Why reducing waste will help towards a better future.
Waste prevention is the prevention or limitation of the occurrence of waste and emissions (quantitative prevention). This also involves reducing the harmfulness waste produces to the environment (qualitative prevention). Waste prevention is one of the main objectives of waste policy in the transition to the circular economy, namely to prevent the creation of waste at the source as much as possible. This can be done within an organisation or company by:
- Good housekeeping
- Internal reuse
- Technological change product adjustments
- Optimising waste flows
Why is it so important for us to reduce waste? The fundamental reason is it reduces what goes to our landfills, therefore preventing waste. Most of the waste we produce stays in New Zealand, and it’s now up to us to find solutions to how we can deal with this. In the last 10 years, we have had a 48% increase in rubbish disposal on our landfills. Lucky enough we are slowly seeing more businesses becoming aware of this problem, and they are starting to take action. Our government is investing $124 million in recycling infrastructure – money that is needed to improve our waste problem. The fact is that New Zealand currently has one of the highest rates of waste production per capita in the developed world. This means that we will all have to pay more in the future to fix these problems – something no one can escape from. Sadly enough, these facts are real and it’s up to us to deal with it.
It’s possible for all of us to reduce our waste. Small actions can go a long way and it’s as simple as:
- Getting your own reusable bottle
- Buying a keep-cup and planning to take this with you when getting a coffee
- Having your own shopping bag for when you pick up take-away
- Using your own containers when getting take-away or shopping
- Avoiding buying packaged and unrecyclable goods
Positive things are already happening, as of July 2019, single-use shopping bags are no longer being used.
By creating these important changes we are moving towards a better future.
Next time we will talk about reuse.
Andre Hendriks
Off The Wall Marketing