Being green at home

The more I transition into a zero-waste life, the more I forget how I started. Looking back, my family has always been able to juggle our waste, mum would have the composter, and dad took care of the yellow bin. It was only when I moved out and conducted my own bin audit, that I started to see how much of my waste wasn’t actually red bin waste. With this short talk, I want to give you guys a few tips on how to make a small change in your kitchen and home, and reduce your waste to the point you won’t be emptying your bins daily.

Tips:

1. ???⚫ Three bins and a compost. Set up your bins so you have three to split your red waste, soft plastics, and yellow bin. Have a forth container as a compost bin. Mum uses an ice cream tub in her kitchen, and empties every few days into our bokashi bin downstairs. Once that’s full, we empty that into our compost tumbler, or open compost garden. Soft plastics go back to our supermarkets for REDcycle bins.
   • Brisbane’s best recycling guide for households (pdf)
     
2. ? Goodbye disposable, hello reusable! Once you’ve set up your bin station, you’ll start becoming more aware of what you start to throw away. Using a lot of glad wrap to cover your sambos? Swap it for reusable lunch bags, or cover open food with reusable beeswax wraps.
   • Biome has some great reduce and reuse alternatives
     
3. ? What is it made of? Consider what your products are made out as part of your purchasing decision process. Ideally you want to look for products made out of wood, stainless steel or glass.
   • Plastic dish scrubber // coconut fibre brush
   • Plastic toothbrush // Bamboo toothbrush
   • Plastic loofah // Real loofah
   • Plastic single use cutlery and dishes // Paper plates and wooden cutlery

Pro tip: natural alternatives make your home look prettier than their plastic counterparts!

Anita Vandyke (the author of “A Zero Waste Life in Thirty Days”) didn’t start her zero waste journey to save the planet, but to save money. She had just quit her job and was trying to make ends meet for two people on a single income, forcing her to get creative with her purchases. As she progressed, so was able to learn about the environmental impact of waste, and come to understand they we need to leave a gentler footprint on the planet, because Earth is the only planet we can call home. The first 8 days of the book is about zero waste, and I found this part the most useful.

To recap the three tips that you can start with today are: three bins and a compost. Go for reusable, and what is it made of? Much like Team Earthbots motto “Making the world a better place, 1% at a time”, it’s hard to change everything at once, but if we just focus on the things are within our control, we can make a difference each and every day. Thank you.