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Caution: waste rises with the festive season!

This “Festive Season” will contribute to our waste problem enormously. Waste goes up at least 30%, according to CSIRO, during this time.

Even Veolia, whose business is waste, provides “tips” on reducing waste as well as guidance on where to put the Christmas tree, wrapping paper and other waste so it’s all in the correct bin! Food waste, unwanted presents and fragile plastic toys add to the huge pile of festive waste. Merri-bek Council aims for “zero waste” and promotes specific actions via Zero Carbon Merri-bek: But we sent 27,215 tonnes of waste to landfill in the last year.

Consumerism, and in turn our carbon footprint on planet earth, is fed by gremlins dressed up in red and white and by catalogues in letterboxes and on line, that push the “buy, buy, buy message. Is it possible to resist the pressure that keeps people caught in the webs of compulsory and compulsive waste making? Local Councils publish various lists on how to reduce waste and host a scattering of workshops on the theme of reducing waste during the festive season. Merri-bek Libraries hosted workshops run by a local group: the Merri Menders, entitled “Zero waste gift giving” during the month of December. These workshops were well attended. The Merri Menders are dedicated to reducing textile waste by teaching clothes mending skills and ways to use rescued materials.

Repair Cafes also provide inspiration to stop stuff going to landfill.

So too does the community initiative Hard Rubbish Rescue Merri-bek facebook group. We need to take bigger and braver steps if we are going to bring that 27, 000 tonnes down to ZERO. Now is a good time to take such courageous steps.

Try this:

  1. STOP! Breathe! Think! Say NO!
  2. Keep it small!
  3. It’s OK to NOT buy presents. It’s OK to step back from the GREMLINS!
  4. Enjoy the quiet of home instead of the noisy shops.
  5. Make something or find something you already have.
  6. Share a story or a poem!
  7. Reduce, reuse, rest….
  8. Restore the peace, restore the planet…. One NO at a time!

References

https://www.csiro.au/en/news/All/Articles/2023/December/plastic-waste-Christmas
https://www.anz.veolia.com/en-au/newsroom/newsroom/12-wastes-christmas-and-how-dispose-them

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