Food Waste Challenge

This week's challenge is to eliminate all of our organic food waste from the rubbish bin. In Australia, 50% of household waste and 30% of all the waste we throw away is organic.  This is harmful to the environment because when organic waste breaks down in landfill sites, it produces: a) methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas; and b) acids, which leach into the earth and contaminate groundwater.

Elimination of food waste can be done by:

• Reducing the amount we produce;
• Feeding leftover food to the chickens and worms as appropriate;
• Disposing of all other food waste (in our household, mainly citrus peel, onion and avocado skins, egg shells, bones and bread) in a Bokashi bin. The pickled contents can be added to compost or buried in the garden when it's full.

Recycling Challenge

This week, we've set ourselves the challenge of reducing the amount of waste we produce to one small bag of rubbish per week. The aim is to:

• Avoid the accumulation of waste;
• Recycle 95% of food waste through the chickens and worm farm;
• Recycle all hard plastic, paper, cardboard and aluminium by placing it in the household recycling bin provided by Gold Coast City Council;
• Recycle all soft plastic by placing it in the Coles supermarket recycling bins.

The Coles supermarket scheme is worth a special mention. They've got together with recycling company RED Group and manufacturer Replas to turn plastic bags and packaging into outdoor furniture for Australian pre-schools and primary schools. What a great idea!!!