Go Greener

Waste

“There is no such thing as ‘away’. When we throw anything away it must go somewhere.”

These words were spoken by Annie Leonard who is best known as the creator and narrator of the animated documentary film The story of stuff . This documentary looked at the hidden environmental and social costs or our consumer driven culture.  Since then, she has gone on to be an executive director of Greenpeace US and has spent decades working on international sustainable and environmental issues. The Story of Stuff Project website continues to provide videos about what happens to ‘the stuff’ we consume.

When we throw something “away” this often ends up in landfill. Below are a few suggestions on how to reduce your landfill at home:

• Do a waste audit of your bin. Take notice of any parts of the waste which could be recycled or composted.
• Label the bins inside you house so that you can get the whole family involved in sorting the waste correctly. E.g. paper, soft plastic, landfill, compost etc.
• Think about what you consume. Are there ways you could reduce your packaging so there is less to dispose of. Avoid purchasing single use items.
• Instead of putting things out in the council clean up, see if you can give it away or sell on line.

At school we have put new labels on the top of our bins to make it easier for our community to sort their waste and hopefully reduce the amount SCEGGS send to landfill.

Remember we are all activists in our own small way as we make changes each day to help the planet.

Sue Zipfinger
Sustainability Coordinator