Coffee Cups

If you’re anything like me, your desperation for coffee means you don’t always have your re-usable cup with you when you place your order. So, against your better judgement, you end up accepting one of the store’s takeaway cups. When you’ve finished your coffee you contemplate whether the takeaway cup is potentially recyclable and mull over the method of disposal. Most people don’t even think this much about their daily coffee.

It is estimated there are over 1 billion disposable coffee cups used by Australians each year, with 90% of these thought to end up in landfill. Whilst these cups appear to be paper, they are in fact lined with plastic. It is this plastic that never biodegrades. Parts of the cup break down and become inert, although the remainder of the cup does not. These cups frequently end up in places that cause significant pollution such as waterways and ocean.

There are completely recyclable coffee cup solutions available, but these aren’t always a commercially viable option to cafés and coffee vendors due to increased costs involved. The “recyclable” claim also has to be addressed on each geographical region as recycling facilities are varied across Australia.  There are compostable cups around but the majority of these still end up in landfill where they’re not able to compost properly. Many biodegradable claims on cups aren’t always correct as they rely upon a particular additive in manufacturing which hasn’t yet been scientifically proven to break down fully.

So, what is the solution to our daily takeaway coffee? There are a few alternatives available to each of us:

1.      Arrive a few minutes early and sit down to enjoy your coffee in the store’s cup and saucer;

2.      Take a reusable mug with you. Buy a couple of them and keep one in the car;

3.      If you have to use a takeaway cup, refuse the lid altogether;

4.      When you’re handed the takeaway cup and lid, make sure you separate the two upon disposal.

It’s always worthwhile asking your local café or vendor if they’re using recyclable cups. If an owner is getting asked this question often enough, it may just prompt a purchasing change to a more environmentally conscious cup.

Toothbrush Legacy

Most of us brush our teeth a couple of times each day without much consideration. It’s a thoughtless, mundane job. So, when you’re tube of toothpaste is finished and it’s time to replace your toothbrush there’s simply a toss into the garbage bin. What happens next?

Let’s consider how many toothbrushes might be used in Australia each year. There’s around 23 million people living in Australia all of whom use at least one toothbrush a year. That equates to about 350 tonnes of waste each year. The plastic is often an extremely hard bonded plastic that takes a significantly long time to break down; likely to be more than your lifetime. There are many reports from fisherman that toothbrushes are one of the major waste products floating in the ocean.

Some toothbrushes could be made of recyclable products but your local recycling depot needs to be able to handle the task. A toothbrush is made of up the plastic handle, nylon bristles and a metal staple holding the bristles in place. This presents a complicated recycling process and may not be available in your area. Toothpaste tubes present a similar problem as they must be shredded prior to washing the residual product left on the plastic. Once again, not every recycling plant is capable of dealing with this product. It’s best if you call around your local waste management plants to check on their capabilities. If you manage to find a depot in your country that manages it, you could probably gather a collection of waste and send it to them as a parcel. What a lovely gift!

Bamboo toothbrushes present an environmentally-friendly alternative, but there are certain things to watch too. Bamboo may not come from a sustainable source. The bristles may be made from pig hair which is not going to be good news to a vegetarian or vegan. Some manufacturers claim to have bristles made from Nylon-4, which is degradable in dirt in approximately four months, while actually using Nylon-6, which is resistant to degradation in a natural environment. Don’t hesitate to call the manufacturer to check some of these matters. If their labelling is contrary to the truth, then the manufacturer would have to deal with misleading and deceptive conduct accusations.

Think carefully next time you’re brushing your teeth. What items are using every day that could be improved for the sake of the environment? Don’t let your personal legacy to the Earth be a toothbrush for each year you’ve lived. I’m sure you’re worth far more than that.

Letter to McDonald's Australia

McDonald’s Australia

Street Address

SUBURB, STATE, POSTCODE

To The Manager,

 McDonald’s has significant influence in the life of families and, therefore, in the lives of young children. For that reason, it is vital for the McDonald’s brand to uphold a high level of corporate responsibility.

 Rubbish doesn’t always find its way to the correct place and take-away containers account for a significant portion of litter. Much of this litter bears the McDonald’s logo.

 The disposable cups and straws currently utilised by all Australian McDonald’s stores are not recyclable. This is unacceptable in the modern era particularly in the large numbers being dispensed. The quantity of cups used by all McDonald’s stores represents an enormous addition to landfill waste in Australia.

 I request that McDonald’s ensure all their disposable packaging is environmentally friendly, particularly the drinking cups and straws.

 Yours faithfully,

YOUR NAME

E-Waste

Have you ever considered the outcome of your defunct or obsolete computers, televisions, DVD players, refrigerators, etc? Many of us throw them in the general waste bin or council collection and never think about it again.  This type of waste poses substantial problems for people and the environment if it’s not managed well.

E-waste is the terminology applied to discarded electrical and electronic equipment. It is one of the fastest growing type of waste. This can range from kitchen appliances, such as microwaves and dishwashers, to electronic devices like laptops, batteries and mobile phones. Fifty percent of today’s e-waste is computer and computer peripherals, most from commercial sectors. Every time you upgrade your smart phone or fridge, you’re creating e-waste.

E-waste that ends up in landfill causes significant environmental damage. Depending on the discarded article, e-waste can leak toxic substances into the surrounding areas. These substances are likely to be lead, arsenic, cadmium, selenium, antimony trioxide (flame retardant), cobalt and mercury. As the garbage decomposes, it mixes with these harmful substances and leaches into the ground, contaminating the soil and groundwater, which is likely to then enter the food-chain.

Like most other developed nations, Australia exports large amounts of its e-waste overseas. This e-waste is shipped to developing nations for their government to oversee, hopefully, its recycling or otherwise its disposal. There is a requirement, under the Basel Convention, that all hazardous and toxic waste is only sent to a regulated disposal source. Therefore, Australia has an obligation to ensure the waste recipient countries are safely and responsibly managing the e-waste exported from our country.

Currently Asia and India are the major recipients of the e-waste from developed nations. Not all of these countries are able to cope with the magnitude of e-waste being imported. This means there are recycling corners cut and disposal plans not followed. India has slums that exist atop their many garbage dumps. Families exist amongst rubbish contaminated by partially processed e-waste, whereby contamination by heavy metals causes significant long-term health problems for them.

Then we have e-waste smugglers to consider.  Many containers of e-waste exiting Australia have been intercepted by authorities. To my knowledge there has not been any prosecutions. I understand that Australian Customs does not keep records of any of the cases referred to the Department of Environment for investigation. I could imagine it would be difficult to establish the exact number of containers leaving Australian shores, without regulatory oversight, in the absence of records such as these.

Signing the Basel Convention in 1992 committed Australia “to observe the fundamental principles of environmentally sound waste management” [Basel Convention Article 4] when exporting all e-waste. Australia is also further subject to the Waigani Convention involving waste movement within Pacific Islands. Australia has been found to have breached the Basel Convention on numerous occasions.

Recycle all your defunct electronics rather than holding them in your home accumulating dust. Ensure you send them to reputable recyclers such as Planet Ark or contact the longstanding organisation, 1800ewaste. If you feel like you don’t have enough e-waste to warrant a pick up by a recycling depot, it’s time to join forces with your neighbours. Contact your local environmental not-for-profit for assistance if you still haven’t got an ample pile.

Whatever you do, don’t throw your e-waste into the general waste.

References:

http://www.ewaste.com.au/recycling-electronic-waste/

http://www.basel.int/TheConvention/Overview/tabid/1271/Default.aspx

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/4602.0.55.005~2013~Main+Features~Electronic+and+Electrical+Waste?OpenDocument

Live - A - Day

I left the main power on to appliances but chose not to use any of them.  All electronics (computers, tv’s, etc) were switched off at the wall. I turned off the light switches at the fuse box to ensure myself and my two young children wouldn’t accidentally turn on the lights throughout the day and especially later on into the evening.

Instead of entertaining ourselves with DVD’s and the game console we got lots of yardwork done.  I set up a tent for the kids to play in.  They filled their backpacks with maps and tools and had themselves an Indiana Jones adventure.  They only asked for the TV a couple of times in the morning and then they seemed to forget about it.

We walked with the dog to the local fruit barn to get some lunch.  On the way back, we stopped at the park for a while and then dropped in to see some friends who lived nearby.

The next door neighbours came over in the afternoon and all the kids continued their adventures.  We had a BBQ dinner outdoors with salad and a couple of beers. 

Once the sun went down, the kids got really excited.  We had some battery operated lanterns we’d picked up for $5 each and used these and candles to play board games until bedtime.

I flicked the lights back on at the fuse box at about 10.30 pm which meant I kept my power usage to a minimum for 24 hours.