10+ easy ways to aim for ZERO WASTE
Each year, New Zealanders send 2.5 million tonnes of rubbish to landfill, more than 1000kg of waste per household. Here’s how you can turn a lot of it into a resource.
The zero waste movement looks at ‘rubbish’ as a resource. But one of the important principles is to create less waste in the first place.
1 Save paper butter wrappers to line cake and cupcake tins, to separate layers of food in the freezer (eg, hamburger patties), and to grease tins. Use old shower curtains: as drop cloths when painting; as covers for outdoor furniture; to catch prunings, which are then easy to carry (or pull) to the compost pile. Cereal bags can be reused for icing cakes, as freezer bags, or for marinating or seasoning meat. 4 Sew reusable, easily washable rubbish bin liners from old raincoats. Make several, so you have a fresh one ready for when you change it. 5 Buy vintage clothing, redesign old garments, buy recycled fabrics for making clothing items, or purchase high quality, sustainable ‘eco’ garments that are made responsibly and will last a long time. Synthetic materials are non-renewable and take years to break down. Polyester is made from plastic, derived from non-renewable petroleum, and can take up to 200 years to decompose. A 2017 report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation found the polyester industry consumes 342 million barrels of oil a year.
6 Swap plastic brushes and sponges for biodegradable options. You can buy compostable bamboo toothbrushes, pot scrapers, bamboo and sisal fibre dish brushes, and coconut fibre scrubbing pads. 7 To prevent toothpaste tubes going into landfill, brush your teeth with a homemade mix containing baking soda (stored in a glass container), or buy toothpaste powder in glass jars. Toothpaste is available in metal tubes (Weleda), which can be recycled. Colgate has paired with TerraCycle so that you can take toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, and floss containers to various dropoff points around the country. Find your local collection point here: www.terracycle. com/en-NZ/brigades/oral-care-brigade 8 Look for and buy from companies that encourage consumers to return their packaging and waste. For example, Resene and Dulux provide a service for customers to return leftover paint and tins for recycling, reuse, or environmentally friendly disposal. Paint is also donated to community groups. Many beauty brands offer rewards for recycling their packaging. M.A.C will swap six empty packaging containers for a free lipstick; Lush will exchange five empty containers for a fresh face mask. 9 Solid shampoo bars mean you avoid a lot of plastic packaging. Here's what you need to know: • it may take time for your hair to get used to cold or hot process soap-based bars;
they use all-natural ingredients and essential oils – every maker has different recipes; soap bars are more alkaline – you may benefit from an acidic rinse, but you probably won't need to buy conditioner. There are also ‘syndet bars,' which use synthetic detergent (Ethique, Lush) – most makers use gentle surfactants, so they have a lower pH, but you'll probably still need a conditioner. 10 Shop at stores that offer refills or bulk food supplies, such as Bin Inn, Bulk Barn, GoodFor, The Source, and local health and organic stores. take jars, bags or containers for refilling; make sure to weigh your container before you fill it; cloth bags are suitable for dry products such as flours, cereals, nuts etc; use washable crayons to write the ingredient on the jar or bag; for meat, supply a container or – if you want to freeze it – long-lasting, reusable silicone freezer bags. Silicone is more inert than plastic, which means it doesn't leach chemicals into food when used for storage. Food grade silicone is free of BPA, BPS, and phthalates. other options for the freezer include airtight stainless steel and tempered glass food storage containers. 11 Use most or all parts of your vegetables: julienne stalks of broccoli and cauliflower and add to homemade coleslaw; add the leaves of kumara and celery, and the green tops of beetroot, carrots, and turnips to salads; the stalks of parsley, coriander, and other herbs, are good for flavouring dishes; The stems of some cut vegetables will regrow if planted. Save the cut-off bottoms of spring onions, and leafy vegetables that grow ‘heads' (eg, Romaine lettuce, bok choy, celery). Plant with the tops just poking above the soil, and they will resprout.