Sunday Territorian
Did you know Australians produce more waste per capita than anywhere else in the world?
Each Australian averages 2.25kg of waste per day, a recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report revealed. Planet Ark said that figure was alarming and we needed to reduce the impact of our waste use. The 13th National Recycling Week, which begins tomorrow, aims to raise awareness of the necessity to reduce our environmental footprint.
This year's message is Recycle Right. Householders, schools and businesses are encouraged to conserve resources, save water and ultimately help combat climate change. Recycling is an easy way to help address climate change.
The more we recycle, the greater the environmental benefit as we are not only minimising the output of carbon dioxide, the biggest climate change contributor, we're also conserving valuable resources and saving water and energy.
More than 90 per cent of Australians use household kerbside collections to recycle bottles, cans, jars and paper.
This is a great start, however, to Recycle Right we need to make sure we're putting the right things into our recycling bins.
When the wrong items go in a household recycling bin, we contaminate the entire contents of the bin and reduce the effectiveness of the whole recycling process. For example, a single plastic bag can shut down an entire material recovery facility if it gets caught in the machinery; and just five grams of drink-ware glass or Pyrex in a recycling bin can contaminate a tonne of bottle and jar glass because it melts at a different temperature.
Planet Ark spokeswoman Rebecca Gilling said recycling right was one of the most important things we can do to address climate change.
"When we Recycle Right we minimise contamination, we conserve resources and we reduce our impact on the environment,'' she said.
Reycling is not limited to kerbside waste removal. Plenty of people in the Northern Territory can benefit from secondhand goods such as clothes or furniture. Goods can be donated to charity shops or through websites such as mumswap.com.au
For more information on what you can and can't recycle in your local area or on National Recycling Week, go to recyclingweek.planetark.org or call the National Recycling Hotline on 1300 733 712.