Reducing Household
Waste

When we think about household waste we tend to think about what we put in rubbish bins for collection by the council each week. That’s certainly part of it but SCEG is keen to help us all to think more holistically than that. Really we should be thinking in circles, that is, thinking about ourselves living in a “circular economy”.

The circular economy is a model of resource production and consumption where products are reused and recycled to reduce the burden on natural resources. Our role as the consumers  in the circular economy, is to consider what we buy and use with a  view to the inevitability that the good will need to be recycled or reused when it is no longer needed.

Obviously there are many challenges as it is also incumbent on producers to provide goods that can be reused or recycled. Consumers have the power to change what producers do by buying and acting in ways that will encourage producers to do this.

Learn about how to use your household bins and where to drop off recycle materials surfcoast.vic.gov.au/Property/Waste-and-recycling

Geelong Sustainability has a number of resources and videos on lifestyles in a circular economy geelongsustainability.org.au/zero-waste/

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, one of the leading proponents of the  circular economy produced this useful video: