I'm trying not to focus on the discouraging news these days and instead looking for something good in the world. Trash in itself seems depressing, but the good news is there are lots of innovative ideas to reduce it.
Limiting trash is something we can all participate in.
Living in London after the WWII years, my family were extremely frugal. We cut up old clothes to make new ones, unraveled sweaters and knitted new ones. Any leftover fabric I made into quilts and finally anything not used I grabbed a friend and we hauled my dad's old kit bag full of clothes and rags to the rag man - he gave us a few pennies which was my pocket money. But today we are a throwaway society.
Zac Efron is highlighting sustainable ways to live on his Down to Earth Netflix show.
Dow Chemical is working on a circular road for plastic, designing products that can easily be recycled. Hop on over to their Don't Waste site for more information.
Park 20/20 is an ecological business park just outside Amsterdam.
Kalundborg Symbiosis in Copenhagen is a group of companies which have developed a circular form of production in which one company's residue becomes a resource for another.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation develops and promotes ideas for a circular economy.
The Boer Group in Europe collects, sorts and resells up to 460 tons of clothing and textiles a day. Employees sort the clothes for resale, or recycling. Clothing can be reused in different ways ($450 billion worth of clothes are thrown away each year).
Love Food Hate Waste shows people how they can use more of their food and throw away less.
Iceland is generating energy by using the magma beneath Iceland's lava fields. Texas is also researching use of geothermal energy.
Copenhill in Denmark is becoming the first carbon neutral capital, using trash to build waste to energy plants.
Leggo plans to use recycled plastic bottles in their bricks.
India has invented flying solar panels to be placed over canals to stop water evaporation.
Collaboration in Alliance to End Plastic.
PolarTec - Uses plastic bottles to make knit fabric.
What can we do?
Fly or drive less. Plan errands rather than driving unnecessarily.
Eat all the food you buy. (Leftover vegetables can be frozen to use as soup later, compost any remaining vegetables and fruit).
Use clothing for a longer period of time (have an exchange party with friends to swap clothes, have a yard sale or donate.)
Recycle what you can, but at least try and use each item more than once.
For frugal ideas take a look at my Penny Saved Blog. Or my Penny Saved book on Amazon.
