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Zero waste: personal and community

Zero waste: personal and community

There is a lot of talk around sustainability and reducing waste.

But with sustainability being such a large topic to tackle and with so much information, where does one even begin?

There is no question that the War on Waste series did a great job to help us become more aware of the waste we produce and how to reduce it.

However, I see people still wondering “Where and how do I even start? With companies producing so much waste, can I even make a difference?”

With the average person producing 136kg of plastic waste alone, the answer is “yes, you can”. A good place to start is taking responsibility for the waste we produce individually and then send a strong message to companies on what we want to see from them as consumers, by voicing our concerns and voting with our dollars.

We can also show our local and state governments what we want to see happening in our communities, by voicing our needs or through state funded projects, like choosing environmental community projects on PickMyProject.

The Southbank Sustainability Group has submitted two projects to make Southbank more sustainable and bring more much-needed green space in our community, which need your votes to make them a reality.

Go to pickmyproject.vic.gov.au and find “Inner City B&B BeeHotels” and “Greenify Undercroft Concrete Dead Spaces”.

Votes close on September 17 and we could really use everyone’s support through this simple voting process.

How to reduce your landfill waste through the zero waste philosophy? A zero waste way of living started from Bea Johnson (see her TEDx talk, or her blog https://zerowastehome.com/tips), as a way to reduce the waste we produce individually and so reduce our impact on the environment.

Her family of four now produces half a mason jar of landfill waste per year, which as a slow-paced zero waster myself, I can tell you it’s much easier than it looks.

We can make a huge difference just by being more aware of our impact and how we consume.

The FiveRs to follow to reduce your landfill waste are: Refuse: what you do not need, like freebies and plastic packaging; Reduce: what you do need; Reuse: what you consume, like using a KeepCup or a water bottle; Recycle: what you cannot refuse, reduce or reuse; and Rot: i.e. compost the rest.

We’re hosting a free Zero Waste Basics talk on Saturday, September 22, at 10.30am at the Boyd Community Hub with practical solutions in Melbourne if you want to come and learn more.  

Artemis Pattichi Southbank Sustainability Group

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