Hobsons Bay residents are leading a charge to avoid single-use plastic and rubbish creation amid the Chinese recycling crisis.
Altona marine ecologist Matthew McArthur said finding plastic replacements was a key incentive, citing Boomerang Bags – cloth alternatives to plastic shopping bags – as great examples.
“So we’re now using beeswax replacement for things like cling wrap and keep cups instead of the disposables – and anywhere that we can find a way to get around packaging, we’re doing so,” he said.
He said The Rogue Ginger (Erin Rhoads), who is living an almost zero-waste lifestyle, was an inspiration.
“She actually carries four years of household waste around in a jar that she can take to schools and do presentations,” Mr McArthur said.
Mr McArthur, co-founder of the Altona Beach Patrol litter-removal group who recently returned from an Antarctic deployment, said volunteers removed rubbish for an hour a month along the foreshore.
“We generally remove 30 to 40 kilograms of plastic litter in that hour,” he said.
Hobsons Bay Boomerang Bags founder Marilyn Olliff said recycling in Australia had always been problematic.
“In other parts of the world, plastics and paper are clearly separated making recycling much more efficient and cost effective,” she said.
“By mixing our recycled waste in one bin, we make it very difficult for recycling centres.
“Now that we can no longer send this mixed waste to China, we will have to improve our recycling methods.
“This gives our governments excellent opportunities to set Australia-wide policies and regulations and to invest in innovative industries that turn waste into new products.”
