Reducing our waste - The Bathroom

Part of our 2011 sustainable living goals to reduce how much our household puts into general waste each week.

In order to reduce your waste, you need to know what is going into your bin each week. We decided to go bin by bin in our house to see what we were regularly throwing into general waste and what changes we could make to replace these things with recyclable or reusable options where possible or otherwise reduce the amount wasted.


The Bathroom

The bathroom can be a challenging area to reduce waste without compromising health and hygiene.

What we've already done
Some easy steps we'd already taken to reduce waste in the bathroom include:

• selecting products in recyclable containers
• choosing recycled toilet paper that comes in paper wrapping rather than plastic wrap
• looking for products that use containers made from recycled materials

 A couple of years ago I swapped disposable razors and wax strips for a rechargeable epilator. A bit of an upfront cost, but it has paid itself off in both money and waste compared to shaving or waxing (though depending on your pain threshold, you may need to factor in a few bottles of gin to the costs...)

What we've done this year
If you live in a household with females, you've probably noticed that once a month the bathroom waste increases. Our bin audit revealed that feminine hygiene products accounted for a significant amount of our bathroom waste. This year I decided to look for more sustainable options to reduce the amount of waste. The options I found were:

• compostable tampons and pads 
• fabric reusable pads
• silicone or rubber menstrual cups

The first option didn't really appeal as I was dubious as to how effective our compost bin would be in breaking down the used products quickly and as we use our compost on our vegie garden, I didn't want to risk any nasty bugs. The fabric reusable pads didn't appeal to me either as I don't like conventional pads. However, I did buy a soft bamboo reusable pad to give it a go. I didn't like it. Too bulky, soft but still uncomfortable to wear and I was constantly worried about it moving around or leaking. That left the menstrual cups. I had heard about them before, via blogs of friends, and always thought them a little on the "crusty" side of hippidom. However I did think they were worth a shot so at the beginning of this year I ordered a Lunette cup online.

I have to say I'm a complete convert! Seriously, I wish I'd known more about these years ago. I found the cup very easy to use, comfortable, completely secure, easy to clean and best of all, no waste going into the bin! It's a triple win in that it a) reduced regular costs, b) is more comfortable and convenient than previous methods, and c) is almost waste free. You can add an extra bonus in there if you consider that by having a reusable option always ready you eliminate the need to send confused male partners into the supermarket for emergencies. There is an upfront cost in that they are ~$57.00 (AUD), but considering they will last 5-10 years with correct care, that's pretty cheap compared to how much you'd spend on conventional products over that same time period.

Further information for those who are interested (and ladies, I strongly recommend giving these a try, they are honestly no more "icky" than using conventional products):

• Lunette website - http://www.lunette.com.au/. There are other brands of cups out there, but this was the one I decided to try based on reviews and availability and I've been really happy with it. I think it is one of the few that has been approved for sale in Australia (The TGA happily lets shonky homeopathic crap into pharmacies, but getting a menstrual cup approved is apparently quite difficult)
• This website has lots of useful information about menstrual cups, including brand comparisons and FAQs - http://labyrinth.net.au/~obsidian/clothpads/Cups.html
• The livejournal community forum on menstrual cups - http://menstrual-cups.livejournal.com/

What's left that we haven't been able to reduce
We still have a number of things that end up in the bathroom bin regularly that we haven't been able to replace or reduce.

• The CPD's disposable razor cartridges. The most sustainable option would be not to shave, but the bearded look isn't great so it will be razors for a while yet.
• Dental floss. The CPD bought a Waterpik water flosser when he got braces, which uses a fine jet of water to floss around teeth and braces. I still use regular floss though as I find the machine a bit awkward.
• Products that come in non-recyclable containers like toothpaste and some cosmetics.
• Cotton buds and cotton wool. We try to use ethically sourced options, but they are still disposable.

However, the overall volume of bathroom waste has probably been reduced by at least 50% simply from changing my feminine hygiene practices. We have a tiny bin in the bathroom and it rarely has more than a handful of rubbish each week so on the whole I'm pretty happy with how we're going in this area.

2011 Sustainable Living Goals

The beginning of another year and the traditional time for reflection on the past and plans for the future. In past years, we've been working on living more sustainably and have adopted changes in our lifestyle and behaviours as we thought of things.This year I've decided to actually make some sustainability goals upfront and then actively work to achieve them throughout the year. I hope it will help us focus our energies a bit more as it can often be overwhelming to decide what to do when there are so many options and so many pros and cons.

I've focused the list into the Four R's - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and the most important, Rethink. I haven't included things that we're already doing, though I might make a list of these in another post for reference.

2011 Reduce

• Reduce overall waste in terms of what we throw out, either at home or out and about.
• Reduce our consumption of meat.
• Reduce car use.
• Reduce electricity and gas use
• Reduce water use by working on limiting showers to 4 minutes (Okay, I'm the biggest culprit here)
• Reduce laundry by laundering items less frequently. Many clothes can be worn several times before they require washing and some things can be aired rather than washed. The will also help fabrics last longer.

2011 Reuse

• Take our used printer cartridges to be refilled rather than buying new.

2011 Recycle

• Learn more about what can and can't be recycled and where.
• Take our pile of used batteries to the battery recycling centre (they exist here!)
• Preference products made from recycled materials over new materials, especially for things like paper and plastic.

2011 Rethink
Last year we made a pretty big change in our lives by moving to Brunswick. This has brought with it some changes in our lifestyle that we're still getting used to. The challenge for 2011 will be balancing our commitment to live sustainably with some of the new aspects of our lives, such as:

• Living in a much smaller house than in Figtree
• Both of us working from home most days
• Reduced income (I'm not working as much as I was in Wollongong)
• Living with a chronic illness (Fibromyalgia), which unfortunately had a major setback with the stress of the move.
• Living reasonably close to functional and regular public transport
• Having a much broader range of sustainable and ethical choices available to us locally, such as local and organic produce, local designers and producers for things like clothing and homewares.
• Living in a community that has a council with a number of sustainability initiatives

There are both incentives and constraints there so we need to rethink our approach to how we live.

Next post, I'll go into some more detail on how we plan to achieve our 2011 sustainability goals.

Welcome to 2010 - The Year of the Move

Happy New Year and Welcome to 2010!

The big news in our lives is that we've decided to move to Melbourne. When exactly is "sometime this year".

Why Melbourne? Oddly enough this is part of us embracing a downsized and less complicated lifestyle. I know many people move OUT of major cities to downsize, so why are we moving from the lovely, coastal Illawarra to a major metropolitan city? A number of reasons.

Friends
Something I've learnt over the last couple of years is that a key part of a sustainable lifestyle is sustainable relationships, with your partner, your family, and your friends. Over the years, most of our close friends have moved out of the Illawarra and a lot of them are now in Melbourne. Being closer to them will greatly enrich our lives.

Functional Public Transport
I'll admit it, I'm enamoured with trams. Ever since my first visit to Melbourne, I have loved how easy it is to get around the city on public transport. Coming from NSW, the land of completely non-functional public transport, it's been a novel concept. We currently have an embarrassing 3 vehicles (the 3rd is a work car that is part of the Cunning Plans Dept's job package). I drive pretty much everywhere since my health prevents long distances of walking and there is no public transport near us. By moving to Melbourne, we hope to become a one vehicle household. A number of our friends in Melbourne don't own vehicles and are loving it. We probably need to maintain one vehicle, mainly due to the nature of the CPD's work involving site visits. We also need something that can transport to the two dogs when necessary. I'm hoping we can get rid of the current vehicles and get something more efficient an environmentally friendly. The CPD has been thinking of a DIY electric conversion for a while so that might be a goer.

Job Opportunities
This is a big one. While we've not had any problem finding work in the Illawarra, we've both hit points in our careers where we want to do something different and that something isn't on offer here. I'd like to get into government policy, especially environmental policy, and the CPD would like to do engineering that isn't coal-enabling and is more along sustainable design lines. Melbourne presents much better opportunities for both of us to end up doing something we really want to do.

And of course the is the attraction that is Melbourne itself. The number of environmental and sustainability focused groups and events is staggering.

So the plan is to think about what we want to do with our house (sell or rent), start applying for jobs, and then find somewhere to rent in Melbourne (definitely not buying while the market is this insane). It feels a bit sad to be leaving the house and the garden that we've put a lot of work into. The garden I don't feel too sad for as the joy in gardening for me has always been about the process of doing it, not the end result so much. Until we actually up sticks and move, I plan to still be gardening as often as I can. I'm excited about the prospect of starting a new garden and even the challenge of gardening at a rental property where we may need to be creative.

Bring on 2010 - Year of the Move.

Community, fresh produce, and education

Today is the 350.org International Day of Climate Action and we've marked it in our own small, local way.

This morning I headed over to the community garden for the monthly Waste Not! Fruit and Vegie swap, loaded with my excess tomato and capsicum seedlings.

Which I exchanged for 2 grapefruits, 4 oranges, some carrots, rhubarb, parsley, and ginger. I also bought a loaf of bread that the Port Kembla Men's Association had baked in their wood-fired oven.

It was a great day to be out in the garden and I enjoyed catching up with people and enjoying a cup of coffee courtesy of the Men's Association.

After heading home briefly for lunch, I went over to Futureworld Eco-Technology Centre to join the Cunning Plans Dept who had headed over in the morning to help with their open day. The open day ran from 10am to 2pm and I understand that they had a really good turn out with over 100 visitors through the doors. They also had an Ideas Tree at the centre for people to write down their ideas about what we can do to move towards a future of 350ppm.

In the evening, we looked at the 350.org website and were amazed at the number of actions and photos flowing in from around the world. Over 5200 events across 181 countries. It feels awesome to have been a part of that and to see so many people being passionate about this.

Update: The Futureworld action photos can be found on the 350.org flickr site here. Wish we'd remembered to take some photos at the vegie swap with the 350 motif.

Sustainable living: Tank water

The plumbers came yesterday to do the final stage in our project to get tank water connected to the house. Our two 7000 litre rain water tanks are now connected to a pump, some filters, and plumbed into the house water system. The tanks have a float switch which will switch us back to town water if the water in the tanks run too low. We can also manually switch back to town water if we want to, for example in Summer, if we are getting low on tank water, we might decide to use the tank water for the garden and the town water in the house (as rain water is better for the garden than town water). We don't have a flow meter on the tank system yet, but will be looking to get one soon so that we can still keep track of our water usage.

The Cunning Plans Dept did some calculations and reckons that based on our average rain fall and the collection area of the roof, tank water would be able to cover about half of our annual water usage.

Does it feel any different? Well the taste is definitely different. Rain water tastes much milder and doesn't have that slight chlorine after taste. The water pressure in the house is also less than we had with town water. This doesn't seem to be a problem, but I have noticed that obviously things like the washing machine take longer to fill. It does enforce less water usage in the shower! Also psychologically, I think being aware that you're using water from your own tank does make you think more about your water usage.

The next step will be to get the maximum usage out of our water and get a grey water system running under the backyard to water the trees and shrubs. And we'll also be looking at other ways we can reduce our overall water consumption so that tank water becomes a larger percentage of our total usage.This is the photo of us in our backyard, next to the vegie patch (with the two 7000 litre tanks on the right) that we submitted to the Alternative Technology Association's online event for the 350.org Global Day of Climate Action (this Saturday, 24th October). The ATA is aiming to get 350 photos of real people living sustainable lives. You can check out their gallery here. I like how the photos capture a wide range of things from big projects to small steps.

This saturday, if you're in the Wollongong area, why not check out the Waste Not! Vegie Swap at the Wollongong Community Garden and pop into Futureworld Eco-Technology Centre in Warrawong.

Bottled water vs tap water

I was listening to Triple J on the way home and Hack was doing a piece on the town of Bundanoon, which is just up on the highlands from us, and their plan to ban bottled water. And now it looks like the NSW Premier is following suite and phasing out the use of bottled water in NSW government departments and is planning a public campaign to discourage people from using bottled water.

I really support discouraging the use of bottled water if there is an easy to access supply of tap water. Our office tea room has always had a chilled filtered water spout for filling bottles and I would certainly prefer to fill up my glass for free as often as a like during the day than have to buy bottled water. I'm not sure if a ban is the way to go, but in the case of workplaces where it is fairly easy to install chilled filtered water fountains for staff use, then I think that's actually a nice policy that sets a good example.

I support encouraging people to drink water for both hydration and as a healthier alternative to soft drinks. I certainly don't like the unsustainable aspects of bottled water production. To me, it's excessive processing, packaging, and transport to provide something that for most people they can get for a fraction of the cost from the tap, and it hasn't had to travel anywhere near as far. I don't have as much of a problem with the concept of bottled water as essentially a boutique drink (i.e. you're purchasing the unique characteristics of water from a particular place) than I have with it being used as an alternative to perfectly acceptable tap water purely because of convenience. That is more typical of the "want it now" convenience attitude that disregards unsustainable processes and production in favour of something that requires little or no effort on the part of the consumer.

I think there are three main reasons that people drink bottled water:

1. the tap water is not potable
2. the tap water is drinkable, but you prefer the taste of bottled water
3. you don't mind tap water, but when you're out, there aren't always convenient places to fill a bottle up or you don't have a bottle with you, so the only option is to buy water if you want to drink water instead of soft drink (probably because you're health conscious).

My guess is that in Australia, the biggest group would be the third lot, where the issue is more that of availability and convenience than a distinct aversion to tap water. I'm in the third group. I don't like soft drink. If we're traveling and I get thirsty, I'll buy bottled water. However, at home and work, I drink tap water. I also tend to have a bottle of tap water in the car with me. When that runs out, I buy bottled water and am often annoyed that I have to pay more for it than some sugar, colouring, and preservative loaded soft drink.

I think the key is providing an alternative. In cities that have perfectly drinkable tap water, providing places for people to fill up with filtered, chilled tap water, for minimal cost, is going to be the key to getting people to switch from bottled water. I think if the choice started to become available, most people would take the cheaper option over bottled water. Once that is set up, a ban is probably not necessary as the main consumers will be those people who are purchasing the water for its taste (same as someone would buy a bottle of coke because they like the taste) and those who are purchasing it because they don't have drinkable tap water.

I can see this becoming a bit like alternatives to plastic bags. It took a bit for the idea to take off, but once the major supermarkets started supplying "green bags" for purchase at the checkout it was easier to buy reusable bags, and then it is just getting into the habit of bringing the bags to the supermarket. The plastic bags are still there, but there are places that now charge for plastic bags (e.g. ALDI) and I don't think it will be long before paying for plastic bags is required. There will always be some people who will use plastic bags, and pay for them, because of the convenience factor (and we can glare disdainfully at them as we fill up our reusable green bags).

If you could convince major outlets like supermarkets, fast food chains, and service stations to have a filtered water refill station (for a small refill fee), then I think it won't take that long for people to get into the habit of having a reusable bottle with them. And if you can purchase a reusable bottle along with the refill, then that makes it all the more easier. Once a pattern is established it is a strong incentive for cafes and other stores that would normally stock bottled water to consider a filtered water fountain. Most office-type workplaces should also be able to provide filtered water without much difficulty. I would also love to see how the Bundanoon proposal of having filtered water fountains in the main street goes as that would be great if Councils could consider free filtered water fountains. Outdoors ones are probably targets for vandals, but perhaps having them in Council facilities such as swimming pools, libraries, halls etc.. would work.

I can also see the reusable bottles being a great marketing tool and potential fashion item, as it would be easy for companies to come up with funky designs. Just look at all the "green" bags out there that are used to promote all kinds of things and also as trendy fashion statements.

So I think this idea has merit and it certainly has my support. I look forward to seeing how Bundanoon go with their proposal and the proposed public campaign that the Premier has suggested.

Reducing our carbon footprint

A few months ago, the Cunning Plans Dept worked out our carbon footprint using some thingummy on the web, and to be blunt, we suck. The web thingy did break it down into areas and while the house and general living wasn't too bad, our air travel and two cars were seriously in the "not good" category. Between this and generally become aware of a lot of great sustainable living options out there, we've been more motivated to make change to our lifestyle to live more sustainably.

Here's what we've got so far:
- good roof insulation and the house is double brick so it's go reasonable insulation, especially downstairs.
- electricity is 100% greenpower (i.e. all from renewable sources).
- energy saving light bulbs in all light fittings.
- dual flush installed on the downstairs toilet (upstairs already had it)
- grey water from shower now watering the backyard lawn (hose runs into a buried piece of ag pipe so it waters underground). Unfortunately we can't easily access the laundry grey water and we'd have the problem of what to do with it since you can't store it and we can't just have it run out into the back yard where the dogs can get to it and make themselves sick.
- 2500L rainwater tank installed down the side of the house and piping connected to water the back vegie gardens. We also have the "wine barrel" rainwater tank at the front of the house and it waters the front garden.
- garden is watered predominantly with rain water. So far this year I have only had 5 days where I needed to use mains water. When we use mains water, we use a watering can and limit usage. We also use water crystals in the soil and mulch to help minimise water requirements.
- All food waste composted (either compost heap or worm farms). We also use newspaper with mulch.
- growing some of our own vegies (not enough to avoid the shops completely, but a start)
- using organic gardening practices (no pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilisers etc..)
- recycling anything that can be recycled. Also making use of recycled materials around the house (e.g. turning bottoms of plastic bottles into seedling pots).
- using predominantly organic or at least "minimally processed" food, preferably locally sourced. I do still get torn between supporting organic farmers or local business (food production method vs food miles debate).
- using grey water safe cleaning and laundry products and not overusing these products (slight problem is that we have a cleaner and I don't know what he uses)
- clothes and linen from sustainable fibres like hemp, bamboo, or organic cotton.
- No plastic bags. In addition to the ubiquitous "green bags", I am a real fan of Onya weigh bags. They're small nylon net bags for loose fruit & veg like beans, peas, cherries etc.. They come in a little pouch that you can clip to your green bags. Actually, if you're crafty, you could probably make some. I also love those lightweight nylon bags that fold in on themselves into tiny bundles that can be easily carried in the handbag for emergencies.

Here's what we're working on:
- solar panels for the roof. Maybe solar hot water as well, depending on the outcome of our solar assessment.
- Magnetite window insulation (alternative to double glazing, which seems impossible to get) on the upstairs windows and master bedroom downstairs. Got a quote, just need to arrange a time to get everything measured and installed.
- another rainwater tank, preferable a big one on the lower terrace of the back yard to collect off the entertainment area roof.
- replacing the incredibly un-environmentally friendly Rodeo ute with something else. Since we're not doing SCA and therefore are not lugging copious amounts of stuff all over the country, we probably don't really need a ute. We do need a vehicle that the CPD can easily take onto work sites and preferably something that can transport the dogs when required. A station/sports wagon sort of thing would probably do. The CPD wants to go electric and possibly build his own fully electric car, since there are no fully electric cars on the market in Australia. If that turns out to be a longer term project, we may just go for something more fuel efficient like a Volkswagen Jetta Sportswagen TDI.
- in the next few years, replace the Elantra with something more fuel efficient. It actually isn't too bad, but we're hoping that in a few years, the electric technology will have improved and we can replace it with an electric car. I am tempted by the Honda Civic Hybrid if a fully electric option isn't available.
- fly less. Again, with us not doing SCA and therefore not flying interstate or to NZ every month, this should reduce. I know some airlines provide an option to purchase carbon credits with your flight, so maybe that's something to look into, because I would still like to get the odd holiday in every now and then.

Things that are a bit of a challenge:
- the two vehicle thing. The CPD needs a vehicle for work as he travels to a lot of sites that are inaccessible by public transport. Theoretically, I could use public transport to get to work, but I run into the problems of a) Wollongong public transport is abysmal, b) it would constrain my work hours in terms of when I arrive and leave and I need some flexibility here, c) lugging stuff to and from work on public transport would be an issue given my current feebleness. I know, lots of excuses. I honestly do think that if I lived somewhere with great public transport (like Melbourne), I'd happily be a public transport convert. Sadly Wollongong has a long way to go (well, NSW in general if you broaden it to include Cityrail). Cycling is not an option as I'm afraid of cars and lack the physical strength.

So that's where we're at. I'd be interested to hear what other folks are doing on the sustainable living front and any tips and tricks.