Marieta García: ‘recycling is like doing magic
Recently the statistical office of the European Union, published a report on household waste . Based on data from 2013, each Spaniard produced an average of 449 kilos of garbage annually,Kilos per day, below the community average of 481 kilos. Marieta and Santiago are a couple of environmental educators. Wwho work at the Gea Coop cooperative , based in Valladolid. Following the maxim “ do it yourself ” they have carried out an interesting experiment in their own home: becoming aware of the wasteGgenerated and implementing an environmental sustainability strategy in their home. Thus until. Rreducing their garbage can to 29 kilos in one year , 15 times less than the national average according to EUROSTAT . Marieta García tells us how they achieved it: proximity to producer for example, and circular economy , ease of converting waste into resources.
How did you come up with this experiment?
Both Santiago and I. Aare very interested in issues Rresponsible consumption and environmental sustainability and we collaborate with the National Center for Environmental Australia Phone Number List Educationactively contributing to the writing of content and sustainability tips on the Hogares Verdes blog , which deals with issues such as waste prevention in private homes, organizations, schools, etc. It can be said that in our house we carry out a consumption and prevention strategy based on environmental responsibility. So, motivated by curiosity, for a year, we weighed our garbage bag, in which we put all the non-recyclable elements. garbage and weight meter How do you classify waste? We consider “garbage” any non-reusable, recyclable or compostable consumer material. Our game consisted of weighing this “garbage” daily and developing a strategy to reduce it based on our responsibility as consumers.
Has it meant too much effort for you?
Not at all, we have always been environmentally responsible for the products we consume so the only new “job” was to weigh the garbage can once a day. We are even thinking about extending this environmental accounting system to the compost we make. From the first moment we considered it as a challenge, every day that you advance and continue with the project you feel stronger to continue in the game. Getting started is easy, just look at your trash can and ask yourself a few questions. What do you mean by “looking at the trash can”? The responsible citizen must look at his garbage and analyze what he is throwing away and what may have another life. That is the first phase. Once we are aware of what we throw away, the game is to imaginatively apply the 3Rs to slim our bucket. In our case.
