share equipment, facilities, etc with others to get maximum use - use libraries and book exchanges or swap old books and magazines with friends
- Get the most out of single use items - reuse envelopes and the back of used paper for writing notes and lists on, use refillable bottles for water and juice rather than poppers, use empty bread bags for wrapping school lunches
- Compost or mulch suitable food and garden waste on site or even utilise a worm farm
- Use the local recycling system properly and follow the Council's instructions to avoid contamination and enhance the benefits to the community by recycling
- Prevent accidental littering and ensure your loads are covered, don't leave material where it can blow away or wash into waterways, don't overfill waste containers
- Participate in 'clean up' events and litter prevention activities
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| Tips for minimising waste |
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Links to other websites
- Environment Australia - Waste minimisation tips for consumers
http://www.ea.gov.au/educationconsumers/index.html
- See videos on waste minimisation tips
www.planetark.com.au
