Handy Hints for Reducing your Waste
Recycling makes us all feel good about our attempts to live more sustainably. We know that our efforts of putting that bottle in the yellow bin rather than the red bin meant we single-handedly prevented something from rotting away in a landfill. But there is so much more we can do! Recycling is good, but it’s pretty low in the hierarchy of how to save our resources. As is the case with most things in life – prevention is the best method. Through smart shopping and living, we can make a start at this. Minimisation and reuse are things we can all do to reduce the amount of waste we put back into the earth. So, let’s make a start shall we?
The Basics
- Wherever possible, grow it or do it yourself: homegrown veges and homemade chutneys, pesto, sauces, baking, pies etc. etc. usually require no, or only reusable packaging. And without all those preservatives and colours, it’ll taste better and improve your health.
- Avoid excess packaging! Do you really need your prunes individually wrapped? If you want snack sized portions buy in bulk and use reusable containers in your lunch-box. Good for the waistline, good for the waste-line. Or go for products packaged in recyclable products – beware of the plastic film!
- Don’t just throw things away – reuse! And if you can’t, give it to someone who can. Freecycle it (http://www.zoove.co.nz/), or drop it off at the Ecodrops – see this website for your nearest one: http://www.ecocentral.co.nz/services/ecodrop/find-an-ecodrop
- Avoid one use or disposable items. Buying things that last are beneficial environmentally and for your pocket in the long run!
- Go for products, shops and companies that have an environmentally friendly ethos. While big companies may attempt to green-wash you with their claims of sustainability, stick to the local organisations and those with certification.
- Look for products where parts (such as batteries) can be replaced. Many companies now build obsolescence into their products – do your homework and avoid these items. It’ll save you money in the long run too.
- If something you need to buy comes with an excess of packaging there are several options: you can remove the packaging and leave it in the store; you can send it back to the company with a letter of protest; or you can nominate it in the annual Unpackit Awards at http://www.unpackit.org.nz/
On Campus
Save the trees!
- Limit your printing – stick to reading online and internet resources. These are a great resource and can easily be read on your computer rather then having them all printed out.
- Save money on course readers and view them online instead, or print only the essays/articles you need for your research.
- If you do need to print, make sure it’s double sided!
- Check before you dispose of paper in the recycling bin to see whether it’s been printed single sided, and then use it for scrap paper before you recycle it.
- Check with your lecturer/tutor whether you can submit your essays electronically.
- Unless your course/department specifies that essays must be printed single-sided, assume that double-sided is fine.
Food and Drink
- Flash new reusable New Zealand-made coffee cups are coming to campus soon. Pick one up to save some resources with your morning coffee!
- Avoid buying bottled water – use a reusable bottle and take advantage of the drinking fountains on campus.
- Rather than buying food on campus and creating packaging, bring leftovers or whatever else is in the fridge in a reusable container.
- If you are buying your lunch, consider taking a reusable container to the café so as to avoid unnecessary bags. The reusable containers used at Spice Traders are particularly useful for this.
- Say no to polystyrene – and if you do find a café, caterer, or water-cooler on campus using it, please email sharon.mciver@canterbury.ac.nz
At Home
Kitting out the flat
- Buy second hand furniture. The ecoshop is super handy – located at 191 Blenheim Road, it’s definitely worth a visit, as well as your local Sally Army shop (the closest furniture store is on Poulsen St. in Addington).
- Hire the big appliances you need – no maintenance worries and it means you can get the new environmentally friendly appliances for pretty small weekly payments.
- Have a recycling and organics system set up at home – you will (hopefully) already have the CCC’s red, yellow, and green wheelie bins, so get 3 buckets in the same colours and you’ve got yourself a handy indoor recycling system!
- If you have a garden, leftover food scraps (apart from meat, fish and dairy scraps, unless it’s a Bokashi system) are great for composting. Set up a home compost system, Bokashi system or a worm farm. For more info see: http://resources.ccc.govt.nz/files/AGuideToGardenComposting-docs.pdf
- Grass clippings need not be thrown away. When you eventually get round to cutting your lawn because the landlord’s coming round for a flat inspection – the clippings can be used as mulch on the grass itself to save the need to water it and keep it looking nice and green!
- No circulars! As exciting as those Warehouse catalogues are, save the trees and say no to circulars with a sticker or message on the mailbox.
Food Shopping
- Local farmers’ markets are great for your fruit and vege needs – these save fossil fuels in transport, help your local farmer, enable you to bring your own bags, are super fresh and grown seasonally. The closest is Riccarton Bush Farmers’ Market, open Saturdays, 9am-12noon (all year) and Wednesdays, 4-7pm (November to April)
- Use bulk bins stores whenever possible – you can take your own containers, have them weighed when you enter the store, and they’ll take that weight off your final purchase – it even saves on mess in your cupboards! Most organic stores such as Piko have bulk bins and are happy to weigh your containers, whilst Bin Inn is a packaging free paradise.
- If shopping at the supermarkets you can still reduce packaging by buying from the bulk bins.
- To serve your carnivorous tendencies head to your local butcher with your own containers – again this helps local businesses and enables you to remove those awful polystyrene/plastic meat trays from your bins
- BYO bags – carry a reusable shopping bag with you so you don’t need to use the plastic ones when doing your groceries. There are a lot of funky designs now available so you can feel smug and styley at the checkout.
- Sales people in all shops tend to push plastic bags on you when you’ve only got a few items. Think about if you really need a plastic bag!
- And of course the most important part of your weekly food and beverage shop: Saturday night’s refreshments. How about buying it in reusable riggers/swappa-crates, or brewing your own instead? BrewSoc on campus can help you get started or there are a number of stores dedicated to home-brewing.
- Buy environmentally friendly loo paper! WWF, Greenpeace and the Green Party investigated the true eco-nature of our toilet paper suppliers. Through this they found out that 1 in 4 products in this market are produced at the expense of Indonesian rainforests. The ones to avoid are in the red zone on this list: http://assets.wwf.org.nz/downloads/63990_toilet_paper_guide_a4_aug_2011_approved_and_final.pdf
Fashion Savvy
- The best way to be an ethical shopper on the fashion front is to buy it second-hand. It’s already in circulation, the profits often go to a charity, and what better way to honour that sweatshop worker than by ensuring that each item gets its maximum wearage. Besides, op shops are full of hidden bargain-priced treasures!
- With a sewing kit and a bit of imagination it’s easy to repurpose old or second-hand clothing and make it into something uber-original and funky.
- Although this generally goes without saying, when buying new, avoid lycra and spandex. These fabrics are made from synthetic materials, as are polyester, acrylic and nylon, all of which are not biodegradable. Instead go for (organic) cotton, hemp, and wool wherever possible (unless of course you have ethical reasons for avoiding animal fibres – then try and make your man-made’s second-hand).