Hi, I’m Rochelle and I live in Titirangi, Auckland, New Zealand with my partner and our two young children.  I’m a working mum so life is often busy.

My journey to reduce waste, plastic in particular, is the result of a slow awakening.  I have always tended to be somewhat green in my thinking but this year somehow I’ve finally got it:  I finally understood that this system we have not sustainable.

We produce millions of tonnes of plastic every year and the bulk of it is designed to be ‘disposable’.  This means it is designed to be thrown away.  But what about recycling?  Is that the answer?  Well, it can alleviate the pollution issue, yes.   But the fact of the matter is that only as small percentage of plastic is recycled, the rest ends up in landfill at best and in our waterways and oceans at worst.

In addition there is a lot of plastic out there cannot be recycled at all.  Think of toothbrushes.  An ordinary enough, everyday item; we all have one.  Now consider this: every toothbrush you have ever owned is still in existence today. Somewhere on the planet, some in landfill, some perhaps have made it to the sea.  Now expand that: every toothbrush that has ever been owned by anyone in the world and thrown away is still in existence.  And they will take hundreds of years of break down, and when they do it will only be into smaller pieces of plastic.  It just doesn’t go away.  It persists to be consumed by fish and birds, killing wildlife, entering our food chain and contaminating our very planet for generations to come.

This was my awakening, my realisation.  That there is no ‘away’.

And so I have started to change my behaviour to align with this thinking.  Consume less.  Avoid plastic products and especially plastic packaging.  Find alternatives. Reuse and recycle.

This site will allow me to both vent my frustrations and share the journey.  If I inspire just one person to do the same, then I would consider this site a success.

Rochelle

October 2015