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WASTE WARS

Writer: Jada Andersen
Jada Andersen
Jul 23, 2019
2 min read

Updated: Jul 24, 2020

They alway said there would be another war. We assumed it would be over water or food.

Whilst those are still definitely on the cards, we also have new conflict over waste. Specifically plastic. It's everywhere, daily. The family home, neighbours, friends.  Initiated by the dreaded question “Where’s you’re KeepCup?”

Guilt and shame follow such questions and pathetic pre-prepared excuses are returned. “It’s in the dishwasher” or “I left it at work” are common ones.

Purchasing reusable utensils, cups, and containers to replace single-use plastic is a rebellion... of the good kind. It’s not fun to be publicly shamed for forgetting your bamboo straw but, this teething phase instils new habits for conscious consumers. 

It’s a step away from the idea that a fork is temporary and only exists for one meal. Another step away from the idea that cheaper is better. A step towards long term thinking.

This is the radical social shift required, and it all starts with bringing that damn KeepCup with you.


What I also find so exciting is that it's not just individual consumers making the shift, but also large organisations. This means major re-designing of daily processes which produce unnecessary waste.

Brisbane’s Princess Alexandria Hospital is an incredible example of this. Not many people really think about the number of single use plastics used in hospitals. Oxygen masks, kidney dishes, copper wiring, metal instruments are all recycled at Princess Alexandria. Plastic kidney dishes are replaced with compostable sugar cane materials, and all the dead flowers and coffee grinds go straight to the hospitals community garden. These efforts have resulted in a 600,000kg waste reduction per year.


Nothing is considered invaluable anymore. Cheap materials are made into new valuable items. 

In summary, there is no excuse. Change is coming over the hill of non-degradable waste we produced 10 years ago. Just don’t forget that freaking KeepCup!



To watch the original episode on the change happening at Princess Alexandria go here: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/war-on-waste/series/2/video/DC1724H007S00

To make your friends and family happy and stop feeling so guilty go here: https://www.shopnaturally.com.au


 
 
 

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