I'm Feeling like a War on Waste Warrior

Photo taken at Radical Bay on Magnetic Island 

 Clean,  plastic free and rubbish free beaches and oceans like this one at Magnetic Island off the coast of  Townsville in North Queensland  are worth protecting. I have just watched the powerful and thought provoking second episode of the War on Waste series on the ABC and I am feeling quite disturbed by it.  I realise that I am also guilty of committing a few unintentional recycling sins this week, despite my best efforts at the supermarket and in my kitchen to follow the War on Waste rule book. There is a lot to think about, not made any easier by the confusion that still exists for the consumer with some areas of recycling.

When I started blogging, I never intended to use it as a social platform for environmental or political issues, but more  as a means of sharing my love and recipes for simple and healthy food with family and friends. During my daily activities I have been quietly working away in my kitchen and my home trying to reduce my use of plastic, and support the environment in lots of ways as many ordinary people have been. However this is a chance to add my humble voice to those of many who are trying to protect our beaches, waterways and marine life from the ravages of plastic and pollution.

I thought that buying The Odd Bunch of capsicums at Woolworths would be helping the farmers, and reducing food waste as we will use them all in various ways regardless of the size. However I have realised there is another layer to this. The packaging is outsourced by Woolworths to another company, the result being a plastic mesh bag so that the contents can be seen. Is this plastic bag destined for landfill or can it be recycled? There is nothing on it to indicate either way. The solution is probably to reuse it in my vegetable crisper to keep other loose vegetables together as much as that idea doesn't really appeal to me. A string or hemp bag sounds like a much better alternative.

My second mistake was buying a bottle of Mineral water so that I could enjoy a fruit shrub at home as a mixed drink on ice. What was I thinking, of course it is in a plastic bottle? I guess it can be recycled although I can't see any logo indicating that, except that in SA and the NT there is a 10c refund at collection depots in the state it was purchased. Come on Queensland, come on board with this too. In addition, Craig Reucassel, the host of the War on Waste series did some scientific analysis with an expert on tap water against various brands of bottled water and concluded that our clean tap water has as many minerals as most types of bottled water, and that tap water should actually be marketed as mineral water. Okay Craig, no more Bottled mineral water will be coming into my home. However the label on the Sparkling Mineral water bottle says it is is refreshingly bubbly, and hydrates my senses, yeah sure Woolworths. So will tap water.



Meat packaged in plastic trays are a dilemma for recycling, with a lack of consistent labelling laws contusing even the experts at Planet Ark. However whilst Planet Ark has been instrumental in introducing the Australasian Recycling Label, it needs to be compulsory for all products to bear this symbol. Woolworths was the first major supermarket company to adopt this label for it's own brand products however there are still discrepancies.

The following are some of the Australasian Recycling Labels to be found on supermarket products.

If you see this logo on your box of chocolates it can be recycled. Photo made available by Planet Ark.

Photo supplied by Planet Ark

The public including me is still confused at times. The  black plastic trays for some meat  products aren't recycled at the depots, as the recycling depots can't recognise them because they are black and confuse the recycling sorting equipment so they all end up in landfill. Some are labelled with very small labels which are difficult to read, confusing shoppers. These meat trays, often unwashed, were part of the Contaminated recycling issue which convinced China to stop taking our recycling. So now we need to step up. The War on Waste program quoted lots of impressive statistics which I won't try to repeat. However I was really impressed by the number of young people who are actively trying to protect our ocean life in various ways. Turtles, fish and various other sea creatures are suffering from their consumption of our plastic.

The Straw No More campaign is just the tip of the waste iceberg, but yielding results. The War on Waste program highlighted that Schools in Cairns in Far North Queensland are getting rid of straws and drawing attention to the problem. It is mostly straws from Macdonalds fast food chain that are being found in the waterways. It was heart rending to see footage of turtles with straws stuck in their nose, and plastic stuck under their shells which can't be removed as the turtle is encased by their shell. They will probably die from this. Young ambassadors in Cairns and elsewhere are trying to raise awareness of this problem, however the older generation also has the power to activate change.

I watched Q&A on Monday night on the ABC, and one of the points they  emphasised was the power we as the consumer has to force more change in supermarket practices. So I think the next stage for me is to find the Woolworths Facebook page and alert them at least to the meat packaging problem, and the packaging of the Odd Bunch in plastic bags.

Discarded clothing for recycling

I have written enough on this for now, and I am feeling quietly confident that change is on the way and that each individual by changing a few longstanding habits can bring about a reduction in the community's use of plastic. If you have read this but didn't see Tuesday night's program on the War on Waste I hope you do and find it as interesting as I did.

Best wishes

Pauline

Australian Women supporting the War on Waste Movement

It's been a slow but steady week, with us approaching gardening activities early in the morning and late in the afternoon as we prepare the garden for the Summer heat, and also working through all of the numerous and enjoyable things that we do to make our home function as we like it to. Some of my thoughts filtering through all of this though have been about an article I read this week on the War on Waste called Waste not want not, in the October edition of the Australian Women's Weekly. I don't buy many magazines anymore, however I still like to buy this one and read about all of the inspiring things that women, and often younger women are doing in the community. It is still one reliable way of keeping informed about a variety of issues from a woman's perspective.

The AWW article quotes some disturbing statistics which I trust are correct and well researched:-

"In a little more than 60 years, humans have managed to fill the planet with 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic, most of which won't breakdown"
"If we keep up at the current rate, the world will be awash with 12 billion tonnes of plastic by 2050"
"On average, each of us throws away 200 kg of packaging a year".
"We waste 1 in 5 shopping bags of food."
The Australian Women's Weekly, October 2017, p.76-79.

 The  article describes how some warrior like Business women and young Mothers some of whom are also Bloggers are striving for change on a larger scale by empowering women to wage war on waste by changing the way we live.  I also know that many of the brilliant blogs I read by women more of my generation are addressing these very issues as well, and  younger women are proving they can also play a huge and effective  role in this campaign with their young peers. Erin Rhoades, a new mother and online blogger at "The Rogue Ginger" plots her journey online. She raises a couple of interesting and achievable ideas. Erin suggests that we simplify our bathroom routines. Instead of using face wash, body wash and hand wash all in separate plastic containers, she uses one bar of soap. I am working on this idea, which in theory sounds great, however my older skin now requires a much more emollient rich cleanser than it used to so I probably need to research that and make my own enriching soap, something I have been thinking about for a while.

We need to look after our fragile skin in this climate, so a good quality, chemical free and moisturising soap is very important. This is a call to my soap making friends, Ladies, I need a recipe for a good soap, that ticks all the boxes, which I can try. Nanna Chel on her informative blog,
Going Grey and Slightly Green, features a lot of soap making so she may have some ideas. I know there are some good ones that can be purchased as well for those who are more time poor. I feel like rising to the challenge to make my own. Natalie Isaacs was the CEO of a cosmetics company, and launched the 1 Million Women movement, empowering women to change the way we live and rethink our waste expenditure. Leeyong Soo is a sewing and vintage clothing blogger inspiring people to "repurpose clothes". All of these young women have attracted media attention in their quest to change the global waste epidemic.

Just below is a reusable shopping or market bag, again with the Pickling theme, and purchased in California by our friends on holiday. I love it. It's off to the Farmer's Market with this one.

The recycling and disposal of used clothing is now recognised as being a global problem and has become a recurrent theme in any discussion about Global Waste. According to the environmental movement, Greenpeace, and I quote, "the average person buys 60 percent more items of clothing and keeps them for about half as long as they did 15 years ago". I don't think I am average anymore, as I now sew some of my own clothes, and also mend them when needed and use accessories to update them for different occasions when needed. However when I was working it was a different story. I could justify spending much more on clothes.

Mending clothing isn't difficult however it is a skill which unfortunately seems to be disappearing, and is a way of looking after and keeping what we already own. We all have favourite items of clothing and these can be easily mended if the hem comes down, a seam comes apart, or a button falls off. I would happily do this for a friend who doesn't feel able to do it themselves, and help them to learn how to do it at the same time. Many women that I know are now op shopping more for their clothes and are consciously sourcing more ethical brands of clothing. Some real gems can be found in op shops, however you still need to sort through lots of stuff and select carefully, and wash it well when you take it home. I am very careful with synthetics though and during Summer here in the hot subtropics I just don't wear them anyway. Poor quality synthetics have flooded the clothing market, and the discarded items are often shipped to developing countries to presumably solve their problems. We make our problem their problem. These items will eventually become waste. If I buy an item of clothing, I try to buy quality, something I really like, and whilst it might cost a little more, I will wear and cherish it for many years,and mend it when necessary. My paternal Grandmother was a tailoress, my Mum was also a good seamstress and made most of my Dad's shirts, and also sewed a lot of her own clothes and also mine when I was younger. This love of good quality clothing must be in my genes,

 Mr. HRK and I married 40 years ago before recycling, the War on Waste and Climate Change were part of our everyday vocabulary. Now people are calling my type of wedding a zero-waste wedding, ha, ha. I wore my Mother's beautiful full length, embossed ivory satin, 50's style Wedding gown, with a sweetheart neckline. It had to be taken in by a friend who was a tailoress, as I was a Size 8 in those days and I still have the dress packed away  in an acid free box and wrapped in acid free tissue paper. What do I do with it though? I doubt anyone in my family will wear it now, perhaps a museum would like it, or should I sell it on ebay? Orchids were always going to be in my Wedding bouquet so some came from my Mum's plants.

Entering the Church on my Wedding Day in Mum's Wedding Gown which was taken in to fit me 

My concession to having something of my own to wear was buying my own lace edged wedding veil and pearl studded Juliet headpiece which I still adore. The cost of weddings has become exorbitant for young people, so it seems sensible to do a complete turnabout and opt for a zero-waste wedding, like the Rogue Ginger did. There might have been a little waste, but zero-waste was the goal for Erin. However everyone wants their wedding to be beautiful, so it's about compromise.

 Reusable bowl covers with a theme

Anyone who watched the War on waste series on TV recently  couldn't help but be inspired to incorporate more recycling and the removal of plastic into their daily activities. I am working towards achieving a a plastic-free life on a daily basis or at least recycling the plastic I use. I was recently given some great little reusable elasticised plate covers in different sizes , which I now use all the time to cover leftovers in the refrigerator and basically replace Cling Wrap. After washing them in hot soapy water for reuse, I leave them in the drawer next to my remaining roll of Cling Wrap to remind me to use them. Old habits can die hard sometimes. Other things I am doing are asking my butcher to put my meat into a reusable container, the hardest thing being to remember to take it with me, just like the reusable shopping bags. They are left in my car so that I remember them.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and have a great weekend my friends.

Pauline