City-dwellers are embracing the trend of zero waste living to live more sustainably.
Living a completely rubbish-free life is difficult but some are managing to reduce their waste so dramatically that two years worth of rubbish can fit into a mason jar.
Melbourne resident Erin Rhoads is one of the growing number of people embracing the lifestyle, but you would never know it.
“I work in the CBD, I still wear heels, go out for cocktails, nothing has really changed,” Rhoads told news.com.au.
One of the things that has defined the modern zero waste movement is that it could not be further from the hippy-dippy image traditionally associated with greenies.
“I haven’t run off into the bush, I haven’t switched off my electricity,” Ms Rhoads said. “We’re giving up stuff, not giving up everything. We all live relatively normal lives.”
The owners of bulk shop, the Wasteless Pantry in Perth, were also careful to create an environment aimed at the mainstream, and not just “alternative types”.
“It’s not a hippy subject anymore and … we didn’t want to be branded as alternative, we are a store where the mainstream can shop in a different way,” co-owner Amanda Welschbillig said.
Their clients include a broad cross-section of people including mums and the elderly, who love the shop because they can buy small amounts of the things they need.
People can bring their own jars and containers, or use ones provided, to shop for dry goods including flour, rice, pasta, nuts, spices, snacks and other goods.
Major companies are also recognising the appeal of this type of living and are increasingly offering ways to recycle their product packaging.
A zero waste lifestyle involves producing no landfill but there’s still a lot of things that councils can’t recycle, and this varies from council to council. This can include plastic bags, coffee pods, straws, the blister packs that tablets come in, condoms and toothpaste tubes.
So companies including Jurlique, Nespresso, Australia Post and Coles have begun offering customers the ability to recycle their products.
Recycling has even become a worldwide business with TerraCycle, a company that recycles hard-to-recycle items, launching in Australia in 2014. It started in the US in 2001 and is now in 21 countries.
“The TerraCycle philosophy is to eliminate the idea of waste,” TerraCycle communications manager Ausseela Thanaphongsakom said.
In Australia it allows people to recycle yoghurt pouches, used mail satchels and other dental products for free. While the company has only just established itself in Australia, in other countries it even offers recycling of things like chewing gum. To read more click here.