Do You Buy Garbage?

I had a mini revelation the other morning:

We buy garbage.

I’m not talking glib about products of low quality or junk food. I’m being quite literal.

We (people) buy stuff that we intend to throw away immediately. We pay for garbage.

Would you go to the tip and buy a bag of rubbish? No? Now, do you go to the supermarket and buy a bag of rubbish?

When you think about it, that’s exactly what we do. We take this for granted. But when you really think about it, it’s absolutely ridiculous.

Packaging, specifically non-recyclable packaging, is a good example of buying garbage. “Individually wrapped for your convenience” really gets my goat: garbage (yes, a glib remark about junk food), wrapped in garbage (plastic inner bag), wrapped in garbage (plastic outer bag) and taken home in garbage (plastic shopping bag).

Cling wrapand anything ‘disposable’ is another example of paying money for garbage.

Waste management begins at consumption. What sits in the bin at the end of our driveway and eventually goes into landfill is our own responsibility. It’s not the council’s, not the government’s but the responsibility of each and every one of us. It’s our individual choices at the point of consumption that result in waste and waste management issues. Stop buying garbage and waste management problems are significantly reduced.

Save money and reduce your waste at the same time by considering the buying choices that you make. Do you need stuff in all that packaging? When it comes to food it is usually junk anyway. Is there a non-disposable alternative? Is there a recyclable or biodegradable alternative? Can you make it yourself? Of course, the answer isn’t always going to be positive, we’ll still be buying stuff in plastic for a while, but baby steps to less makes a big difference. Start small, pick on thing at a time and make smart changes that last a lifetime and maybe many, many more.

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Have you read these posts?

1. A Novel Alternative To Plastic Shopping Bags As Bin Liners
2. An Alternative To Plastic Fruit And Veg Bags
3. Can You Afford to Buy a House?
4. everything I want, money can’t buy
5. Waste And Recycling – Beyond The Bin