James Willoughby says getting used to recycling is a matter of changing your mindset. One of the ways he reuses waste is with a worm farm. Photo / Kenny Rodger
James Willoughby is no waster. He reduces, reuses and recycles just about everything. And it's not actually that difficult, says the 34-year-old.
"It's just a mindset. You can reduce your waste by taking small steps. It's simple enough to make small changes but it can make a huge
difference collectively."
Mr Willoughby, who works at the Auckland Regional Council as a sustainable neighbourhoods adviser, certainly practises what he preaches.
He lives in Onehunga with his wife, Meredith, 34, and their 16-month-old daughter Charlotte and they recycle everything they can. And at the end of the week they only have one shopping bag of landfill waste.
The family have turned their back on disposable nappies and opted for washable nappies for Charlottte.
"It was one of our biggest accomplishments. Friends said we would only last one month but we persevered and now it's effortless."
While the nappies required an initial outlay of $500, Mr Willoughby said they would work out cheaper in the long-term than buying disposable nappies. They also use washing powder from the Eco Store.
The family has two compost bins and a worm farm to deal with their organic waste.
"We don't have a big garden. We have a rotating system where we use one compost bin for breaking down the matter and the other for compost for the garden."
The worm farm is valuable for the vermicast (worm waste), which can be used as fertiliser for the garden.
The family separates their rubbish for recycling. Plastics, glass, tins and paper are all put out for collection. "It's second nature now. It's just as easy to separate your paper as it is to lift up the lid and put it in the rubbish with everything else," he said.
They buy 90 per cent of their cleaning products from the Eco Store and buy products with less packaging.
"It's just a mind-set and a matter of making small behavioural changes. [My advice is to] start with one thing, whether it's sorting your paper waste, then move on to the next."
