The Ultimate Green Home: Waste

Reduce, re-use, recycle - and repair, to cut back household waste. Photo / Supplied

Your home can be transformed into a lean, mean machine, making its own power, collecting and storing water, producing no waste and, most importantly, keeping you healthy. Here’s how - in a four-part series.

Humans are the only organisms on the planet where the waste created is not a direct fuel for another process. With planning we can minimise the waste created in our homes, and nourish the earth around us.

Auckland Council statistics show that the average landfill wheelie bin comprises of 15 per cent recyclables, 50 per cent organic waste and 35 per cent landfill waste. This equates to 160kg per person going to landfill each year.

Reduce

The best way to reduce waste coming from your home is to stop it coming in. Packaging makes up a large percentage of that landfill waste. Avoid supermarket bags and all single-use plastics (such as plastic straws, or buy compostable straws from the likes of friendlypak.co.nz), buy in bulk, buy products in recyclable containers, and look for suppliers who have stopped using materials like polystyrene to pack their products and instead replaced them with recyclable or compostable alternatives.

Re-use

The re-use of household items may add another single or multiple uses of a package or jar before it is sent for recycling, saving the energy it takes to produce another one. Many items can be repurposed for use in another way, particularly in the garden. Our gardening columnist Janet Luke is an expert at this - check out greenurbanliving.co.nz.

Repair

Things are usually easier to repair than they seem. Give it a crack.

Recycle

The range of recyclable materials is reasonably wide, but it can be expanded further. Pressure your local councillor or government minister to put in place the recycling of plant-based plastics such as PLA (entirely derived from maize), and plastics such as plastic bags. Pressure your supermarket or grocery supplier to replace packaging (such as meat trays) which cannot be recycled to something which can. Again, friendlypak.co.nz already has these well under development.

While recycling is an option, why does it only represent 15 per cent of the waste collected, and even worse, much less is actually recycled?

Packaging is usually contaminated with food so can't be recycled, so it makes sense to use compostable packaging, then food and packaging can be composted together. Hassle your favourite takeaway joint to adopt compostable/recyclable containers. Polystyrene is the worst, and can neither be recycled or composted.

Compost

Compost bins, worm farms or bokashi are all effective ways of dealing with organic waste, and provide a valuable resource to renew garden soils - particularly if they are used for food production in the vegetable garden.

More contentious are the water-based food waste units, such as the InSinkErator brand. Food waste ends up in the water treatment plants, where the methane produced from the food breaking down is used to power the plant.

Despite criticism of the units, Element has interviewed Watercare staff, who say that the extra volume of material makes "little-to-no difference" to the plant's operation.

Sewage

The modern water-based system is undoubtedly a waste of perfectly good drinking water, but also of valuable nutrients. While it's not for everyone, a composting toilet is a far more eco-friendly option, producing (after the appropriate time) brilliant compost for your garden. They are clean, tidy and not at all offensive. Explore online.

On-site waste water (known as 'black water' - from your toilet/kitchen and 'grey water - from laundry, showers, basins etc) treatment for rural or semi-rural properties is also an eco-friendly option.

There are many systems, such as septic tanks and sand filters, wetland systems and aerobic systems. Again, there are plenty of options to explore online. Council regulations will govern the use of some of these in certain situations and must be researched. Check out the NaturalFlow Wastewater and Sewage system - which combines various forms of established passive treatments and natural processes which effectively reduces the solid waste by up to 95 per cent.

Building

Responsible disposal of treated timber off cuts if possible through greengorilla.co.nz. Do not burn treated timber - especially CCA treated timber as it can emit toxins into the air.

Check out more tips:

• The Ultimate Green Home: Air
• The Ultimate Green Home: Water
• The Ultimate Green Home: Energy

Further reading: A Deeper Shade of Green, edited by Johann Bernhardt, is a seminal work in green building and living. To get a copy contact the publisher aaltobooks.co.nz or to email aaltobooks@xtra.co.nz.

If you'd like to learn how to make your building or renovation project more eco-friendly, you can book a free two-hour consultation with a specialist eco design advisor through Auckland Council. To book a meeting or to arrange a presentation at an event, call 0508 326 337 or email Eion Scott on eion.scott@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz.