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A talk at Whangaparāoa Library this month is designed to share ideas that could help reduce people’s reliance on single-use plastics.
Presenter Courtenay Hunt of Auckland Council’s Wastewise team says rather than overwhelm people with the size of the problem, she wants to empower them to do something about it.
“I start with philosophical things – the connections between humans and the environment, what people value and want to see in the world they live in,” she says. “But highlighting the problems as we try to achieve zero waste can be overwhelming, so I focus on what individuals can do because that’s within our control. It’s about doing what we can, thinking about it and making small changes.”
The talk, How to Make it a Plastic-free July, is part of an international Plastic Free July movement.
Plastic Free July is a charitable foundation in Australia. Its global campaign began in 2011 and now has more than 100 countries involved. Council began promoting it around five years ago.
Courtenay, whose previous jobs included working with Mahurangi Wastebusters, says creating less waste starts with thinking about what we buy – from how it is packaged to choosing second hand and reusable items.
Starting points include using reusable drink bottles and hot drink cups and replacing plastic food wrap with beeswax, paper or reusable plastic containers.
“Have a look in your rubbish bin or bag at the single use offenders and see what you can do about that.”
She says for some people it might eventually include not only changing their buying habits, but asking questions of companies that continue to produce single use packaging – from petfood to snacks.
“It only creates 30 days to make a new habit, and once you start, it can get addictive,” she says. “My presentation is not only for people who are starting to think about waste, but even those who think they are doing all they can and might share ideas. There’s always something to learn.”
The free, How to Make it a Plastic-Free July talk is on at Whangaparāoa Library, Tuesday, July 16, 11am. All welcome.
Info: www.plasticfreejuly.org/, https://wastenothing.co.nz/zero-waste-programmes/waste-minimisation/zero-waste-at-home/ or look for Plastic Free July Aotearoa on Facebook for online tools and YouTube clips.
