Is your secret plastic bag stash is coming to an end? If you have stopped using plastic at the checkout, what will you line your bin with?
It is one of the most frequent questions we are asked, so we will share a few tips and tricks with you.
What are 4 easy and affordable ways to line your bin without plastic?
1. Newspaper
If you don't receive a newspaper, keep an eye out at friends or around town for something similar. There are plenty of fancy folded origami like techniques on youtube but you can simply stuff a few sheets into the base of your bin. You will only require 2-4 sheets so you can create a few liners from one edition. Repurposing and reusing success.
image via Daily Dump
2. A Reusable Liner
There are various Bin Liners emerging that are to be washed and reused. These vary from waterproof lined and shaped bags to simply reusing an old pillowcase. We like the idea of using something you already have around the home, so you could try the old pillow case trick.
3. A Home Compostable Bag
These bags are a handy first step to those of you home composting. Learning what is in your rubbish is a great exercise in identifying trends and areas to target and reduce. Wet sloppy food scraps are often the main 'yick' part of dealing with your rubbish however there are a couple of suggestions you could try.
Stock base veges: Tops and tails of vege's, onion skins and 'didn't make dinner' leftovers can be popped into the freezer. Keep a container or bag easy to reach to help encourage you to pop these daily dinner offcuts into. Once the bag is full you can make up a delicious stock. Also, by keeping these items out of your bin you reduce much of the waste.
Phone a friend: anyone with chickens, compost or bokashi bins or a worm farm will be delighted to grab extra scraps.
Be aware of some 'biodegradable' bags that simply break into smaller microplastic. Or compostable bags that require a high temperature council facility in order to break down. Read the fine print to see if they have been certified or suitable for home composting. If you are simply placing your rubbish out to the gate collection then don't waste your newly bought compostable bags. In a landfill environment very little change occurs over decades. Old newspapers 50 years old have been found in perfectly readable condition because landfill denies the paper the environment it requires to break down. Plastic based bags and containers certainly won't break down either, but at least the newspaper is being repurposed. Some Auckland homeowners are part of a trial collecting their composting from the gate collection. If successful this may role out further across NZ.
4. No liner
With a little readjustment of your rubbish there will be much less in your bin than before. If scraps are composted or made into stock, recycling removed, soft plastic recycling separated then you are left with mainly dry non-recyclable packaging. So what if your plastic bin gets slightly grimy? With a small sized bin, it is an easy wash out once in a while to keep things fresh.
Love to hear your suggestions.