The average Queensland household generates around 515kg of waste each year, according to Queensland Government waste data. An audit can help you to understand more about your own personal waste patterns.
Zero waste audit in 5 steps
You might like to consider conducting your home waste audit over a few weeks so that you can carefully track your patterns and establish a baseline of data for your household.
Record your findings for each of these five steps, adapted from the NSW Government City of Ryde waste audit booklet.
- Firstly, assess your food. A DIY pantry audit will help you to organise your kitchen, but a food waste audit encourages you to spend a week or so itemising and recording every single food item you throw out. You could record what (e.g. cooked rice, uncooked meat); how much (e.g. a handful, a medium-sized container); where you put it (e.g. normal bin, compost); and why you threw it out (e.g. use by, didn’t want it).
- Next, focus on single-use plastics (e.g. water bottles, food packaging). Note if they end up in the recycling bin or elsewhere, as well as why you threw each item out.
- Thirdly, take a look at other waste from your house. This might include bigger stuff such as goods or furniture, but also things like clothes, e-waste and other less frequent but still impactful contributions to your overall waste.
- Now that you know your main waste outputs, ask yourself how you could buy better. Even simple choices like buying fruit and vegetables without packaging can help. It’s also worth stopping to consider whether you need the item in the first place. And if you do, could you source it secondhand? Could you borrow from a friend?
- Swap it out. A small but simple change you can make is to swap the disposable items in your life for re-usables. Things like straws, tissues, coffee cups, water bottles – all of these and many more have reusable alternatives that are easy and affordable.
These tips are compiled using information from the following sources: Waste Wise Ryde (NSW Gov), Waste Management and Resource Recovery Strategy, Community Summary (Qld Gov); Tips from zero waste bloggers (WWF).
Understanding the problem
Rubbish is one of the most visible sustainability problems of our planet. As a result, it’s something that many of us are conscious of and want to do more about. But, sometimes, it’s hard to understand how our personal actions connect to the bigger picture.
Waste sent to landfill – or otherwise ending up in our waterways, oceans or other parts of the environment – causes wide-ranging environmental issues and contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.
Tackling waste at a macro level is therefore an essential part of protecting our natural environment and minimising the impact of climate change.
The Australian Government National Waste Policy and the Queensland Government Waste Management and Resources Recovery Strategy outline the national and local waste landscape in more detail.
The Queensland strategy articulates a vision for the state to become a “zero-waste society”. As the strategy explains, a zero-waste approach goes far beyond waste reduction (and even re-use and recycling) to encompass a holistic, circular economy approach to production and consumption.
The Zero Waste International Alliance (an international body dedicated to driving the adoption of zero waste principles globally) provides an international definition that quantifies zero waste as the “conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery”.
This means governments, corporations and communities must all do their bit to address global waste challenges.
Understanding your impact
As we mentioned at the start of this DIY article, Queensland household waste weighs in at an average of around 515kg per year. And the amount of waste our state produces is growing faster than our population, the Queensland community waste strategy notes.
Your individual zero waste actions will not only have a direct impact on minimising the amount of rubbish you send to landfill, but you may also become part of a broader consumer push for change.
By potentially choosing different product or packaging options – or adapting your purchasing and other behaviours – based upon zero waste principles, you can be part of a broader social, economic and environmental movement.
Where to next?
This is part of our DIY sustainability series, created for UQ Sustainability Week and beyond. The series offers simple suggestions and fun activities for students, staff and members of the public who would like to increase sustainability-related actions in their daily lives.