Just came across this on the Be The Change website. A Christchurch couple, Matthew and Waveney, have challenged themselves to a 'rubbish free year'.
The challenge is for our household to create no rubbish for the landfill from 1st February 2008 to 1st February 2009. However it is very likely that, despite our best efforts, some rubbish will be unavoidable. We challenge ourselves to keep this in no more than one official council rubbish bag.
And they look serious! They've got a website and they've got a plan ...
They will be:
• Reusing: waste not, want not. That container, string etc just might come in handy. (But we won't be keeping any more than we can use.
• Recycling: plastics, paper, cans etc.
• Rehoming: Just because it is junk for us doesn't mean that someone wouldn't want it.
silverbeet• Burning and Burying: Sounds a bit suspect! But we have an amazing log burner that burns much cleaner than equivalent emissions from the landfill, great for non-recyclable waxed paper. We will even bury some things, eg fingernail clippings!
• Gardening and maybe even preserving etc (ugh! sounds like hard work).
• Making things ourselves to avoid packaging, eg baking muesli bars (granola bars).
• Buying second hand: This is the only way to buy some things that usually come with packaging when new.
• Asking friends and family not to bring (or send) any rubbish to our home, so beware the humble packet of biscuits!
• Exercising our consumer power! During 2008 we will choose not to buy anything that is has non recyclable packaging or is in itself junky, plasticy, disposable etc
Certainly sounds like it could work. So far they've done a trial in January and are now in the planning phase. We'll keep an eye on their blog to see how they progress.