For millions of us heading into work every morning, it’s only natural to grab a coffee to go.
But did you know that inside those seemingly innocent paper cups is a non-biodegradable plastic lining that can end up in landfill or stick around as pollution in our environment for hundreds of years, breaking into hazardous tiny pieces of “microplastic”?
Australians use an estimated 1 billion takeaway cups each year: our daily ritual has become the second largest contributor to litter waste after plastic bottles.
However, like other environmental issues - including climate change - it can be hard to see the bigger picture when such small habits have such huge impacts, every day, all around the world.
So what are some of the simple changes we could make to help save the planet, and in many cases save us money as well?
Daily habits have huge impacts
When it comes to making a difference, it’s often just a question of thinking about the consequences of your current choices and then taking appropriate action.
When plastic bottles of water were first introduced in the 1980s, Australians figured they wouldn’t be conned into paying for something they could get almost free from a tap.
Yet it seems we’re spending $500 million on the stuff every year, while contributing to the 3 tons of carbon dioxide released for every ton of PET (polyethylene terephthalate, derived from crude oil) to make the bottles. This isn’t even counting the energy used for transport, refrigeration and disposal.
Clean Up Australia says plastic bottles are one of the 10 most common items of rubbish picked up each year: this is a clear example of where we should be turning back the clock and avoiding the stuff altogether. One town has even banned them.
From local to global, change starts at home
Minimising waste in all aspects of our lives is one of the simplest and the best ways to help out our world, our health and also our wallets.
Why not start buying local, fresh, unpackaged produce in the weekly shop?
While the “food miles” issue is a complex one, research has shown a typical Australian food basket may include more than 20,000km of road freight alone, creating more greenhouse emissions than buying similar produce closer to home. (Those Californian oranges in the aisle, for instance, travel about 12,000km to get here.)
When we travel, we can buy tickets that offset our carbon emissions, and at home we could walk or cycle more, or use car share services like Car Next Door or GoGet - who say for every shared car used, nine private vehicles are taken off the road.
Technology, enabled by the Internet of Things, is bringing us savings in everything from maintaining swimming pools to keeping track of power bills (which could be carbon off-set or come from green sources).
But solutions don’t even have to be hi-tech, providing there is a bright, ethically-sound idea at its heart. Increasingly, innovative products like Who Gives a Crap toilet paper are making sure simple daily actions have positive impact both locally and globally.
Is any of this really making a difference?
One thing we are collectively good at already is recycling.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show almost all (98%) of households recycle, with nine out of 10 using their local council’s kerbside collections to do so.
As well as paper, glass and plastics, we can also recycle more complex items like mobile phones and electronic waste generated from outdated TVs and computers.
Yet we still generate 606kg of waste per person annually: more than Canada (411kg), Germany (555kg), and England (574kg), but less than the US (927kg).
And it’s not just about waste but also about energy used to make the items in the first place and keep them running over their lifetimes.
Australian government estimates say by 2021 we could be saving more than $600 million on our water and energy bills, simply by using more efficient appliances and products.
No one likes waste and it’s simple to fix. So why not start making some positive change in at least one aspect of your life and start feeling the difference immediately?
