A Zero Waste Society
If you have passed by the Wardrobe during our opening hours you may have spotted our sandwich board, which recently had a little quote on it: "Don't throw it away - there is no such place as 'away'". Please don’t tell us you didn’t even notice!
Actually, one of our volunteers did notice. She came in and said she had read and it had stayed with her all week. Result!
But let’s take it further. 'Away' isn't some magical place, it's landfill, an incinerator, the bottom of the ocean or an animal's stomach. It's always somewhere else.
How do you feel about that?
How much do you think you throw away?
In Scotland, around 80% of our carbon footprint comes from the things we buy and use. Or, to put it another way, our shopping habits are massively contributing to the global climate crisis. Consider the energy needed to grow, process and transport every single thing we buy.
It really would be better if we made more sustainable choices. What a difference it would make if we -
· Buy things that are made to last
· Re-use or repair items
· Recycle whenever possible
· Pass on what we no longer want or need
If everyone makes just a small change, we can have a huge impact.
We are sure you are on board with the Don’t Use Single-Use Products message, but everything we buy has a carbon cost.They are all using up scares resources and have a real negative environmental impact.
If you’re now wondering how much you actually do throw away (to that mythical place), you might want to do a waste audit. It sounds a bit scary, but perhaps we should all really consciously look at what we are putting in the bin, not just the volume, but what types of materials we are chucking out. If it’s something that can’t be re-used or recycled, perhaps we should consider not buying it in the first place.
We honestly wouldn’t blame you if you are now thinking that this sounds like a huge amount of trouble to go to, but help is at hand. Zero Waste Scotland has a downloadable log sheet. Go on, set aside an hour to get started and go for it!
https://wasteless.zerowastescotland.org.uk/articles/waste-audit
And don’t forget to look at our sandwich board in front of the Wardrobe – there’s a new message there now that we hope will inspire or encourage you.