The excellent three-part documentary War and Waste on ABC TV gave us plenty of food for thought and made this journalist’s household committed to reduce our waste as much as we can and hopefully inspire others to do so too.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
We think we still live in a pristine, untouched area but slowly the plastic tide is starting to encroach on our oceans. Pictured left are Stuart Cameron, Yuin Kelly and Loanna Panton with garbage collected from Wallaga Beach under the auspices of the Wilderness Coast Weeds Project with the data sent off to a Tangaroa Blue AMDI database of pollution. This is evidence the problem is growing.
We can all make a difference by taking reusable shopping bags to the supermarkets and shops, not buying disposable coffee cups and just being less focussed on consuming, not buying new clothes outfits all the time and making do with what we have.
Fortunately we seem to have a very proactive council in the Eurobodalla, which is supporting programs trying to ban single-use plastic bags, but it really comes down to each household and consumer doing more and demanding more from government and businesses.
Until we get plastic bags banned, I think it would be great to see the local supermarkets actually recycling plastic shopping bags and making things such as park benches out of them. Local coffee shops should stop selling disposable coffee cups, or at least start offering discounts for reusable cups.
Lets see the big supermarkets reduce their strangely strict standards for fruit and veg, which results in tonnes of good food being thrown away. Demand and buy imperfect fruit and only buy what you need as we all throw out too much.
Waste will only be brought down to manageable levels if we as consumers demand more. It is great that the bottle recycling scheme is coming to NSW soon, or at least we hope so as that makes a huge difference in encouraging recycling.
Let's make the crew at Keo Films Australia, the same crew behind River Cottage Australia and now the War on Waste, and host Craig Reucassel proud by having the Narooma district wage its own war on waste. We already have a head start with our proactive council and community groups such as Landcare and weeds projects.
Contact us here at the Narooma News with your war on waste ideas and let’s make this happen! – Stan Gorton.
Stan Gorton
Walkley-nominated journalist based at The Islander on Kangaroo Island with an interest in the local community and the environment.
Walkley-nominated journalist based at The Islander on Kangaroo Island with an interest in the local community and the environment.
