I slipped in the weekend. I didn't buy any consumer goods, but I did buy a juice for lunch on Saturday that came in a nasty plastic cup. Took a while for the penny to drop. And then - I regret to say, I did exactly the same thing on Sunday. Duh! I was a bit astonished when I realised my mistake, as I have been actively trying to not buy food in non recyclable plastics. Have been paying strict attention to the numbers on the bottom of containers - 1,2 and 3 can be recycled, 4 and above can't. Anyway, won't (hopefully) do that again in a hurry.
I have also started to notice the financial benefits. It wasn't part of my reason for participating, but am finding that money definitely stays in my wallet longer. I hate to think how much money has seeped away to be spent on things I didn't really need. Knocking impulse buying on the head is definitely a good thing.
The Compact is getting quite a lot of airplay now - Fran Kelly interviewed one of the original San Fran Compact members on Radio National this morning, and Maggie Alderson has committed to the Compact and is writing about it in her weekly column in Good Weekend.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
The seepage from one's wallet is the thing that gave me the biggest shock and then you think about the braoder ramifications - the environment, waste, needs v wants, consumerism v social justice, equitable use of resources and well, people decide to change!
It's a treadmill too. I remember working really long hours,earning good money but not having much time to do anything else.... I could always get down to the shops in my lunch hour. I was not a rampant consumer but I still buy stuff that I didn't need but felt I deserved for working hard etc. That way of life did not make me happier!
I'm glad there's a local(ish) group compacting - perhaps the tide is turning.
Nada
Thought you might be interested to know that recycling numbers on plastics from 1 to 8 is now possible in the municipality of Whitehorse (Victoria). Of course, that will be the case elsewhere, and it doesn't mean that there's less need to stop consuming. It does mean that fewer nasties go into land-fill.
Ros.
Hi alana
Following on from Ros' comment about Whitehorse, if you live in any council that uses Visy recycling you can actually chuck all solid plastics in your recycling bin and Visy can separate them out. (Cling wrap and plastic bags and so on stuff up the machinery.)
PMcC
Thanks for info re plastics - will check with the Council.
I am with you on this one Nada - I suspect we buy things to make ourselves feel better about working - it's like the stuff is the prize - need it or not, want it or not. And the obvious answer is if we didn't consume so much stuff we wouldn't need so much money and we wouldn't have to work so hard ...
Post a Comment