Zero Waste Guide
PLASTIC WRAP
Plastic wrap, more like GLAD I got rid of that! Plastic wrap is a killer for the ocean, with many fish suffocating and choking on this plastic. There’s more microplastic in the ocean than there are stars in the Milky Way, hence why food wraps are another super smart invention!
Our Plastic Free Recommendation:
Little Mashies Reusable Stretch Food Wraps! Made from food grade silicone it can be easily stretched over bowls, cups and plates to keep food fresh. It’s designed to go on clean, dry surfaces but we have even used it on produce (chopped pumpkin and chopped watermelon). The set of 3 wraps (15cm, 20cm & 25cm) are so great to have in the kitchen you will be buying multiple sets and telling all your friends!
REUSABLE STRAWS
There’s nothing more cringeworthy than getting your drink back with a gross plastic turtle killing straw! Recently an Australian diver, Kasey Turner, went snorkelling in Manly beach and found a whopping 319 straws after just 20 minutes in the water. 24 hours later, she found 294 more straws in the exact same spot.
Australia is becoming more and more conscious about the plastic straws, but it’s still not enough - considering they take 200 years to decompose and like all other single use plastic they never actually ever break down!
Our Plastic Free Recommendation:
There’s a couple of ones out there, so get a feel for what one you like best! There’s metal straws, glass straws, bamboo straws, and our favourite, the silicone straw!
The Little Mashies silicone version gives you the same feeling as those nasty plastic ones we’re used to ie they aren’t hard like stainless steel, glass and bamboo. It comes with a straw cleaner/brush and IS BPA free, Phthalate free and PVC free. They can be thrown in your handbag for cafe adventures, picnics and drinks on the go with no plastic stress!
https://littlemashies.com/products/reusable-silicone-straw-set
COMPOST
When you discard food scraps into landfill they aren't able to properly break down.
Which means they rot and produce tonnes of Methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas which is 28 x more potent than carbon dioxide.
Around 3% of Australia's total greenhouse emissions are caused by rotting food waste. 3% doesn't sound like much but it's the same amount as Australia's aviation industry, so it is actually quite big! And it's something each household can easily fix.
Our Plastic Free Recommendation: Create your own compost bin
Buy a big compost bin and lay some bricks inside it. Then place some planks of wood and cover with straw, hay, shredded cardboard or paper (these are all sources of carbon). Now that the first layer is down you can start using it. Pop food scraps and plant material in it and then cover that with another layer of carbon (so shredded paper, cardboard, hay, straw, wood shavings etc). Each time you add food scraps to the compost heap you need to add a layer of carbon on top. Things that can go in the compost include things that will be easy for worms to eat with their little mouths and not too strong in flavour. For example fruit and vegetable scraps are good but hard things like avocado seeds are a bit tough for the worms. Egg shells, coffee, tea, tissues, paper, hair, natural fibres, grass clippings are all fine. Large amounts of citrus and garlic can be a bit strong for the worms so we prefer to keep those separate. Meat and bones aren't a good idea because it may attract animals. You could bury those somewhere separate.
GROW YOUR OWN FOOD
It’s the most eco friendly and trustworthy way! There’s nothing more exciting than when the first little tomato spurts out, and the kids love it too! Garden days with the kids are very rewarding (plus they also are more excited to eat their veggies which is a bonus :P)
Food travels roughly 2500km before it even reaches you, so not only are you saving carbon footprint, you also avoid supporting pollutive industries or consuming pesticides that are used on conventionally grown crops.
The best ones we love grow are tomato, cucumber, zucchini, kale, strawberries, blackberries, spinach, and then cooking becomes so easy! From kale chips to amazing berry smoothies to put in your Little Mashies, you’ll have an endless amount of options!
Our Plastic Free Recommendation:
To get your start in the garden here’s some helpful tips from Gardeners.com https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/how-to-start-seeds/5062.html
REMOVE THOSE NASTY MICROFIBRES IN YOUR LAUNDRY
It’s crazy how many people don’t realise all the microfibres released just from washing! To be fair though, they can’t be seen to the human eye but are released down the drains of our washing machines into our waterways every time we wash our clothes. There’s over 5.25 TRILLION micro and macro plastics floating and polluting our oceans, and this nifty catcher helps every bit!
Our Plastic Free Recommendation:
Inspired by ocean coral and made from 100% recycled plastic, the Cora Ball catches a third of microfibers per laundry load and you just chuck it into the machine and it does its thing! Check out here https://coraball.com/
Another tool is the ‘Lint LUV-R,’ which gets installed onto the taps of your washing machine but basically does the same thing! Here’s where to grab the kit http://www.environmentalenhancements.com/
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE DIGITAL AGE
There’s plenty of media out there that you can download instead of a hard copy these days. Think Playstation games, CD’s & DVD’s, they all add up with their plastics and paper, choose downloading instead!
Our Plastic Free Recommendation:
It takes an average of 5 liters of water to produce one piece of A4 paper, so sign up to use the cloud on your phone or computer instead of writing on paper. You can get really cheap deals on online storage platforms these days, with google drive charging $24 a year for all of their storage options (docs, sheets, gmail, etc)
GET SOME APPS FOR YOUR PHONE
There’s a bunch of helpful apps to help you be more environmentally sustainable, here is a list of our favourites:
Farmstand helps find local farmers’ markets in your area, including market open times and directions.
JouleBug is for the competitive ones out there, this app makes sustainable living a game, where you collect points based on how many environmentally friendly tasks you’ve finished. You can even enter national competitions and battle it out with people all over the country.
Sustain Me helps find you recycling solutions based on your geographical location.
ThredUP is basically an online thrift shop where you can also send them the clothes you don’t wear anymore and receive store credit or cash in exchange
A SEARCH ENGINE THAT PLANTS TREES FOR YOU??!
You know when you google “what do dogs dream of” and “why is my leg twitching, am I dying?” What if i told you that if you use Ecosia, you could be planting a tree each second you use it?!
They use the profits to plant trees and have so far planted over 42 million trees where they are needed most! It’s free to join so scrap the google bookmark and replace it with Ecosia and then happy virtual planting!
SAY NO TO JUNK MAIL
Junk mail kills 2.6 million trees a year and over, not too mention all the burning gas to deliver those pesky catalogues! How often do you actually look at your junk mail? 3 seconds to aim your throw into the bin? If you do love a good bargain, sign up and get them delivered to your digital mailbox instead.
Our Plastic Free Recommendation:
A ‘No Junk Mail’ sign on the letterbox also helps avoid that extra unnecessary waste, but our FAVOURITE THING EVER IS THE PAPERKARMA APP! They take care of all the annoying business of having to call the company to unsubscribe to the junk mail. Simply scan the junk mail on the app and they take care of the rest. Check it out here www.paperkarma.com