Resources and Energy
It takes a large amount of time, energy and resources to produce, store and transport the products we use everyday, and by just throwing them away we are losing these valuable commodities.
As most of the resources used cannot be replaced we are getting ever closer to running out entirely, preventing future generations from enjoying the luxuries we have today. It takes far less energy to reuse and recycle the items than it does to produce them from raw material. Take a glass bottle, by recycling it you could save enough energy to run a washing machine for 10 minutes (www.infoscotland.com/gogreener).
By throwing away our waste we fail to actually see it for the resource that it is. The food we chuck out can be used to produce a good fertiliser and scrap metal is a business all in itself. By changing the way we see our waste we can begin to see how we can benefit from what is often seen as 'rubbish' and the economic advantages it can bring.
Money
Waste can cost more money than we realise. Last year Scotland sent 1.26 million tonnes of municipal waste to landfills at a cost of £50.4 million (www.scotland.gov.uk) and with The British Gas Manufacturers' Confederation finding that recycling 1 tonne of glass saves around £15 in materials, landfills and collection costs it's clear that changing the way we deal with our waste can have a great impact on our finances.
By reducing the amount of waste we produce altogether we could greatly increase this saving. And it's not just the packaging that is costing us. Research by 'Love Food Hate Waste' has found that the average family could save up to £50 a month by reducing the amount of food we waste.
The Environment
There are many areas in the production of our consumables that affect the environment. Getting hold of the raw materials destroys valuable environments, while production produces toxins and every step of the way requires fossil fuels, contributing to climate change.
But this doesn't just end when we throw the items away. Waste that rots in our landfill sites release methane, a gas 21 times more damaging than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping heat in the earth's atmosphere (International Panel on Climate Change, IPCC).The liquid produced from the process is also a toxin which can be lethal to animals and plants when it leaks into the water supplies.
How we consume the materials available to us will determine how sustainable our lifestyle is and whether or not there will be the resources available for future generations. It's time to rethink how we treat the planets resources so that we use fewer of them, use them for longer and do better with the items that then become 'waste'. This attitude to waste is known as the 'Waste Hierarchy' and gives us a guide as to how we should treat the items we use.
Unfortunately, at the moment our society is geared towards the lower sections of the hierarchy and we need to change attitudes and practises to ensure that we live on the higher levels and for us to realise that waste is actually a resource.
*Sources: *www.wasteonline.org.uk, www.infoscotland.com/gogreener,
www.recyclenow.com, www.wrap.org.uk,
www.wasteawarescotland.org.uk
