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Don’t waste our environment: 'And man created the plastic bag and the tin and aluminium can and the cellophane wrapper and the paper plate and the disposable bottle, and this was good because Man could then take his automobile and buy his food all in one place and he could save that which was good to eat in the refrigerator and throw away that which had no further use. And pretty soon the earth was covered with plastic bags and aluminium cans and paper plates and disposable bottles, and there was nowhere left to sit down or walk. And man shook his head and cried, "Look at all this God-awful litter".'

Art Buchwald, 1970

MYTHS

We only buy what we need. We are careful to purchase only products that are good for us and our environment.

FACTS

When it comes to waste we are brilliant at creating it. Most of us buy and use much more than we could ever need – these items are called ‘stuff’ or ‘dust gatherers’. Only 1% of all items purchased are still in use six months later. How did this happen?

According to research conducted by Roy Morgan Research in 2004, the average South Australian household wasted $1,226 on goods purchased but never used. Residents of Adelaide alone waste the equivalent of a month’s mortgage each year on stuff that we never or seldom use. Discarded food makes up most of this waste. Between now and 2040, humans will consume more resources since we first stood on two legs (that’s a long, long time ago). This picture show an average family with one month's worth of their waste.

First the good news – Australians are pretty good at household recycling. In the last 20 years we have gone from recycling 15% of recyclable household waste to 95%. Well done to all of us!

Even better? South Australians are pretty much leading the country in recycling! We’re getting 68% of our waste recycled, just behind the ACT who manages 69%, but yards ahead of Queensland which only manages 27%. Even with our excellent recycling rates, we think we could do better - we can lift our game!

But we will not preserve our way of life through household recycling alone. This is but another piece of the 1000-piece puzzle that we must solve to return our environment to good health and halt man-made climate change.

One of the big parts of this puzzle that we need to start thinking about is what we really need and what we don’t need. We will quickly realise that real sacrifice won’t be required. Cutting back on this extra ‘stuff’ doesn’t mean cutting back on quality of life: living standards are not tied to consumption rates.

For us here in Adelaide, much of our consumption is simply wasteful, and if anything, is contributing to a decline in quality of life rather than an increase. Downsize your stuff, upsize your wellbeing.

“We used to be hunter-gatherers, now we’re shopper-borrowers.”  Robin Williams

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