War on Waste

[Viridianne]

Have you been following ABC’s War on Waste? If not, it’s worth checking it out on ABC iView.

It was very eye opening on how much waste we Australians produce.

I grew up in a developing nation where the majority of the nation live on less than $2 a day so it’s often very difficult to see the food we waste here. My brother now runs an NGO there and I had the pleasure to visit one of the landfill villages (it's a health hazard for kids to grow there, but the parents scrape up what they can find to sell). Imagine the wastage on planes! Though I’m happy to know Qantas is onboard OzHarvest as a food donor.

I think the challenge for many of us is effort in maintaining the sorting to ensure the materials go into the right bins, the lack of information on recylable materials, and the lack of planning when we go grocery shopping.

I admit I’m no longer as avid in recycling and reducing waste as I used to be (I did a university project on the topic of community gardens and ugly veggies/fruits) so this was a great wake up call to get back into the grind.

I’m a huge supporter of Woolies’ Odd Bunch (similar to Intermarché FR’s ugly fruit/veggie initiative) and I believe more can be done by Woolies to promote the initiative. For example by giving the Odd Bunch more aisle space or, as Craig Reucassel suggested, by placing the Odd Bunch alongside the ‘normal’ ones. I swap bananas with colleagues because they don't like spotty ones!

At the last company meeting it was announced we’re getting our own KeepCups.

What do you think? Are you converting to KeepCups and BYO shopping bags?

 

[Deleted member]

We have been conditioned over many years to accept that vegetables need to be a certain size and shape. And that plastic and paper cups are ok.
I remember when you took a string bag to go shopping. But we didn't have supermarkets either.
I still remember the Green grocer van coming through our street, and even the fishmonger, and butcher van.
Bread and milk were drovers daily and if you needed extra , there was a corner store, baker, butcher etc. ...... now Coles and woo lies talk about home deliveries, yet it was their vey actions that drove those kinds of businesses to the wall in the first place.

 

[serfty]

Odd bunch good - and a surprisingly large discount.

Use a plunger for my coffee at a cost of 40c. (don't desire $3+ for a long black.)

I save/keep all the shopping bags I can as they are so useful for travel.

 

[Viridianne]

I still remember the Green grocer van coming through our street, and even the fishmonger, and butcher van.
Bread and milk were drovers daily and if you needed extra , there was a corner store, baker, butcher etc. ......

I like how these small businesses still exist in Europe, especially in the smaller towns where there's no giant supermarkets. There's something fun about going to the market on a weekend morning, supporting local producers. Or even biking though town and catching a whiff of freshly baked bread :mrgreen:

 

[LadyC]

I have a keep cup I use at work. We have two Labradors and a worm farm so very little food gets wasted. I try and buy seasonally to get cheaper produce - mainly shop at the local market but definitely buy the odd bunch if at woolworths. We stopped eating a lot of processed food a few years ago and noticed our waste decreased significantly.

 

[Viridianne]

We have two Labradors and a worm farm so very little food gets wasted.

I would love to have a dog and composting system. That dream ended when mum hacked the backyard garden and installed a court, and I may be moving to an apartment soon. Perhaps I could get into balcony gardening – herbs are often disposed of because we can't get through it fast enough, plus it'd be sustainable to grow them in pots and use when needed (and economical).

 

[Deleted member]

I like how these small businesses still exist in Europe, especially in the smaller towns where there's no giant supermarkets. There's something fun about going to the market on a weekend morning, supporting local producers. Or even biking though town and catching a whiff of freshly baked bread :mrgreen:

I enjoyed the market days in Beaune and Meursault when we were in Burgundy recently, and of course the morning visit to the boulangerie for my bread and croissant in the mornings.
I yearn for the simple life.

 

[LadyC]

I would love to have a dog and composting system. That dream ended when mum hacked the backyard garden and installed a court, and I may be moving to an apartment soon. Perhaps I could get into balcony gardening – herbs are often disposed of because we can't get through it fast enough, plus it'd be sustainable to grow them in pots and use when needed (and economical).

You can definitely grow a lot in pots in a courtyard and on balconies, not just herbs but salad leaves, baby tomatoes, chilli plants just to start. You can also get little composting systems such as bokashi bins for inner city.

 

[neil37]

What a great series this was! Thought-provoking and, judging by this thread, influential, at least in the short term.

 

[AnnaB]

What struck me was the waste that occurred before it even hit the shelves! I dont care if my bananas are too short or bruised fruit.

There was no waste in my household when I grew up, it was a small struggling family and I learnt to make use of absolutely everything. Even when things are garbage to most others I can still find a use of it, and I am not only talking about food.
One thing that hit me when I moved here was the buy-and-throw mentality. Second hand barely existed and people would throw out things that were still new to me.

I have been using reusable bags for years and I am the one going for the discounted veggies first. The only thing I dont really do is grow my own, but where I live I have to use so much water its not making any sense when I do not need as much.

A real great series it was!

 

[Pushka]

It was interesting. Growing food does use so much water. But I won't buy bruised fruit or brown skin bananas. Shape/size doesn't matter so much.

I just hate all the packaging. It's an example when you move - so many boxes so cannot imagine supermarket waste. Plastic bags are banned in SA but that just gives supermarkets a licence to charge for them. I could never figure that charging was therefore ok.

 

[Denali]

We recycle rubbish, packing ect and water.

What I can do better is use the cloth shopping bags I have in my car but never remember. On Saturday I got about 8 plastic bags with my shopping, which I didnt need as I have the cloth bags in my car. Times this by every week, maybe a special shop during the week and thats a lot of plastic bags.

Pet hate is cigarette filters. See them all the time when diving, lots of rubbish in the ocean that most dont think about.

Store packaging can be done better. Ive seen a single sweet potato foam plate & plastic wrapped. Why?

 

[AisleSeat]

I would love to have a dog and composting system.

I read this sentence completely wrong....

I use a keep cup everyday. I try not to use paper cups/plastic water bottles, except where its unavoidable (ie. airplanes, on holiday where tap water isn't safe)
I started keeping track of paper coffee cups/plastic water bottles back in 2012 and made a spreadsheet.
In 2012 I was at 13/20. In 2016 I was 5/2. Getting there.

 

[Viridianne]

I read this sentence completely wrong....

A dog can be a waste manager