MY ZERO WASTE AUSTRALIA BEGINNINGS

I confess, my zero waste Australia beginnings were quite challenging for me. When my boyfriend and I moved to Australia, I was heartbroken about the fact, that I had to leave my vermicompost and my quite successful zero waste starts in Slovakia. For example, in our new apartment on the Gold Coast, there was no opportunity for composting. As a result, I recycled just plastic waste. So I cried inside every single time I had to put my kitchen scraps into the red bin with mixed waste. And it all went to landfill.

HOW TO COMPOST WITHOUT A COMPOST BIN?

We were planning to move further in the next three months. So I started searching for how I could compost my kitchen scraps without buying a new composter. And I found ShareWaste. ShareWaste helps you find someone in your neighbourhood who is open to accepting extra scraps. Or you can become the one who will be willing to take it 😉
Unfortunately, I did not find any compost bins close to my place. But! I love walking and exploring. And through one of my tours, I found a community garden with compost bins. I asked them if I could bring my kitchen scraps regularly into their compost. And do you know what happened? They said YES, and I started my weekly 20-minutes walking with a backpack full of kitchen scraps to the community garden. Easy. And what’s more – walking is a big plus for your figure 😉

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RESPONSIBLE SHOPPING

And what else did I do? I found a beautiful bulk shop and made my first purchase of this kind. And I was soooo excited! I could not wait for my next visit. I could weigh and pack everything I needed. And you have compostable paper bags available for free, but I always had my containers to reduce waste as much as possible. I started to buy flours, chickpeas (this means that I stopped buying chickpeas in cans and also stopped creating more and more waste. So I began to purchase dry chickpeas and use my bag). These stores are usually more expensive than traditional supermarkets. So I compare the prices, and if it is just a bit more expensive, I would be happy to pay a little bit more and get a good feeling that I will not create more waste.

I consider these two steps as a big success in my zero waste life and also in my new zero waste life in Australia. And I am looking forward to the next ones. What about you?