By Melodie Veldhuizen
World Environment Day is celebrated annually on 5 June. Although it is everybody’s responsibility to conserve our environment in our daily lives, it is an opportunity for a new focus on how to live sustainably.
A sustainable way of life means that we must live in such a way that good health and wellbeing are promoted without damage to the environment and wildlife.
How much of your family’s household refuse lands on the garbage dump every day? Do you also contribute to the pollution of our dams and rivers – our precious water resources? Are you coresponsible for the annihilation of our marine life? Have you also burnt waste products and in that way made a foul-smelling and unhealthy contribution to air pollution?
Let us take hands and make an earnest effort to conserve the earth, which our children and grandchildren must inherit from us some day. Or, even better, let us teach them too how to live sustainably.
How can we live sustainably?
The first step is refusal, which already starts outside your house. Do not accept disposable items such as plastic eating utensils, drinking straws, food packaging or plastic shopping bags. Most of these products take billions of years to decompose. This will prevent you from carting home unnecessary items that you are in any case going to dispose of. Choose alternatives such as products with no or as little as possible packaging. If you do have to buy a packaged product, choose recyclable packaging, such as a recyclable type of plastic or glass, cardboard or paper. You should also think twice before accepting the packets of flavouring that come with take-away meals, or the pamphlets distributed in shopping centres, even if they are recyclable. You will have to make a plan with every unnecessary item that you carry home like a crow. If you are in doubt, rather leave it alone.
Reduction starts with a mindshift and entails getting rid of redundant items, also when you want to or have to get new items. When you tidy up cupboards and drawers, think carefully about each item. Do you really need more than one of a specific household item? Donate redundant stuff to needy people. Think twice before buying anything new. Do you really need it or do you want to buy it just because its on sale or because its pretty to you? Instead of buying a new household appliance to replace a defect one, first see if it cannot be repaired. Buy smarter – if you need something, for instance appliances or products, first check out second-hand stores, antique markets, Gumtree or Bidorbuy. Not only is a good second-hand buy good for the planet, but also for your pocket. Buy versatile and durable products or products that can be repaired, if necessary. If a device is battery-operated, choose one with rechargeable batteries.
Reuse needs a creative look at everything in your house – especially those things you reckon should be thrown away. There are many ways in which many items in your home can be reused that you would otherwise have thrown away. First try to look at everything you want to recycle or throw away from a reuse angle and ask: How can we use this again? Any household item can be used for more than one purpose. Old towels can, for instance, become floorcloths. Use cloth serviettes instead of paper serviettes. Instead of asking for a plastic bag at the supermarket every time, take along your own shopping bags. Glass bottles and flasks of different sizes can be used for all sorts of things – from storing dry ingredients to keeping leftovers that have to go to the fridge or that you want to freeze. They are also ideal for packing homemade gifts such as cookies or sweets, or as candle holders. Teabags kept in a flask with paraffin are handy for getting a braai fire going. Empty milk tins can be used in the garage for storing screws, nails and bolts, or in the house for toys and stationery. Reuse gift bags and paper and ribbons over and over. Cardboard containers like those in which you buy tomatoes, become cute little boxes in which gifts such as homemade cookies can be packed. Even though paper is recyclable, first see if it can be reused before you recycle it. Use it for art projects such as papier-mâché with which you keep your children busy. Use the reverse sides of printed documents as notepaper, or cut it into smaller squares for your shopping lists. Use cardboard containers for storing stuff that you don’t want to dispose of right now.
Recycling is our very last option if refusal didn’t work and we could not reduce or reuse 100%. Apart from the fact that recycling takes a lot of energy, there aren’t strict enough legislation or other regulations that control recycling. If recycling in our country is to be done justice, there should be better control measures. And unfortunately not everything is recyclable. Of course recycling is a better alternative than sending all refuse to a refuse dump. The positive side of recycling is that it saves energy, conserves natural resources, keeps certain materials away from refuse dumps and out of the oceans, and that it creates jobs.
What can currently be recycled in South Africa?
Recycled products differ from neighbourhood to neighbourhood and from service provider to service provider. But the following are usually recyclable: cardboard; white paper; newsprint; aluminium cans (soft-drink cans) and steel cans (canned food); glass; certain types of plastic
How to do it
Find out where you can recycle what in your neighbourhood. It’s easier for everybody if you recycle only what the service provider can handle. Find out where in your neighbourhood you can offload the items. At certain shopping centres there are specific containers for this purpose. Put your recycling containers in a convenient place such as in the kitchen or at the back door, garage or storeroom. It should preferably be sheltered so that the paper and cardboard don’t get wet. Dirty and contaminated plastic cannot be recycled. Therefore, rinse it down and allow it to dry before you put it in the recycle container. Also find out where you can offload electronic refuse and electrical items so that the parts can be reused. There are recycling companies that will recycle these items in a responsible way. If you have to cart away you recycling material yourself, make it part of your weekly routine. This prevents the accumulation of refuse and the concomitant frustration and irritation of overflowing containers.
Unfortunately there are items that one cannot dispose of in the above-mentioned ways. Organic refuse must also be addressed. Fold vegetable peels in old newspapers and make it part of the compost heap together with all garden waste such as leaves and grass cuttings.
Other ways of living sustainably
Water saving in and around the house is one of the easiest ways of living sustainably. Install water-efficient toilets, use water-efficient washers and use water-saving showerheads. Make sure that there are no leaking taps, pipes or toilets in the house or on the premises.
Plant plants and trees that are drought-tolerant because they use less water. You can also harvest rainwater and reuse wastewater.
Make less use of your car. If possible, use public transport, arrange a carpool, use a bicycle or walk. This will reduce the carbon footprint, which leads to air pollution.
Grow your own bvegetables, fruit and herbs. You don’t need a big area for that.
Reduce household energy consumption. Switch off lights and other electrical appliances when they are not in use, or use energy-efficient electrical appliances. Use solar energy instead of a tumble dryer and use your oven as little as possible.
If you are not already living sustainably, start doing it today. Encourage your children to become involved and make it a family project.
Sources
Conserve Energy. https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/sustainable-living-principles-benefits-and-examples.php
Be the story. https://www.be-the-story.com/en/environment/5-rs-to-make-your-life-more-sustainable/
Eartheasy. https://learn.eartheasy.com/guides/recycling-basics-for-the-home/
LiG. https://lig.christians.co.za/plastiekvrye-julie-4-herwin-herwin-herwin/
LiG. https://lig.christians.co.za/ons-leen-die-aarde-by-ons-kinders/
Vrouekeur. https://www.vrouekeur.co.za/funksie-artikels/herwin-hergebruik-en-hersikleer
Foto krediet: Noah Buscher | Pexels
