For our 21st year of marriage, Greg and I decided to make some changes in our life.
We aspired, as part of our 2017 New Year’s Resolution, to be more attuned to the environment and aim to respect Earth better. We wanted to minimize our environmental impact and let our kids and grandkids judge us long after we were gone. This is not about being a believer or denier of climate change. It is about doing the right thing.
We have decided to try harder at cutting our waste.
Our conversion was slow going until our reason, our hearts, and our kids pushed us. Today it is no longer an inconvenience; it’s a habit.
We don’t pretend to do or know better than anyone, nor do we despise those who don’t see the point. For us this cause is self-rewarding; we are doing this for our children and grandkids and they can thank us (or not) later. At least they will know that we were thinking about their future and doing what we could.
There are still other things we can do but we think we’ve made a strong start. For whatever it’s worth here are 21+ things (we just keep adding to it) that Greg and I have done for this cause:
- We sold our second car four years ago and we have not missed it. We just plan our travel around one car and we get to spend more time together in and out of the house.
- We avoid single-purpose trips to the shops. We try to make sure our weekly shopping covers all our needs for the week. As we age we prefer to minimise car trips anyway.
- We buy local and use services from within our suburb. This way we don’t travel far for them (hence less petrol) and we support businesses within our community.
- We prefer to buy quality, classic clothes that last longer rather than indulge in cheap fashion. To afford this we just wait for Sales.
- We compost our kitchen scraps in our booming backyard worm farm. As we bury the scraps we can almost hear the fat wriggling worms scream, “Banna peel, banana peel for dinner!” As a result, we produce our own potting and garden soil and we get to see birds coming for feed. Our small, presentable Kmart compost bin on our kitchen bench reminds us to separate compostable items like used tea bags from plain rubbish.
- We have a small veggie garden and have harvested basil, rosemary, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, spring onions, spinach, chili, carrots, bokchoy, parsley, and coriander. Having on-demand produce just a few paces from the kitchen is wonderful.
- We carefully sort out recyclables from rubbish before tossing them in any of our three bins. Even little things like used envelopes, receipts, and toilet rolls get recycled.
- We don’t buy bottled water. We take our own reusable bottles pretty much everywhere. If we forget, we try to make do from public water fountains or wait until we get home. (Seeing the over-use of bottled water in Hanoi turned me off bottled water completely.)
- We don’t throw out leftovers unless they have ‘whiskers’; we have them again or, if suitable, give them to our dogs.
- We empty the vacuum cleaner barrel into the worm farm rather than into the rubbish bin. Dog hair decomposes slowly but eventually becomes part of the earth.
- We minimise use of aircon for heating or cooling. We make do with appropriate clothing, cool drinks and fans. Living in a leafy street and living across a reserve has helped.
- We only buy fruit and veggies in season. We don’t like to encourage fruit and veggie importation or storage which uses up energy that should be conserved.
- We recycle all plastics. Coles and Woolworths have bins for all other plastics not taken by the Council yellow (Recyclables) bin. The list of acceptable plastics is quite broad, so now even used cling-wrap goes to this bin as long as they’re dry and sort of clean.
- We refuse plastic or paper store bags when we shop. We take our own reusable bags. I used to forget them in the car and be too lazy to go back for them. Now I will make the trip back to the car for them or use the trolley or carry loose items in my arms. Good exercise too.
- We minimise the use of plastics to bag fruit and vegetables in the supermarket. It’s a bit tricky to carry unbagged green beans but it can be done.
- We avoid single-use items such as takeaway coffee cups or plastic cutlery. We always have reusable cups for bought drinks in the car. I still have to work on avoiding single-use items like straws or chopsticks.
- We use clothes until they wear out or donate them to Vinnies when our body shape has changed.
- We wash clothes less often. Some, like jeans, can be worn more than once; they just need to be rested.
- We try to use waxed food wrap or reusable covers rather than cling wrap.
- We watch TV shows like the ABC series “War on Waste” and learn new ways to minimise our footprint.
- When elections come around, we look for candidates who seem genuinely concerned about the future of our planet.
- Since we moved to our current home in 2003, we have turfed our plastic Christmas tree for a real one. They’re compostable, more environmentally friendly, and it makes the house smell beautiful. Our dogs like the scented water we fill in its base too.
- More recently, we’ve removed all Christmas trims and decors with any glitter. Glitter is beautiful but diabolical for the environment.
- To replace our 13-year-old car, we bought a Hybrid Toyota Kluger, but only because we couldn’t afford a fully electric car that can carry us, our dogs, and luggage for road trips. It will have to do for now.
- As we are in our 70s we’ve started to cull our stuff and donate them to family and friends who might like them, Vinnies, and the bin in that order. I’ve seen a few instances of stuff of relatives who have passed being sent to the tip. Sometimes it’s because the surviving relatives don’t want them or have little time to spend on clearing their deceased relatives’ property; it’s so much easier to just leave them out in the street and call for a council clean-up. I’ve accepted the fact that stuff that I value doesn’t necessarily mean the same to others. I’m OK with that, so I’ll just try to dispose of them sustainably while I’m around. I dread the thought that my family would see my hoards and nonessential acquisitions after I’m gone. But perhaps I can eavesdrop then. 🙂
Greg thinks we don’t have to shower every day. How about reversing underwear to use a second time or using both sides of the toilet paper? We do have to draw the line sometimes.
As a result, our almost-empty red rubbish bin has fewer contents that go to landfill while our yellow Recyclables bin has more stuff headed for the recycling plant. We still have to try harder on the volume of the latter.
We hope this will inspire some of you. It’s never too late to start. We will try to get better at it, like refusing all single-use items. Maybe soon.
Peace and love,
Greg and Linda
20 July 2017 (original post)
Sydney Australia
