Ballito resident masters art of ‘refuse, reduce and reuse’

While most of us drag two or three bags of rubbish out every week to be hauled off to the landfill, the Black household in Ballito only put out one bag, a year.

“We have gone from putting out about one rubbish bag a week, to probably one bag a year,” said Colleen Black, who together with her husband, Erik, adopted the zero waste lifestyle in 2015.

“I strive to live a waste free life, because I want to love and care for God’s creation.”

She said this lifestyle focuses on living and experiencing, not accumulating and consuming.

“The point is to not send waste to the landfill and to recycle less. That’s right, recycling less. Bea Johnson of Zero Waste Home has a motto which is a life changer: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot – only in that order.”

It breaks down to the following:
– Refuse what we do not need (such as single use packaging).
– Reduce what we need (stop the mindless shopping of low quality goods).
– Reuse what we already have (jars, containers, bottles and bags to buy food and repair items).
– Recycle what we cannot reuse (ideally there should be very little left to recycle).
– Rot the rest (compost food waste).

She said at the beginning, the goal was to reduce the size of the black bag she put out every week, but it snowballed into a complete mindset shift.

“This lifestyle change affected our outlook on our entire lifestyle, not just our rubbish bin. We now do not even have a rubbish bin! I am saving time, saving money, we are healthier and most of all, we are so content. Living a simple life helps me focus on what matters to me.”

Black said you should not get fooled into thinking that recyclable or biodegradable products are necessarily good for the environment.

“Recycling is better than sending it to the landfill, but a lot of resources, such as oil, water and trees are used to produce recyclable or even biodegradable packaging and just because you place something in the recycling bin, does not mean it gets recycled.”

While it might seem impossible to start zero waste living, she said you can start small with these three, easy steps:

1. Refuse plastic shopping bags, take your own.
2. Refuse takeaway coffee cups, take your reusable cup. Some coffee shops even offer discounts when you do this.
3. When ordering your smoothie or mojito – remember to say “no straw please”. Sip or be real smart and snazzy and use your own reusable stainless steel straw available online.

For more tips about zero waste living, check out her Facebook page – Life Lived Simply and be sure to go the Zero Waste Home South Africa tour organised by Colleen at the Durban Botanic Gardens on May 8 from 1pm till 5pm.

Tickets cost R100 and are available from www.quicket.co.za

>>  Expect to find the latest trends in Health, Wellness and Beauty in Ballito.

>> Meet the top players in the North Coast property industry. See our Property People feature.

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