My last blog for GO Green highlighted the great steps some of the supermarket chains are undertaking to reduce their footprint, including the phasing out of single-use plastic bags. Although its a great step, personally as a consumer I say why wait? Start using re-usable bags today and initiate the change. The same can be said for the amount of plastic still used in the fruit and veg department, not only shrink wrapped fruit and veg but also the rolls of plastic produce bags they have throughout the department.
This blog is just a quick highlight of a great product I came across and regularly use, Ever-Eco Reusable Produce Bags. Now these bags are not "plastic-free" however, they are made from recycled plastic bottles, providing an extremely useful product from what otherwise may have ended up in landfill. The bags are extremely lightweight (less than 2 g) so you don't need to worry about it impacting on the cost of the veggies when they go on the scale! Despite the lightweight, they are extremely strong, with the product advertised as being able to store 16 oranges. On our recent shop we had no problem putting in 1.5 kg of snow peas. Below are some of the great selling points/benefits of the bag:
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So last month some exciting news broke with the announcement that both Coles and Woolworths would ban the single-use plastic bag and instead, offer customers the alternative of re-usable bags. The plan appears to be a phase out of the bag across the next 12 months which gives customers the chance to adjust and prepare for the change. Many people have already taken the step of using re-usable bags, but it is great to see now, because of the supermarket chains stepping up to tackle the war on waste, everyone will have to follow suit.
Now with this blog I wanted to highlight some of the other steps supermarket chains have been taking to help reduce their impact on the environment through waste, many of which are lesser known to the average consumer. One great initiative provided by both Coles and Woolworths is the opportunity to recycle "soft" plastics, which until recently would go straight to landfill with no other option. "Soft" plastics include empty bread, cereal and frozen food bags, plastic and reusable shopping bags. Both of the major supermarket chains have partnered with RedCycle, with many stores now having drop off bins (see image below) for customers to place the "soft" plastics in for recycling. Through Coles alone in 2016 over 299 tonnes of "soft" plastics were returned by customers! To find your nearest store that offers the drop off bins head over to the RedCycle store locator site. Another great initiative adopted by Coles is the changing of the materials used to produced meat packaging. Since 2014 Coles has adopted the Plantic eco Plastic packaging for their store brand meats such as beef, pork, and lamb mince. The packaging is made from renewable corn and recyclable plastic material that is suitable to now be recycled even from home. The packaging offers many benefits, including using around half the energy of previous packaging production, and it is renewable and recyclable. Another one of my pet peeves with plastic waste, is the plastic water bottle. However, Coles again has stepped up to the plate to help tackle this issue. Coles natural spring water bottles are now made from recycled plastic, with estimates by Coles that this has saved approximately 1.9 million kgs of virgin plastic each year. There are many more great initiatives that local supermarket chains are doing to help reduce their impact on waste and to improve efficiency, why not head over to their respective sites and have a bit of a read. Also don't forget to check out your local store to see if they offer the option to recycle "soft" plastics, and if not, question why?!?! "As the group gathered closer, we began to dissect the carcass. The group’s initial wonder at what all this colorful “stuff” was inside the dead bird turned to outrage and ultimately shame as we all started to recognized plastic objects from our daily lives (some we had even used that morning). In the end we counted three lighters, two magic marker caps, one toothbrush, numerous bottle caps, and many small unidentifiable pieces of plastic." - Wayne Sentman Biologist (cited in Jaymi Heimbuch Treehugger.com)
The problem with plastic pollution is widespread and it doesn't take too much searching to come across news article after news article to witness the impact this is having on the environment. One such issue that really struck me was the problem of plastic pollution on far away and remote islands such as in the Midway Atoll. The waterbirds here were quite literally starving to death due to having stomachs filled with plastic, many of which are every day items we all use without a second thought, such as toothbrushes. The images in some of these articles really capture just how widespread and devastating the issue has become, however, a more recent documentary called "A Plastic Ocean" on Netflix pushes this further and really hits home with footage documenting the struggle of the waterbirds in the region - I would definitely recommend watching it! One small step we can all do is find alternative products to the ones commonly found down our shopping aisles, including the humble plastic toothbrush. According to dental professionals we should change our toothbrush approximately every 3 months, meaning the average person should go through 4 toothbrushes each year, totaling to around 300 in their lifetime. In Australia it has been estimated that up to 30 million tooth brushes are disposed of each year in landfill, which is staggering in itself but dwarfed by the United States where it is estimated that 850 million toothbrushes are discarded to landfill each year. So what alternatives are there? One great product my partner and I have been using for several years now is the Environmental Toothbrush. The toothbrush is designed by a Brisbane dentist, and the handle itself is made from bamboo (a natural cellulose fibre), meaning the handles are biodegradable and sustainable. Bamboo is an extremely sustainable plant, according to the Environmental Toothbrush "It is the fastest growing plant on earth, and incredibly abundant. Our bamboo is cultivated for between three to five years, and then harvested. It re-generates itself naturally, with minimal rain and without the need for harmful pesticides." At the end of the life cycle of our toothbrushes, we now compost the handles and they ultimately break down to be unrecognisable in good quality compost. Unfortunately the bristles at this stage are not biodegradable but they are made from a BPA FREE polymer resistant to microbial growth. It is in my opinion still a far better and more sustainable option until one that is completely biodegradable comes onto the market. In the recent "war on waste", single-use plastics are getting a lot of time in the spotlight and rightly so, however, there are several products right beneath our noses that we may overlook. One of these is the trusty kitchen scourer. I won't bombard you with more facts about the impact of plastics as I mention this in other blogs, but I will highlight a great new product I now use that is a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional kitchen scourers.
The two most commonly used kitchen scourers are the metal scourer/steel wool, and the nylon scourer (yep, made from synthetic plastics from crude oil). Both of these products are manufactured from non-renewable resources, and end up in landfill rather than being recycled. Until recently I was guilty of using both of these products, however, I got tired of seeing how often they were deteriorating and then just ending up in landfill. I did a bit of research to find some alternatives and came across a great product, the Safix Scrub Pad. The Safix Scrub Pad is made from natural coconut husk fibres held together by a non-toxic adhesive and comes in two different sizes. The big selling point for me was the fact it was biodegradable AND compostable. Another positive for me was that it was Fair Trade. I will admit I was a bit concerned about the longevity of this product and was under the impression each scourer may only last a week tops before they start to fall apart. I couldn't have been more wrong. These scrub pads will last weeks before they even show any signs of wear. They have not scratched any of our cookware and easily remove any food/greasy deposits. The products are advertised with "Will not scratch non-stick and delicate surfaces", so based on my experiences I can vouch for that. We have since placed one of our used coconut scrub pads in our compost bin and within weeks it is barely recognisable. Hopefully in a few more weeks it will be broken down further with the rest of our compost into some good quality compost! I will make a side note that if you are planning on using these and composting them, also be mindful of what kitchen cleaning products you use. One product we use which is easily found at local supermarkets is Earth Choice Dishwash liquid by Natures Organics. This product is plant based, grey water & septic safe, cruelty free - CCF Accredited, the packaging is made with 100% recycled & recyclable plastic and they are Australian made and owned. So just remember in our war on waste there are a whole suite of smaller changes we can make and alternative products to use to help make a difference! Globally, demand for beef has been increasing due to population growth, urbanization, and rising incomes, particularly in developing countries. Beef production however has a huge environmental footprint, which is gaining more widespread attention and giving consumers the opportunity to make a statement through their diet and lifestyle. Some environmental impacts/issues associated with beef production include (but not limited to):
Greenhouse gas emissions Estimates for the greenhouse gas emissions produced through livestock are varied, but range from 10 percent to 20 percent of total global emissions (and up to 50 percent of individual countries total emissions). Carbon dioxide gets widespread attention in the fight on global warming, however, the focus is usually on industries and the use of cars, as opposed to what we eat. To put the impact of diet into perspective, it has been estimated that the average diet of a "meat eater" (eating just 100 g meat per day) would result in approximately 7.2 kg of carbon dioxide emissions per day for that individual. When compared to a vegetarian diet this reduced dramatically to just 3.8 kg of carbon dioxide emissions per day, and further still for a vegan diet to just 2.9 kg of carbon dioxide emissions per day! Of the greenhouse gases, livestock production of ruminants (e.g. cows) also accounts for approximately 27 percent of total anthropogenic methane. Now why is this important? Like carbon dioxide, methane is a greenhouse gas, but worse still, methane is more severe when it comes to trapping heat in the atmosphere. It has been estimated that the same volume of methane (as carbon dioxide) would trap 100 times more heat in the atmosphere over a 5 year period. With that being said, methane does dissipate far quicker than carbon dioxide and there are mitigation options in place helping reduce the overall impact of methane on global warming. As a consumer we can assist and go one step further by changing our lifestyle and diet to help further decrease the production of both carbon dioxide and methane by finding alternatives to beef. Water resources The use of water resources on agriculture are also staggering with approximately 70% of all human water use being used in the industry. Of all the crops & livestock produced through agriculture, red meat from beef, tops the list as the most "thirsty" production line. It is estimated that the production of just 1 kg of beef requires between 5,000 & 20,000 litres of water with average estimates around 16,000 litres. Pork comes in at an average of approximately 5,000 litres per kg of meat produced, and poultry comes in lower still at approximately 3,500-4,000 litres per kg of meat produced. Better still, compare this to vegetarian/vegan food sources, rice comes in at approximately 2,500 litres per kg, soy beans come in at approximately 2,000 litres per kg, wheat at approximately 1,800 litres per kg, and apples at just 800 litres per kg! This shows that in our efforts to save water, one of the biggest steps we can actually take is to change our diet. Check out this interactive site on the "Water we eat" which has some great graphics comparing the different production lines and water use. Take home message - "Food" for thought Now i'm not expecting everyone to suddenly turn vegetarian or vegan after reading this blog. I for one found it initially quite difficult when switching my regular diet to a predominantly vegetarian/vegan diet. With that being said however, there are more and more vegan options available at the local supermarkets that make this change easier than ever, these include Quorn, Vegie Delights, Fry's, and the Alternative Meat Co. just to name a few. Be mindful as well that your change can all start with just one day. This could be something as simple as committing to a meat free Monday (check out their site which includes a whole bunch of recipes). If you can't bare to go completely vegetarian or vegan, then choose alternatives such as poultry and fish, but also make a statement as a consumer when purchasing these and only purchase sustainably sourced products, ones with animal welfare approval (e.g. RSPCA) and those that are organic/free range. Further reading
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. 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. |
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