We have one Earth. Minimise your Waste.
Addressing the growing waste crisis in Sydney.
At a time where society is becoming increasingly aware of how their actions have an impact on the environment and climate, now is a great time to begin discussing the concept and importance of sustainability.
Growing up, many of us have become accustomed to unknowingly and/or carelessly contributing to the mass accumulation of waste.
We do so without even thinking about it.
It’s Sunday night and your mum has just cooked the family a roast dinner. Beef, veggies, potatoes and gravy. After eating, holding the plate of leftovers, you get told to..
“ …. just wrap it in cling wrap”.
It’s Wednesday morning before school and you’ve once again left your reusable water bottle at home, so you head to the corner store and buy a plastic bottle of water, adding to the collection currently scattered around your room. You think to yourself..
“…. one more water bottle won’t hurt”
It’s a month before your schoolies trip with the girls and you realise you need an outfit for each night out. Rather than wearing clothes you already own you hop on Pretty Little Thing, your favourite online clothing store, thinking..
“…I’m going to treat myself to a few new outfits”
How do these actions contribute to the current waste crisis you may ask.
Well the cling wrap you used on Sunday’s leftovers is manufactured from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which can take up to a thousand years to degrade. That tiny length you used will eventually contaminate the environment and sit in landfill longer than your lifespan. This also applies to those water bottles littering your bedroom floor, as well as most other plastic items you use in your daily life.
And those purchases from Pretty Little Thing? Fast fashion is a major threat to todays current and future environment. Fast Fashion is a term referring to the mass production of low cost, short term, on-trend clothing made from petrochemical textiles which are made from non-renewable fossil fuels. This industry contributes to the major bulk of waste in landfills and carbon emissions.
The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global CO2 emissions each year, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
So what is sustainability? And why is it so important?
Sustainability, in its simplest definition, is the ability for humans to meet their own needs without depleting natural resources for future generations. In order to maintain a sustainable society, communities must be socially responsible and actively participate in focussing on environmental protection and dynamic equilibrium within natural and human ecosystems.
If a society is unsustainable, it will eventually lead to the extinction of many animal species, the depletion of all fossil fuels and irreversible damage to the atmosphere, essentially threatening the existence of every life form on the planet.
By collectively maintaining sustainability on a local and global scale, benefits such as clean air, growth of reliable resources and great water quality will be achieved.
Is Sydney Sustainable?
The simple answer is no.
Although many Sydney citizens believe that our rubbish and landfill processes are effective, studies conducted by the Environment Protection Authority in 2015 and 2018 have estimated that Sydney’s spare landfill capacity is around 2.1 million tonnes per year.
“NSW is the second-highest per-capita producer of waste in the world”
As Sydneys population is estimated to reach 5.8 million by 2030, a study has indicated that we are producing waste at six times the rate of our population growth. This is too much for our three landfill sites to manage correctly. The rejection of our recycling waste by many asian countries has called attention to the fact that as a society we need to focus on minimising our waste and becoming more sustainable.
“Only one third of all plastic packaging waste in Australia is actually recycled”
Although the government needs to step up in addressing the issue, we as a society also need to make a combined effort towards minimising our waste.
How can you minimise your waste?
Minimising your waste and becoming sustainable is definitely easier said than done. But slowly and surely you can take small actions in your everyday life that will have a positive, long lasting effect on our immediate and global environment.
Here are a few small changes you can make to help minimise the current waste crisis in Sydney:
- Don’t litter. Throw rubbish in the bin not on the ground.
- Invest in some reusable carry bags for your groceries and other shopping.
- Purchase a reusable water/beverage bottle.
- Utilise the green, compostable bags you receive in the mail for all of your food waste. Place these in your green bin.
- Focus on buying products that have minimal or recyclable packaging.
- Cut down on your meat consumption.
- Try shopping at local farmers markets where you can find a lot of organic, fresh produce.
- Store food without using plastic items such as cling-wrap and zip-loc bags.
- Buy less clothing, avoid fast fashion companies, and try thrift shopping.
- Be conscious and decrease your water usage.
- Recycle your rubbish correctly.
Make these first steps toward achieving a sustainable household.
Create a sustainable future for your children and their children. Stop the waste crisis in Sydney. Minimise your waste. Go sustainable.
References
Ritz, J. (2016). Social Issues in Sydney: Sustainability. CAPA The Global Education Network. https://capaworld.capa.org/social-issues-in-sydney-sustainability
The Nature Conservancy. (2018). Eight Ways to Reduce Waste. https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/delaware/stories-in-delaware/delaware-eight-ways-to-reduce-waste/
TWI Global. (n.d.). What is Sustainability and why is it so important?. https://www.twi-global.com/technical-knowledge/faqs/faq-what-is-sustainability
Weir, B. (2019). The waste and water crisis facing a growing Sydney. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/what-sydney-is-really-throwing-in-the-rubbish-20190812-p52gae.html
Zhou, N, (2019). Only a third of Australia’s plastic packaging waste gets recycled. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/03/only-a-third-of-australias-plastic-packaging-waste-gets-recycled
