Recycling plastic bags

Green newsflash!  You can stop throwing away flexible plastic bags like bread bags, grocery bags, frozen food, pasta and confectionery plastic packaging.  Recycling plastic bags is now possible in Australia.

We all know that hard plastic such as plastic bottles and containers can be recycled through kerbside recycling bins, but until now our household has been putting flexible plastics in the rubbish (meaning off to landfill).

We now gather all soft plastic in a separate bag and take them to our local Coles supermarket to the Redcycle bin located at the front of the store.  From there, the bags are used by Australian recycled plastic manufacturer Replas to make a range of products such as outdoor furniture, bollards and decking.

For those not able to visit Coles, we have asked Redcycle to let us know whether there are other options for non-metro residents to drop off bags.

The greenie ideal is for product manufacturers and distributors to take responsibility for their product throughout its entire lifecycle, including what happens to it at the end of its life.  Redcycle is a true product stewardship model where everyone involved in the life cycle of a product, including the consumer, has a role to play.

Soft plastic bags are a great scourge on our environment, ending up in our waterways and oceans. Alternatively, they are dumped in landfill or transported overseas to be dealt with there (that's another story!).  Recycling plastic bags not only helps reduce the pollution, but it also reduces the need to use precious resources to make virgin plastic.

What types of flexible plastic bags can be recycled?

• ✓ Bread bags
• ✓ Biscuit packets
• ✓ Frozen food bags
• ✓ Rice and pasta Bags
• ✓ Confectionery packets
• ✓ Cereal Box Liners
• ✓ Newspaper wrap
• ✓ Plastic shopping bags
• ✓ Old green bags

Find more info here about Redcycle, an initiative of  Melbourne based consulting and recycling organisation Red Group.

Greenie fact
According to Clean Up Australia, Australians are sending 429,000 soft plastic bags to landfill every hour.  That seems an incredible number!

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Take 3 initiative & single use plastics

Story by Biome's Online Manager:  Some of the Biome team recently attended a screening of the documentary BAG IT, which was promoted by Queensland Conservation and TAKE 3.

We learned how garbage and litter flows from our waterways out to sea and the harm it causes to water birds and sea life as well as our fragile ocean eco systems.

Turtles, who apparently eat everything, are attracted to floating plastic bags because they look like jelly fish.  While, all over the Pacific, albatross chicks are fed junk by their parents who mistake pieces of plastic for food and bring them back to their young. On this diet of human trash, every year thousands of baby birds die from starvation, toxicity, and choking.  Carcases of these birds are found decaying with bits of plastic sitting in their stomach cavities still perfectly in tact.

 

TAKE 3 is “A Clean Beach Initiative” where you are encouraged to take at least 3 pieces of rubbish when you leave the beach, waterway or anywhere. You may not have put the rubbish there but you have the ability to take it away and make a difference. If we participate in this simple act and pass on this message we can help stop the damage our litter is causing to our fragile oceans and waterways.

There is no "away"

The documentary BAG IT is a light hearted look at the effect our addiction to single use packaging has in the world. We saw that although we think we are doing the “right thing” by recycling, most plastics are in fact not recyclable and get filtered into landfill.  Further, a huge amount of our “unwashed” plastics are being shipped to China and India to be processed in deplorable conditons.  Container ships are full when they come here carrying fast moving consumer goods, but they are empty on the return leg.  This makes it an inexpensive prospect to ship our garbage around the world to be processed by cheap labour, starting with sorting the heaps of stinking waste.  

The better solution is clearly to avoid plastics in the first place, or to re-use plastics many times before they are sent to "recycling".

Things you can do

• TAKE 3 - pick up other people's rubbish. We can greatly reduce the amount of marine debris in our oceans by preventing it from getting there in the first place.
• Reduce & re-use - use your reusable shopping bags and Onya Weigh grocery bags instead of plastic bags.
• Take your own container to the grocery store and shop from the Deli for meats and cheeses, or take them to the take-away from where you buy lunch and Friday night Thai. You can use stainless steel lunchboxes or glass containers that are BPA free.  
• Sign a petition to support the introduction of acontainer deposit system in Australia which will significantly increase the recycling rates of glass, plastic and aluminium drink containers. 
• Small plastic caps are not recyclable for many reasons, so although it's hard to believe, the responsible consumers are the ones who throw their plastic caps and lids into the rubbish instead of the recycling bin!  For this reason, try not to buy things with small plastic lids or get creative with them instead of throwing them away. 
• Watch the BAG IT documentary.  Find our where it is screening in Australia hosted by Tim Silverwood or visit the official BAG IT movie site.

 

You know how handmade soap gets all goopey on a soap dish? It’s because the soap sits in water and makes your lovely soap disappear faster. You can make this little soap dish with plastic lids that would usually be thrown away, to keep your soap dry by allowing excess water to drain away faster.

Here's another cool way to reuse your plastic drink bottles and lids. Vertical herb gardens are great for small spaces like balconies. 

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How will you make a difference today?

Here's three ideas ...

Clean up Australia Day sneaks up on us every year--and it is now only 12 days away.  The main day is on Sunday, 4 March; Business Clean Up is 28 February, and Schools on Friday, 2 March.

Why not register for Clean up Australia Day and co-ordinate a group of friends?

Does it seem like forever since you last checked a printed telephone directory?  You can cancel receiving phone books at the official site. You will receive a postcard confirming your cancellation during each book delivery period to your area....

And, don't forget that any old books you do have can go in your household recycling bin.




WWF is asking you to send a letter to the next Queensland Government to help save the Great Barrier Reef.  Every election is an opportunity to help secure commitments from the political contenders.  Queensland votes this March.  Not sure what to say?  WWF has provided a draft letter for you to start with.

They're also asking you to spread the message on Twitter with the hash tag #hanginthereturtles

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Recycling at holiday accommodation

This Easter, join our campaign to get your holiday accommodation to recycle!

Next time you stay at a caravan park, unit or hotel, can you find any mention in the room of separating your recycling?

On a driving holiday from Brisbane to Coffin Bay in South Australia, we've stayed at all manner of accommodation venues.   At nearly every place, there was nothing in the rooms or guest information about what to do with paper, bottles, cans and plastics.  There was generally just one all-in bin in the room.  At each place, we saved our paper and bottles and took them to the reception on checkout.  Most of the hosts were bemused, but happy to take them and promised to put them into the correct recycling.

What worried us, was that many guests would simply put all their rubbish into the one waste bin.  Imagine how much recycling is lost to landfill across all the holiday accommodation in Australia??  Perhaps the venues do separate the waste out the back somewhere - but I'm guessing that would be unlikely, plus it would be too late for paper that had since been mixed up with food scraps in the bin ...

We found only two places that did encourage the guests to separate bottles, and they were small operations in South Australia.  I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that South Australia has a bottle deposit refund scheme? If so, good on the venues for taking advantage of some additional income.  It is interesting how some financial reward is a great incentive -- one that is long overdue in the other States of Australia.

That said, at the "eco-certified" Wilpena Pound Resort in South Australia there was nothing in the rooms about what to do with paper, bottles and cans etc.  Again, just one bin in the room.

So this Easter, how about separating your recycling and taking it to reception on checkout?  And while you're there encourage them to put recycling bins in the rooms or information on where to put the recyclables.

The above picture shows the bottle recycling bins at Southern Blue Apartments, Port Lincoln.  There were bins under the sink in the room as well as outside in the car park.  And on arrival we were asked to recycle - awesome.

Don't forget to take your water bottle and KeepCup on holiday too, so you can reduce the amount of recycling and waste in any case!

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Compost and animal friends love watermelon skin

We had some great suggestions from Biome Facebook fans on what to do with our watermelon rind waste.

Horses and dogs love to eat watermelon skin, along with chickens - who not only love to eat it, but they turn it into eggs as well!


And, composting of course.  Environmentalist David Suzuki says you will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by composting your household waste rather than sending it to landfill.  He says that in Canada “landfills produce the greenhouse equivalent of five million cars”. 


When food, garden waste, nappies, paper and cardboard are disposed of in landfill they decompose anaerobically (without air) and produce methane—which is 21 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon-dioxide. However, the composting process at home does not contribute to methane generation because it takes place close to the surface and oxygen.


The Bokashi composting system is popular for its convenience and because it produces a rich soil fertiliser that does wonders for your plants.  Bokashi microbes "ferment" the scraps without smells, so you can keep the bucket under your sink or in your home.

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Waste diary & BBQ watermelon rind challenge

In the spirit of our waste diary challenge posted last week I undertook a "fridge cleansing", which purged a lot more waste than we normally would generate.  It was time to confront all those disposal dilemnas that I hide away at the back of the fridge.

The fridge clear-out put my compulsion for hoarding relishes and condiments under a harsh spotlight.  So many that I could not recall how long they had been there and that I could no longer face eating.  Getting rid of the contents and rinsing the jars can use a lot of precious water, but we are told by the Council that containers and jars must be clean-ish before putting them into recycling.

Our waste from meal preparation was minimal, just avocado skins, seeds, carrot peelings and the like.  I snuck the end slices of the tomatoes onto sandwiches - breaking my silly habit of throwing out the ends.  Instead of wasting the crusts on the end of bread, I put them in the freezer to use for breadcrumbs later. That tactic does however have a limited life span, as there are few uses for breadcrumbs in my cooking repertoire!

This photo from The Guardian by Tristram Stuart shows three identical Romaine lettuces purchased at the same time and stored for ten days, from left to right 1) at room temperature 2) in the fridge and 3) in a glass of water like cut flowers.  Inspired, I kept herbs in water (refreshed daily) and they stayed fresh much longer. 

Our biggest volume of waste was watermelon rind!  Apparently the white flesh and green skin is used as a vegetable in many Asian countries and contains great vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidants.

I love that you can so easily find recipes on the internet for weird and wonderful ingredients, like:
Watermelon Skin Halwa
Barbequed Watermelon Rind with Sauces
Watermelon Pie from southern USA

Someone has even dedicated a whole site to fill your belly, not landfill with watermelon

The challenge now is to give them a go.  BBQ watermelon rind first...

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Freegans waste not - will you keep a waste diary?

Thank you to the simple living blog Little Eco Footprints for the inspiration for this post.  I love reading about your actions, especially your latest post Saved from the bin where you mentioned the Australian food rescue organisations that save food before it makes it into the bin - Oz Harvest, Foodbank, FareShare, SecondBite. Amazing that blog author, Tricia, then saw an Oz Harvest van pulling up at the Aldi Supermarket across the road from her - that was karma!

It's a topic that can make you feel so powerless on the world scale, but what really matters is each of our individual households.   Apparently, we throw out about one quarter of the food we buy.  That can't be hard to change.

The Guardian in the UK has an insightful feature on 'Freegans' and food waste. This article profiles Freegan campaigner Tristram Stuart and this is an eye-opening photo gallery of foods that are thrown away by stores or left to rot. The below photo shows the result of Marks & Spencer's requirement for its sandwich supplier to discard four slices from each loaf: the crusts and the first slice at either end.  This means 13,000 slices of fresh bread are discarded every day from a single factory...

How much do you throw away in one week?

 
The Guardian asked three people to record what they threw away in one week. I am going to try to keep a diary this week and report back.  That is scary, but it is incentive to be careful about what we buy.   Would anyone else like to keep a record and share it with us in a week or so?

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Top 10 vegan & vegetarian recipe websites we love

Eating less meat and more plants is not only for compassionate and environmental reasons, it is also healthy and great for those trying to trim down a little.  (I have a confession that I am loving The Biggest Loser's Friday Masterclass and they encourage proteins from plant sources!).   I'm loving cooking with my Gastrolux non stick cookware too - no toxic emissions and no oil required!

Here's my top 10 online resources for scrumptious vegetarian and vegan dishes, with favourite recipes picked out for you.

http://bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/e-books/
Four e-books by vegan author Hannah Kaminsky to download for just US$5 each with amazing recipes for ice cream and sweet treats made with no eggs or dairy.    RECIPE PICK *  Buttered popcorn ice cream!  

http://veganfeastkitchen.blogspot.com/
HUGE list of recipes from Bryanna Grogan, author of 8 vegan bookbooks and The Vegan Feast quarterly newsletter.   RECIPE PICK * Marinated tofu that's kinda like fetta
 

http://veganyumyum.com/ Lovely photos to accompany yumyum recipes and helpful "how to" section with how to Supreme an orange, how to slice a mango, etc.
RECIPE PICK * Avocado Wasabi Salad (pictured)  

Martha Goes Green vegetarian cookbook  Independently published in Melbourne, Australia, printed on recycled paper with vegetable inks, with over 50 vegetarian and health conscious recipes.   Available to buy from Biome with all our vegetarian recipe books.  RECIPE PICK * Chocolate Tofu Mousse

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47633560@N00/
Japan and the US have been crazy for Bento boxes long before the "waste-free" lunch box trend hit Australia.  SV Mama is a member of the Flikr Vegan Bento group that has lots of photos of Bento lunches.  Not actual recipes, but lots of ideas to fill up little boxes, like pictured here: Garlic Bread, Ravioli with Marinara Sauce, Pineapple Guavas and Sauteed Brussel Sprouts. Not sure I could get brussel sprouts past the kids!  
 
http://www.kurma.net Cooking with Australian Vegetarian Guru, Kurma Dasa.  Vegetarian and vegan recipes, invite Kurma to cook for you and follow his culinary adventures on his blog.  RECIPE PICK * Barbequed Haloumi with Chargrilled Asparagus and Salsa Verde

http://bokchoybohemia.com/ Everything Vegetarian and Kosher, gloriously humane comfort foods.  
RECIPE PICK * Vegan Thom Kha Tofu soup.   For those of us who usually miss out on this amazing Thai soup.

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/  Won the US Veg News Veggie Awards – Readers Favourite Bog in 2007 and 2009.  Lovely photos and recipes for wholefoods without a lot of processed fat and sugar.  RECIPE PICK * Mini Crustless Tofu Quiches

http://www.backyardbowls.com/acai_bowls.html
Not the exact recipes, but ideas you can try - you just need to track down some Acai pulp!  If you’re everin Santa Barbara, look up Backyard Bowls.  To make Acai bowls they blend the frozen pulp of the Acai berry with fruits and coconut milk into a thick smoothie. Put that blend in a bowl, top it with granola, fresh fruits, Goji berries and honey.
 
http://seitanismymotor.com/
German influenced, so some great gluten-free breads and vegan sausages.  The longest link list of other Vegan food blogs I’ve ever seen.  Learn to make Seitan, which is made from wheat gluten and when cooked looks a lot like meat. RECIPE PICK * Olive and Seitan Sausages

When you go shopping for supplies, don't forget your reusable shopping bag! 

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Replacing throw-away takeaway cups with reusable coffee cups

Are throw-away coffee cups heading for a tipping point like plastic grocery bags and bottled water?

Look in a public rubbish bin on the street and it will most likely be full of coffee cups, plastic bottles and take-away food containers.  Some of this could be recycled if there was such a facility in public places, but landfill is the only option for the plastic-coated paper coffee cups.

We have noticed in the last year a growing realisation that disposable coffee cups can not be recycled.   I was putting coffee cups in our household recycling bin until early 2009 because I did not realise.  The takeaway coffee businesses do need to better inform their customers that the cups can not be put into recycling.

Any local Council serious about reducing the amount of waste going to landfill must also address takeaway coffee cups.  As with disposable plastic water bottles and plastic bags, there seems to be only four choices:

• a ban,
• a tax or levy on the price of the item,
• a container deposit type system (so that the seller has the responsibility for recycling), or
• public education by coffee businesses and government to encourage people to bring their own reusable cup.

Most people would likely prefer the last option.  We're doing our little part at Biome by talking to our customers and finding practical, affordable alternatives.

Keep Cup reusable coffee cup a great Australian invention made from high quality, BPA-free plastics in Australia, with an estimated lifespan of 4 years.  We had great experiences using our Keep Cups over the Summer holidays.  Five of our group had a KeepCup under the tree and the coffee shops we visited were very happy for us to provide our own cups.  We were enjoying the best of our beautiful environment at the beach and it felt so good to be reducing our waste each day.  Some places even offer a discounted price if you bring your own reusable coffee cup.    Great for Mothers Day gifts.

Klean Kanteen insulated bottle with cafe cap - a great innovation from the Klean Kanteen people.  Not only a reusable option, but the double-walled stainless steel insulated cup will keep the contents hot or cold for six hours.  You could use them for coffee, tea, soup or yoghurt.  The bottle comes with a loop cap, but you can purchase a cafe cap to transform your bottle into a sipping mug.

 

Whenever you head out, just remember to grab your reusable coffee mug and your reusable shopping bags.  

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Diverting shower water to the garden in Brisbane

For a small patch of sloping earth, our native garden brings me a disproportionate amount of pleasure. While I wonder how a simple flowering shrub can bring such joy, I suspect most gardeners would be well-acquainted with this emotion – one that keeps us coming back for more digging, planting and fussing.

Several years of occasional efforts have produced a mediocre result in our garden, certainly when compared with others I have seen flourish in the same time. So I called upon Satya the organic gardening expert (and fellow Paddington Green Precinct member). His analysis? A lack of water. That should not have been a surprise given the drought that Brisbane has endured in recent years.

Satya encouraged a revamp of our bathroom water diversion. Our previous attempt failed because the water kept coming back up the pipe into the bathroom. It was simply because the pipe was too narrow for the volume of water Satya said, so he showed me how to fit a larger diameter pipe into the downpipe diverter.

He also discovered a dry white fungus under most of our mulch layer. This was actually stopping any water that did fall from soaking through the mulch into the soil. Fixing this will take a lot of digging the mulch into the soil layer and applying water (from the shower diverter), so that the natural soil organisms are able to go to work and take back their territory. We use minimal soap and only natural shampoo, so our water from the shower is safe for the native plants.

As we investigated some sooty pest problems on the Grevillea bushes, I was fascinated to learn from Satya about a company called Bugs for Bugs that supplies good bugs to eat bad bugs – via mail order! Imagine, to combat red scale in citrus trees you can buy "a cup" of Aphytis wasps (that's 10,000 wasps in a cup!) for $44. Having never heard of this before, just a few days later Bugs for Bugs was mentioned again when discussing organic lettuce growing with a stallholder at the Kelvin Grove Village Markets.

We can also help the garden by using our Bokashi compost bin more often and digging in the compost scraps (the Bokashi micro-organisms turn the scraps into highly enriching soil conditioner).

Forty metres of grey water pipe winding through our yard is not particularly pretty (photo above), but I’m happy. Not only can we enjoy the flowers in passing each morning, we can take extra pleasure from a shower, knowing that the water is on its way to those thirsty plants.

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Continuous loop of Reverse Garbage

We're having a big clear out trying valiantly to stop our home looking like a staging warehouse for the stores. I heard that environmentalists are the worst hoarders because they can not bear to send anything to landfill. That gave me great peace-of-mind about my compulsion. The guilt I feel when I sneak a large plastic kid's toy into the wheelie bin almost buries me. What do you do with a plastic toy piano that is completely broken? Can’t go to the Salvos because it doesn’t work, it has embedded components that can’t be recycled and no plastics recycling symbol.

We can finally be rid of the old printers, computers and faxes in our garage because at Greenfest I found Buyequip, who take it all. Incidentally, does it alarm anyone else that you can buy a fax machine at Officeworks for $95? Break that down into retailer margin (guessing 40% of $95), transport costs to Australia, materials and factory running costs, and it does not leave much for the wages of the people that assembled it. And, when it breaks (quite readily), it costs more to repair than buy a new one. So off it goes to landfill...

Back to the clear out, which reminded me about the wonderful not-for-profit co-operative, Reverse Garbage. They take all manner of industrial discards that people then purchase for schools and other creative endeavours. In my case, it is a continuous loop. I take stuff to Reverse Garbage that in their words is “waste that is too good to waste” and while I am there can’t resist a few must-haves (“I just know those cardboard pipes and plastic discs will be great for a store display one day”). Then, here I am 12 months later, donating those same items back to Reverse Garbage. Of course, I can’t leave without one quick circuit around the shelves - and so it continues.... The photos here are from their website, which also lists what they accept and sell and Eco-art School Holiday workshops. Surely you could find a use for those eyes!

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Saturday morning greens

I was on top of my green game this morning. I asked for my Gloria Jeans latte in a mug, rather than the plastic-coated takeaway cup. Just by sitting for a few minutes to drink from a mug, I saved a cup and lid from landfill! Not only did I remember my reusable bags, I also brought along my Onya weigh reusable fruit & vegetable bags. Is something wrong in my life that I can take such pleasure from placing mandarins into a sack made from nylon mesh? I'm sure anyone who saw the lady at the mandarins with the silly grin must have thought I was lost in the emotions of something much more exciting. I asked the baker to put the bread rolls straight into my own reusable bag and I said 'no' to a receipt.

I was in deep green form, skipping back to my car ... hmm, car ... that popped my bubble of green reverie. Oh well, there is always room for improvement next Saturday.

We'd love to hear your ideas on how to green-up a grocery trip...

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Handbag make-over for an eco-cadet

This is an article I wrote for Peppermint Magazine's launch issue in August 2008.

One tote-sized revolution at a time is enough I say. Faced with the enormity of our planet’s eco-troubles, it would be easy to hide behind the Generals. However, the thrill of victory is contagious, so I have resolved to make a series of small advances. Starting with a green makeover for the handbag that carries me through each battle…oops, day.

Tissues. Every parent needs a wad of these for wiping away green trails from small noses (green is good, but not that type). But where are all the recycled choices? We can make recycled paper for wiping other anatomical parts, so why not tissues? I will have to track down some reusable organic cotton hankies instead.

Lipstick. Thankfully my favourite lippie (Sante Shiny Bronze) is already natural and petrochemical-free. Apparently a woman swallows about 2kg of lipstick in her lifetime, so I was an early convert to making sure that it was tasty jojoba oil and plant waxes.

Reusable bags. I freely admit to a type N.R.M.R.B. personality (never remember my reusable bags). Those oversized celebrity handbags look as though they have about six green bags stuffed into them, but my econo-tote calls for a more compact solution. To the rescue, a good friend designed a nifty Stuffit shopping bag that scrunches up so small I can adopt several for my handbag.

BYO fork. We seem to eat so many meals in the car or on the go (incredibly, Australians do eat more meals outside the home than in) and that can mean a lot of waste. I wince when I throw out a once used utensil or container because there are so few recycling bins in public places. Reviving my Girl Guide motto, I’ll Be Prepared in future with a reusable bamboo plastic fork. Why didn’t I think of that 30 forks ago?

Reusable coffee mug. This eco-message has made it through and I love my slimline SIGG thermos that fits neatly in my bag. An even sweeter reward, some coffee shops give a discount when you B.Y.O. cup.

Wallet. Could it be that in my quest to avoid animal hide, my handbag has been infiltrated by the dastardly PVC? That most toxic of all plastics with the recycle symbol #3? I can’t see a symbol on it so I will have to abstain. Hemp it will need to be, or, one made locally from recycled fabric.

Receipts. Among the miscellaneous paraphernalia, 28 receipts. Possibly enough to make a box of recycled paper tissues. If we could all remember to ask for ‘no receipt please’, surely we could save a rainforest or three.

Car keys. Hmm? I can’t get rid of those unless I get rid of the petrol guzzler they ignite. For that skirmish, this cadet will have to return another day…

With thanks to dear friends for the inspirations in this article.

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