We are the 29th worst recycling nation on the planet (Sensoneo, 2022). Ahead of us, with better green credentials, are - at number 1 with 400kg - South Korea. And they make cars and electronics, for goodness sake! The shining example that is South Korea is followed by all those great European countries who have not shelled out tax breaks, but have truly invested in cleaning up their act: Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Norway, The Netherlands, and Sweden. Japan is the only other Asian nation rounding the top 10. Australia is at 19. The USA comes in at number 25. And we trail in behind the Eastern European nations - who are better at this stuff than we are - in 29th place. Our saving grace is that we have come five steps up the ladder from the last time: improving 34th place (Sensoneo, 2022).
Interestingly, the most common rubbish item found on the planet is plastic drink bottles (44%), food wrappers (28%), other drinks containers (think cups, lids and straws; 16%), yoghurt containers (8%), and cheese packaging (5%) (Break Free From Plastic, 2023). If we stopped allowing single use drinks containers, we could - in theory - get rid of 60% of waste. If we consider a lot of the food wrapping might also arise from fast food items, we could get rid of maybe 80% of planetary garbage by outlawing single use items. We don't need to do away with fast food; we just ban all single use wrapping and containers.
Coming back to New Zealand, I could easily take my own container to my favourite sushi and Thai places - which then makes me think: why have I not done that before, and reduced my footprint further?! Sigh. We New Zealanders generate the 4th to highest kilograms of waste per person (Sensoneo, 2022). Yes, we have got rid of single use plastic bags, and now plastic cutlery, but we don't appear to have changed our habits. We could save so much stuff needlessly going to landfill if we were more thoughtful... and the best way to avoid waste is to not create a need for more items to be manufactured or imported in the first place.
We need to keep telling the shops that we don't want plastic. That we will go somewhere else to avoid it. Then actually vote with our feet. We could also invest in some modern waste to heat plants which burn rubbish cleanly and safely instead of putting stuff into landfill. We could rebuild our old make-do and mend mentality. Recover our old furniture. Mend our clothes. Sell or give away things that we no longer need. We don't have to be totally hippy dippy about it, but we make things last longer, purchase less - and without packaging; buy local, and collect people around us who can fix our toaster, rewire that plug, and put a new graphics card in the old PC. And thank you Consumer for the "Right to Repair" campaign (2024) so these things get easier!
Of course, Right to Repair is a global trend, not solely New Zealand. California and the EU are passing legislation to allow us to mend our kit, and to prevent obstructive technology giant behaviour. Check out the Cold Fusion episode on this here (2024).
Let's create a little inconvenience for ourselves, so we can feel the warm glow of satisfaction in making a tiny bit less impact on the planet :-)
Sam
References:
Blake-Persen, N. (2018, January, 17). Revealed: Kiwis generate 734kg of waste each per year. Radio New Zealand. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/348261/revealed-kiwis-generate-734kg-of-waste-each-per-year
Break Free From Plastic. (2023). Brand Audit: Holding the World’s Worst Plastic Polluters Accountable Annually Since 2018 [Report]. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YFyfRv4m_viZZXa8b1HdpucDX3WEwJzv/view
ColdFusion. (2024, July 17). How Companies Profit off Unfixable Devices (ft. Louis Rossmann) [video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/6IZe7KjIJg4
Consumer. (2024). Help us get a product repairability label: Unrepairable products cost you and the planet. https://campaigns.consumer.org.nz/right-to-repair
Ministry for the Environment. (2024). Ngā tatauranga para | Waste statistics. https://environment.govt.nz/facts-and-science/waste/waste-statistics/
Sensoneo. (2022). Global Waste Index 2022: These are the biggest waste producers in the world. https://sensoneo.com/global-waste-index/
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