7. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle - garbage, clothes, building materials and more. Most of us are doing this already, however there may be room for improvement. Check your local council is also following through! Some councils are checking us with cameras and spot checks. Ooh, big brother!
- Reduce- reduce packaging and disposable products which in turn reduces landfill and unnecessary waste. I'm declaring my personal war on plastic- plastic that doesn't biodegrade. After a while of recycling and composting you will find that all that is left in the garbage is clean packaging from mostly food. We have reduced our garbage to 2 small shopping bags per week. So hard to break habits- its shocking to think that for years the shopping bags were used as bin liners and refilled with more clean packaging and then thrown out- non biodegradable bags are banned in our house!
Try refusing that plastic retail bag, unless it is maybe a paper or cardboard bag that is already 100% post consumer. Liberating- carry your own reusable designer shopping bag. These are popping up every where.
- Reuse- get creative, reuse what ever you can eg. egg cartoon taken back to supplier, packaging taken to pre-schools for craft, clothes to the op- shops, op shopping yourself, reusing building materials and so many more.
- Recycle- most councils are onto this. Check out the recycling center at the tip to make sure they are doing the job right. A trip to the local tip with the lovely fragrance of our waste is surely a reality check. The most difficult things to recycle are some plastics and electronic waste (e-waste). Mobile Muster will recycle mobile phones. Some companies will recycle your old computer when you purchase a new one. In the future it will be standard practise and even law to be accountable for waste. These are things we need to ask of our suppliers- do you recycle my old appliance? If you're having trouble recycling some items- check out these websites for help:-
- Have a look at these Functional items - made from such things as recycled PVC billboards and truck inner tubes- you haven't seen anything like it. www.haul.com.au
 Art from recycling - This is fantastic. Art from something that may have been thrown out. I first discovered recycled art when I visited South Africa and found these great little cars made from drink cans and thought instead of a plastic item it was a great option. Also it is supporting local people with inventive ideas to deal with waste.
 Recycled art is on the increase so keep an eye out. Maybe next Christmas reuse old cards, get creative with the tree- build it out of something weird and wonderful, like an old TV aerial.
Important Note: There are a lot of recycling businesses starting up all around the world with the help of Micro Finance.
 This is when small amounts of money is lent to women in developing countries to help them start a business. eg. shopping bags made from old, washed cement bags and handbags made out of tetra drinks containers.
The loaners have found that women repay better than men and the family directly benefits ie. better education and food. Great. |
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Sydney, Australia Campaign 
