Over-consumption and the immense amounts of garbage that human's create is insane! This problem can't be denied, no other organism on earth makes garbage, we churn it out like we think it's going to miraculously disappear. When we are done with something, we need to think what happens to it after we chuck it in the bin. So, it goes to landfill right? Landfills...which are full of toxic goo, hardly any of it breaks down and biodegrades, especially with the amount of things that are made from plastic! And hardly any of it gets recycled. So much of what we buy gets discarded, not only ending up in landfills, but becoming litter and polluting our beautiful oceans. Our planet and the global climate are severely harmed and resources are wasted. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics , "Between 1996-97 and 2006-07, the volume of waste produced per person in Australia grew at an average annual rate of 5.4%. In 1996-97, Australians generated approximately 1,200kg of waste per person. By 2006-07, this had increased to 2,100kg per person." That means, we are only getting worse and worse! And take plastic bags for example, 200,000 bags are dumped in landfill every hour, and they take between 15 and 1000 years to degrade! But not everywhere is like this, other nations are a lot more progressive. Sweden recycles an astonishing 99 percent of its garbage. Which means that less than 1 percent of Sweden's garbage ends up in landfills. Consumerism is significant problem, and it is something that makes me incredibly disheartened with modern society and what makes me even more disheartened is that I am contributing to it every day! People buy and buy and buy to validate their self-worth. But this is a concept that has been taught in society, and can easily be untaught. Over-consumption is a major contributor to climate change, the things we buy don’t just disappear into thin air when we are done with them, they have to go somewhere. We think about the bigger impact of things! But all hope is not lost! There are things we can do to drastically reduce the garbage that ends up in landfills. Zero-waste lifestyle is a key answer, and here's how to do it: -Reduce what you buy and always ask: Do I really need this? -Recycle everything you can -Repair and rebirth what you can -Become part of the sharing community -Take up the personal challenge to find reuse options wherever you can -Support stores that have adopted Zero Waste practices -Commit to banishing disposables -Do not buy over packaged items For more tips, check out these zero-waste life blogs: simple ways to achieve a zero waste kitchen no waste life one bite at a time easy ways to reduce waste when you shop sustainable food market in Queenscliff achieving zero plastic
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