Zero Waste News for 26 Sep 2017

 

Rise in household waste being recycled in Scotland

 

More than 45% of the rubbish generated from people's homes in Scotland is being recycled, new figures showed.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said 1.13 million tonnes of the waste was recycled in 2016, while a similar amount was sent to landfill.

East Renfrewshire has become the first Scottish council to recycle more than 60% of household waste.

However, 10 of Scotland's 32 local authority's actually reduced the amount they recycled compared with 2015.

Full story at http://bbc.in/2foqj0S

Source: BBC News

 

Bea Johnson: Queen of Zero Waste

 

When Bea Johnson decided to start blogging about her family’s new lifestyle, her husband warned her that she was opening herself up to a lot of criticism.

“The New York Times ran an article about us in 2010. Back then people really didn’t know what our lifestyle meant,” Bea says. “They associated it with free-living in the woods and being a hippy; we received a tonne of criticism.”

But Bea and her husband weren’t survivalists, naturists or swingers, they simply wanted to stop producing rubbish.

Bea coined the term “Zero Waste” to apply to the way her family were trying to live, because in 2008, when they started, there wasn’t even a term for what Bea, husband Scott and their sons Max and Leo were trying to do.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2fq1XUp

Source: http://www.irishexaminer.com

 

Why I live a zero waste life - Lauren Singer (TEDTalk)

 

Lauren is an Environmental Studies graduate from NYU and former Sustainability Manager at the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, and the amount of trash that she has produced over the past three years can fit inside of a 16 oz. mason jar.

Lauren Singer is author of the Zero Waste blog, Trash is for Tossers and founder of organic cleaning product company, The Simply Co.

Through her blog, she has empowered millions of readers to produce less waste by shopping package-free, making their own products and refusing plastic and single-use items.

Her work has been profiled by New York Magazine, MSNBC, NBC, AOL, CNN, Yahoo, Fox Business, BBC and NPR, among others.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2foqbOW

Source: SydesJokes Blog

 

Trash is for tossers by Lauren Singer

 

I was an Environmental Studies major in College and have always been interested in the environment, but I made the conscious decision to live sustainably about a year and a half ago. 

There were two moments that brought me to a trash-free, waste-free lifestyle:

The first was my senior year of college when my professor Jeffrey Hollender, of Seventh Generation fame, emphasized the importance living your values and made me think about my own personal environmental impact. 

The second was when a fellow environmental studies major would bring lunch to class every week in a single use plastic bag, a disposable water bottle, and a plastic takeout container. I would sit there and think, we are supposed to be the future of this planet and here we are with our trash, messing it up.

Then I learned about this family in California, calling themselves the Zero Waste Home, that was producing little to no garbage, it was this Aha! moment for me. I wanted to lessen my impact, so I started my Zero Waste journey. This is when I really decided that I not only needed to claim to love the environment, but actually live like I love the environment. 

Full story at http://bit.ly/2fprZHx

Source: http://www.trashisfortossers.com

 

Zero Waste is not recycling more, but less - Bea Johnson (TEDTalk)

 

In her presentation, Bea shares her tribulations and secrets to achieving Zero Waste. She covers the importance of applying her 5R's in order (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot) and shatters misconceptions, proving that the Zero Waste lifestyle can not only be "stylish", but also lead to significant health benefits, and time and money savings. She manages to talk about her personal journey with humour and without preaching. She brings an intimidating topic down to a manageable scale, lending a unique perspective and making Zero Waste less daunting. Her non-judgmental approach will inspire self-reflection and change. Bea talks about her lifestyle with passion and provides many practical solutions to living simply and reducing waste, but more importantly, finding happiness in our consumerist society.

Together with her family Bea Johnson doesn´t produce more than one jar full of junk each year. In her bestselling book "Zero Waste Home" she explains the five principles of a home without waste: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot (and only in that order). Anyone who follows those principles will not only save more time, but also live a healthier life.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2foqgSK

Source: SydesJokes Blog

 

Zero Waste Home Blog by Bea Johnson

 

Hi there and thanks for visiting my blog! My name is Bea Johnson, native of France and currently living in Mill Valley, California.

Since adopting the Zero Waste lifestyle in 2008, my life and that of my family have changed for the better. We not only feel happier, but we also lead more meaningful lives based on experiences instead of stuff.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2fq20j3

Source: https://zerowastehome.com

 

Beach audit reveals which brands are worst offenders for plastic waste

 

Knowing where trash comes from is the first step in figuring out better, more sustainable solutions.

Freedom Island is a beautiful stretch of mangrove-lined beach, just outside of Manila, in the Philippines. It is an artificial beach, created in the 1970s when a coastal highway was built, but it has become an important habitat for migrating birds from Siberia, Japan, and China. The government declared it a 'critical habitat' in 2007 and it was listed as a 'Ramsar wetland of international importance' in 2013.

Unfortunately, Freedom Island is also covered in trash. It is considered to be one of the dirtiest places in the Philippines, a country that already is notorious for mismanaging 1.88 million metric tonnes of plastic waste annually. In an effort to figure out what kinds of trash are clogging the beach -- and which companies are responsible for producing this trash -- Greenpeace Philippines conducted a 'waste audit,' together with partners from the #BreakFreeFromPlastic movement.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2fq26Hr

Source: https://www.treehugger.com