Owning man's best friend (dogs) comes with it several eco-challenges, one of them being the disposal of the waste from the back end of your best mate! In Australia it is estimated almost 1,200 kg of dog poop is produced each day, making up approximately 4% of landfill. This problem is also definitely not only an Australian issue; in the United States of America it is estimated that dogs and cats produce up to 10 million tonnes of waste each year.
Many people, particularly when walking their dog will pick up and dispose of the dog poop in a plastic bag (most likely a plastic bag you get from your grocery shopping). My partner and I used to do the same, however, since switching to re-usable shopping bags (a blog will be on its way shortly on this topic), we needed to find an alternative and went out to find some more eco-friendly ways to dispose of the dog poop. One product we found was the compostable dog waste bag from BioBag (see image below). These bags contain no polyethylene, and are made of a material called Mater-Bi which has cornstarch as the main component. They are 100% compostable and 100% biodegradable, and are fully certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI). The bag is extremely hardy, does not easily tear, and appears to handle getting sprinkled with a bit of rain. It is a great alternative to single-use plastic bags and an easy change to help in the war on plastic! Our next step is to set up a dog poop composter - stay tuned! Fun fact! Volunteers in the city of Montreal in Canada successfully established and maintained a dog poo composting facility in the towns dog run at Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Park from 2005 to 2010 - after a 12 month trial in 2004. During the 12 month trial they estimated the facility helped divert close to 1 tonne of dog poop, 130 kg of sawdust, and 7000 plastic bags from landfill, all whilst producing 770 kg of compost in a single year. These figures are staggering when you consider it is from a single park in a single town in a single year, imagine what could be done if these were established by communities around the globe! For further reading on this trial, check out the paper by Nemiroff & Patterson (2007) here.
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Perth residents are some of the heaviest users of water in the country using approximately 127,000 litres of water per person per year (which equates to just under 350 litres per person per day). Of this, it is estimated that approximately 40% is used purely for irrigation of lawns and gardens. This figure demonstrates the drastic change that could be made to an individual persons water use, purely by changing the garden design and switching to more water wise plants. When moving in to our house one of the first things we did was establish a native garden (see image at the bottom of this blog) and place down good mulch to reduce water loss. We also regularly top up our soil with compost (more on our composting set up in a future blog) to maintain soil quality and water retention. Thankfully my background in conservation and horticulture made selecting the right plants not too much of a tedious task, however, I understand many other people may not be as well placed to select the right plants for their new garden. Thankfully, there are many expects such as nursery hands/gardeners/landscapers that would be more than happy to provide advice, as well as a bunch of online tools available to help out! One such tool is provided by the local Water Corporation website. The tool is a "Waterwise Plant Search", which allows users to key in their area/post code and are subsequently provided with a list of waterwise plants suitable for their area (see image below). It is worth noting that the results provided through this tool also recommend waterwise exotic plants. Many exotic plants can be extremely waterwise and have no noticable impact on native fauna or invade surrounding bushland but again it can be useful to consult experts before planting non-natives. As well as being a great initiative to reduce your water use, a native garden can also help the local wildlife, in particular the avifauna (birds). Many of our native birds in Western Australia are nectarivorous or insectivorous. This means they will utilise a large suite of our native flora in the gardens, whether it is to feed on the nectar directly, or predate on the insects that are attracted to the plants when in flower. Several papers have highlighted this, including the benefit native flora provides for native birds compared to benefits of non-native plants (for a couple of examples see the Daniels & Kilpatrick (2006) paper; and the French et al. (2005) paper).
So if you are keen on saving a few dollars on your next water bill and want to do your bit to help reduce the strain on our freshwater systems and groundwater aquifers, start transitioning to a waterwise native garden today! Plastic pollution is gaining more and more attention within Australia, with a large focus on single use plastics. The problem has become so large that several sources claim by 2050 there will be more plastic in the world's oceans than fish. Whilst this sounds like wild hype, it may not be so far from the truth. A study by Jambeck and co-authors published in Science in 2015 estimated that between 4.8 and 12.7 million metric tonnes of plastic end up in the world's oceans each year. A separate study focused on debris washed up on Australia's coastline, with three quarters of the debris being identified as plastic!
Now while the numbers seem staggering, there are many steps you can do to reduce your reliance on single use plastics. This blog will focus on one of those steps, getting rid of your reliance on cling wrap! Cling wrap/plastic wrap is a large contributor to landfill, not only from households but also small to medium enterprises (SMEs). A study in Australia found that plastic wrap made up approximately 50% of all plastics being sent to landfill by the SMEs. So what can we do? I have recently started using a great new product as an alternative to cling wrap, known as Bees Wax Wraps/Honey Bee Wraps (see pictures below). There are more and more brands popping up providing similar wraps, and they appear to be fundamentally the same. The wraps themselves are made of organic cotton, natural bees wax, jojoba oil, coconut oil and tree resin. To use them you just wrap up the product as you would with cling wrap, and then use the warmth from your hands to help seal the wrap. With a little bit of care these wraps can be re-used over and over and last up to 12 months each (I have had mine for approximately 3 months now and they show very minimal signs of wear if any). To maintain the wraps we just rinse in cold water with a little bit of environmentally friendly/grey-water safe detergent. However, make sure you check the individual suppliers care instructions as they may vary. I certainly give these wraps the tick of approval, and I have found they keep our food crisp and fresh just as long as cling wrap did, if not longer. So get started, become a wrapper today and reduce your impact with this one little step! "In a world where one is often chosen above the other, I think this product is amazing as it strikes a win-win for both people and the environment."
This blog post is a bit of a product placement post highlighting a great product my partner and I came across recently when we were thinking about the amount of waste that was quite literally being flushed down the toilet. The product we came across is the toilet paper called Who Gives a Crap (see image below - our box when it first arrived). This product provides a great number of benefits for the environment, but also for communities around the globe. The product was started when the founders realised that over 2.4 billion people in the world did not have access to a toilet. To help close this gap Who Gives a Crap donate half their profits to non-profit organisations such as Water Aid, working to improve access to water, hygiene, and sanitation in developing countries. According to their website, to date they have donated over $478,500. On top of this win for communities around the globe, the environmental benefit of this product is also astounding. The product is 100% recycled, made using eco-friendly materials including the shipping box (we have found this great for up-cycling!) and packaging, and does not use any chlorine, inks, dyes, or scents. To date they estimate they have saved approximately 30,797 trees, 74 million litres of water, and 5,922 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. From our personal use this is the softest recycled paper we have used (we have tried a few) and a large box of 48 double length rolls (works out to be $1 per roll - 50% of which is donated!) is estimated to last approximately 4 months for two people. The estimate provided by Who Gives a Crap? seems accurate, as we have had our box for approximately 2 months and have gone through just under half the box to date. At the end of the 4 month period another box is automatically sent out and we intend to continue using this product long into the future. If you are interested, head over to their site and check them out! If the price seems a bit out of reach, there are plenty of other recycled toilet paper options at your local shopping centres. Try 'em out and do your bit for the environment! What is Palm Oil and why should you care? Palm oil is produced from the oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis) and is high in saturated fats. The oil palm tree produces fruits in dense bunches with the oil being harvested from both the fruit and the kernel/seed, and can produce fruit for up to 30 years. This allows the oil palm to produce more oil in less space than any other known vegetable oil, making it a potentially highly sustainable oil. Unfortunately, despite the potential, there are many issues with Palm Oil. Demand for palm oil is growing rapidly across the globe, with over 50% of products found in supermarkets containing palm oil, of which the supply often comes from illegal/unsustainable plantations. According to WWF, Indonesia and Malaysia produce 86% of the worlds palm oil, but illegal clearing for palm plantations within both these countries has led to widespread deforestation threatening iconic species such as tigers, elephants, and orangutans. The more I heard about the deforestation and impacts the plantations were having on ecosystems across Asia, the more I wanted to make a change and make a statement as a consumer. When looking for solutions, I found some ways in which you can help is by purchasing products that only use Certified Sustainable Palm Oil, seeking alternative oils, and avoiding products that contain unsustainable palm oil. Palm oil is often hidden in products under different names, such as vegetable oil, Emulsifier E472, Cetyl palmitate, & Palmitoleic acid. A more extensive list can be found here. Unfortunately Palm oil labelling is not mandatory in Australia, however, there is some hope. Palm Oil Investigations have developed an App for both Apple and Android in which you can scan a product's barcode in the store and the app will inform you if Palm oil is in the product and if it has indeed been produced in a sustainable manner. If the item has not been registered within the app it also gives you the option to upload this to the server for further investigation at the click of a button. Even better, the app is completely free! Head over to there site and grab the app and start scanning products! I continually use this app and was surprised to see how many items have been produced with unsustainable palm oil. When scanning items in my local shopping centre, I found unsustainable palm oil in products ranging from shampoo to potato chips. I was pleasantly surprised however, that there were a range of alternative products that were palm oil free or produced with sustainable palm oil. Many people want to be more environmentally conscious at home and reduce the impact they have on the environment but are unsure of where to start. I have gradually been shifting my lifestyle with some extremely simple steps, with many friends and family members now asking me what changes I have made and what products I use. Below is a list of just some of the changes I have made in recent years, and each one will have their own individual blog in the coming weeks with more research and information for each topic.
- Compost your food/green waste - Reducing your meat consumption - Growing your own produce at home, setting up a veggie patch has never been easier! - Planting a native water-wise garden - Purchasing locally grown organic produce - Utilise eco-friendly products (many brands now offer all natural alternatives to the harsh chemicals found in most laundry/cleaning products - many of which are also grey water safe) - Reduce your shower times (Many water regulatory authorities now recommend reducing your shower time to 4 mins or less) - Avoid products with unsustainable Palm Oil - Replace existing shower heads with waterwise shower heads - Using wax paper wraps as an alternative to cling wrap - Purchasing recycled products (e.g. printer paper, toilet paper, kitchen rolls) - Set up a grey water system - Recycle - Use re-usable containers for storing leftover food - Use re-usable coffee cups when purchasing coffee from cafes (many cafes now offer discounts when you bring your own cup - so you save money as well as help reduce your impact on the environment) |
AuthorMy name is Garry and I am extremely passionate about the environment. I have completed my BSc. Conservation and Wildlife Biology with First Class Honours and have worked in the Environment sector since 2009. Archives
October 2019
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Photos used under Creative Commons from Local Food Initiative, mitchell haindfield, everyoneisgone, Montgomery County Planning Commission, Takashi(aes256), ilyayakubovich.com