i think i have actually managed to achieve about as close to being 'zero waste' as it is possible to get while still living and consuming in a city...
i have a suite of mechanisms for achieving this and wanted to share these with you all. it takes a bit of commitment, but once in the habit it's a breeze!
of course as we all know, the first step is to minimise/ reduce/ avoid. this is best achieved by asking oneself - "do i really need this?" when shopping... "can i get it in bulk or in a reuseable/ recyclable container?" is a good next step.
once in my possession, the easily recyclable materials are cleaned and put in the recycling bin - step two complete. any organic residues (food scraps, newspaper etc.) head straight for the worm farm and/ or bokashi bucket (www.bokashi.co.nz) - step three.
the next step is the key - up 'til now i have avoided putting anything in the wheelie bin (invercargill city council provide a big wheelie bin weekly for rubbish - free (from rates) - so very little incentive to reduce!!)... all that is left is plastics - numbers 3 and up which can't be easily recycled, packaging films, bottle caps etc... so what do i do with this crap?
the answer is that i collect my empty milk tetrapak cartons (used to be imported soymilk, but found a better option - nz-produced organic cow's milk) and compress all my plastic 'waste' into them. pack them full and tape them shut. i now have a 'brick' made of non-degradable plastic! i have collected all my 'rubbish' like this for the last two and a half years and only have 100 of them... my next step is to make some sculptures with them (first up will be a comfy chair upon which one can contemplate one's waste 'ass-print' - this will use all 100 bricks).
in this manner i have turned a 'waste' product into a resource (as Bill Mollison said - "it's not that you have too many slugs, it's just that you don't have enough ducks", or in our case, "it's not that we have too much waste, it's just that we don't have enough rubbish bricks"!) (don't think i'm advocating making more rubbish though!).
some of my pet peeves... plastic bags for fruit and veges in the supermarket (take some paper bags in your reuseable shopping bag!); buying beer? visit the local micro-brewery and get a refill (it's cheaper and the beer is much better than the mass-produced variety); polystyrene meat trays - i don't eat meat so haven't come up with an alternative - suggestions please (this is what my flatmates fill the bin with)!
this is what i mean by "bionic= creativity, community, sustainability": a creative approach to what we perceive as a "problem" often shows us that it is actually an un-potentiated resource, as long as we can be creative with it... if we work together as a community we build strength and support networks and can deal with larger quantities of "waste"... this is how we will attain sustainability, if we actually can.
in the two and a half years i've lived in invercargill i have thrown out maybe one large wheelie bin of waste... my neighbours put out one each week! i am unfortunately not in a position yet to be able to keep my shit out of the toilet, but i'll get there yet...
bionic= creativity, community, sustainability... join me!
11 comments:
Great post! Can't wait to see Rubbish Brick Comfy Chair Number 1.
You're a brick, Nick! You've dropped your best quote ever into this story,
"i am unfortunately not in a position yet to be able to keep my shit out of the toilet" -
To a visual thinker, this is poetry!
You'll not be encouraged by the letter in the Times today Nick, mayhap. Some folks'r jus plain ornery! Mind you, it's establishing the 'Kiddey Piddle' brand, should you ever want to market it. Free advertising like that is worth its weight. Keep on piddlin'
Hey Nick
Great stuff you are doing down there in Invers. One tip I suggest to people frustrated by the number of meat trays they have is not to get them in the first place. Get your meat from your local butcher, Farmers Market, or go to the Meat Counter at the supermarket and ask for the meat you want without the tray. They'll soon get the hint.
Mo
Hi Nickbionic. You are on to it my lad, with your article on peeing on the veges, but remember, if poo and wee (and the way we deal with said) is uppermost in your mind , the average Joe will think that is what is in your head. Tread cautiously with humanure issues. Folk just don't think straight when considering their own animal-ness. Cheers big ears!
Campo
thanks for the comments y'all... that sounds like a good approach for the prospective purchaser of meat mo - great suggestion!
and campo, you're right about that, definitely need to tread carefully around the humanure (!)... gradually people will change, but it's not exactly a priority for me to change others - all i do is show people what i do and let them decide for themselves.
classic piece of reporting by the southland times - i talked to her about so many things, she obviously just wanted to print something that would catch people's attention!! seems to have worked... suits me.
well, the prototype for comfy chair no.1 is nearly finished! i will put up a new post when it is successfully completed... it's ornamental landfill! i didn't have enough rubbish to make it, so i have had to seriously scrounge around for more!!
Bionickster old boy, I'm sure 'No.1 bespeaks tomes of your penchant for design flair - but in this case not only for ornmental purposes, what! Function, too, glorious function!
Might one think of it as a continuation of the Bauhaus' and Modernist's dialogue of an elegant fusion of form and function?
I wonder what the Scandinavian furniture makers would say here. :oD
Having to seek out and negate other's waste, -very advanced; Ill hire you in my shop Im gonna start(you can't steal my idea :P) in which all the shelves are stocked with rubbish (cleanish kinda) and tagged with the shop seal; very sought-after by trendy folk, some is quite expensive and raises a heck load of awareness fun!
Hey Bioneer - it's all raedy been done! The shop was called 'Grunge' and Leonard Rossiter was the creator of the concept - can't remember the name of the t.v. programme. Hey Nick - in our household, we are saying that your chair is made of Kiddey-litter! Meeooow! Another STL expose! Who is that bearded man!
Good lord. Already been done. Add something about nothing new under the sun.
Yet time and place defines, and time and place constantly change; so what is old, may be renewed.
And that chair is so damn cool. Nick, if I'm not working in your shop in the future, I'll certainly buy from it! :o)
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