Waste Deep
Summary
TLDRThe video script addresses the alarming issue of food waste and plastic pollution in Australia. It highlights the staggering amount of plastic used in food packaging and its environmental impact, including the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The script also emphasizes the importance of reducing waste, supporting local food systems, and the role of community organizations like SecondBite and Spade and Barrow in redistributing edible food to those in need. It encourages viewers to be more mindful consumers, to shop locally, and to adopt sustainable practices such as growing their own food and participating in initiatives like Buy Nothing New Month.
Takeaways
- 🛒 The average Australian's shopping trolley contains a significant amount of plastic packaging, leading to billions of pieces of plastic waste annually.
- 🌐 The plastic pollution problem is global, with debris from distant countries accumulating in ocean gyres like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
- 🐦 Plastic pollution affects wildlife, as seen with the Albatross on Midway Atoll, where birds mistake plastic for food, leading to tragic consequences.
- 🌱 In nature, there is no waste as everything is recycled back into the system, emphasizing the need for a circular approach to waste management in human activities.
- 🏭 The Port Phillip Eco Center highlights the increasing volume of waste, despite improvements in recycling rates, indicating a need for better waste reduction strategies.
- 🍲 SecondBite redistributes fresh, edible food that would otherwise go to waste, providing meals to those in need and reducing landfill emissions.
- 🥗 Spade and Barrow is a social business aiming to address food waste by buying produce directly from farmers and selling it to commercial kitchens, bypassing the need for perfect appearance.
- 🌾 Australian households waste approximately a thousand dollars worth of food each year, which is a significant financial and environmental loss.
- 🍽️ Reducing food waste can start with mindful shopping, planning meals, and using leftovers creatively to minimize waste and save money.
- 🌱 Growing your own food can reduce packaging waste and help consumers reconnect with the source of their food, promoting a more sustainable lifestyle.
- 🛍️ 'Buy Nothing New Month' encourages consumers to reconsider their purchasing habits, opting for second-hand items or experiences over new products to reduce waste.
Q & A
What is the estimated amount of plastic waste generated by an average Australian's shopping trolley per year?
-The script estimates that an average Australian's shopping trolley contains 26 pieces of plastic, which extrapolates to approximately a thousand pieces of plastic per year per person. With a population of 23 million, this results in tens of billions of pieces of plastic waste annually.
What is the significance of the albatross and plastic pollution story mentioned in the script?
-The script uses the story of a juvenile albatross found dead on Midway Atoll, with its stomach full of plastic, to illustrate the devastating impact of plastic pollution on wildlife. This serves as a stark reminder of how human activities are harming the environment and marine life.
What is a gyre, as mentioned in the context of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
-A gyre is a large system of ocean currents that rotate in a circular motion. The script mentions gyres in relation to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, where plastic and other debris from various countries accumulate due to these circulating ocean currents.
How much waste did the local council collect in Port Phillip in 2009-2010, and what was the breakdown between recyclables and landfill?
-In 2009-2010, the local council in Port Phillip collected approximately 34,000 tons of waste. Out of this, around 20,000 tons were sent to landfill, while about 14,000 tons were recyclable materials.
What is the average annual waste production per household in Port Phillip, as stated in the script?
-The script states that the average Port Phillip household produces about 50 kilograms more waste per year than they did 10 years prior.
How much food waste does Australia generate annually, and what is its monetary value?
-The script mentions that Australia wastes over eight billion dollars worth of food every year, which equates to over a thousand dollars for every household.
What is the role of SecondBite in addressing food waste in Australia?
-SecondBite rescues fresh, edible food that would otherwise go to waste and redistributes it to over 1,000 community food programs across Australia, where it is converted into healthy meals and meal hampers for people in need.
What is the issue with the current food system that Spade and Barrow aims to address?
-Spade and Barrow was started to address the issue of farmers struggling to sell their produce due to the market's demand for perfect-looking fruit. This social business buys produce at a fair price, regardless of appearance, and supplies it to commercial kitchens, reducing waste and supporting farmers.
Why does the script suggest that Australians waste a significant amount of food?
-The script suggests that Australians waste a lot of food because they have been sold a culture of convenience and have lost touch with the provenance of their food and the resources that go into producing it. They are buying with their eyes, not their taste buds, and are not valuing food as much as they should.
What is the 'Buy Nothing New Month' initiative mentioned in the script, and what is its purpose?
-The 'Buy Nothing New Month' is an initiative that encourages people to not purchase any new items for a month. Its purpose is to make individuals think about their consumption habits, consider the origins of their goods, and explore alternatives to reduce waste and promote sustainability.
How can shopping at a farmer's market help reduce plastic waste and support local communities, as per the script?
-Shopping at a farmer's market allows consumers to buy fresh produce directly from farmers, often with less or no packaging, thus reducing plastic waste. It also supports local farmers and producers, strengthens community ties, and promotes a more sustainable food system.
Outlines
🛒 Plastic Waste in Grocery Shopping
The paragraph discusses the issue of plastic waste from food packaging, highlighting the average Australian's shopping habits. It points out the presence of organic produce and other food items wrapped in plastic, leading to a significant amount of plastic waste annually. The speaker emphasizes the need for better waste management and sustainability, referencing the plastic pollution affecting wildlife, such as albatrosses, and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The narrative calls for a change in consumer behavior and a reduction in plastic use to protect the environment.
🍲 Reducing Food Waste and Supporting Local Farms
This section addresses the substantial financial loss due to food waste in Australia, with a focus on the social enterprise SecondBite, which redistributes edible food to community programs. The founder of Spade and Barrow shares the story behind the business, which aims to support struggling farmers by purchasing their produce at fair prices and selling it to commercial kitchens. The paragraph also touches on consumer behavior, suggesting that the demand for aesthetically perfect produce leads to waste and that reconnecting with food growers can reduce waste. It concludes with a call for a new respect for local produce and a reduction in food waste.
🌱 Growing Your Own Food and Community Solutions
The paragraph emphasizes the role of individual actions in reducing food waste, suggesting that shopping with intent and planning meals can significantly decrease waste. It also promotes growing your own food as a way to reduce packaging waste and develop a personal connection with the food one consumes. The speaker shares personal tips for using every part of food items and making stock from leftovers. The concept of 'Take 3' is introduced as a simple way to reduce pollution by picking up rubbish, and the paragraph concludes with a critique of the overreliance on recycling as a waste management solution.
🛍️ Buy Nothing New Month and Sustainable Shopping
This section introduces 'Buy Nothing New Month,' an initiative that encourages people to avoid purchasing new items for a month to reflect on consumption habits and the environmental impact. The speaker suggests alternatives to conventional shopping, such as buying second-hand, borrowing, or swapping items. The paragraph also advocates for shopping at local farmers' markets, where fresh produce is available with minimal packaging, supporting local growers and reducing waste. The benefits of shopping at farmers' markets are discussed, including the quality of produce, direct interaction with farmers, and the community aspect.
🎉 The Impact of Farmers' Markets on Reducing Plastic Waste
The final paragraph features an interview with a farmers' market manager who discusses the benefits of shopping at such markets, including the freshness of produce, the opportunity to interact with producers, and the reduced use of plastic packaging. The speaker shares personal experiences of shopping at farmers' markets, emphasizing the superior quality and taste of the produce. The paragraph concludes with a demonstration of how even a small reduction in plastic use, such as choosing to buy from farmers' markets, can have a significant positive impact on waste reduction when scaled up across the population.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Food wastage
💡Food packaging
💡Plastic pollution
💡Sustainability
💡Recyclables
💡Landfill
💡Food relief programs
💡Imperfect produce
💡Food miles
💡Buy Nothing New Month
💡Farmers markets
Highlights
The average Australian's shopping trolley contains a lot of plastic packaging, leading to thousands of pieces of plastic waste per person per year.
Plastic pollution is a significant issue, with images of a juvenile Albatross showing the devastating effects of ingested plastic.
Plastic waste does not disappear; it travels vast distances and accumulates in ocean gyres, like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
In 2009-2010, Port Phillip Council collected 34,000 tons of waste, with 20,000 tons sent to landfill and only 14,000 tons recyclable.
Despite improvements in recycling, the overall volume of waste is increasing exponentially.
Australia wastes over eight billion dollars worth of food annually, with most going to landfill and contributing to CO2 emissions.
Second Bite rescues fresh, edible food that would otherwise go to waste and redistributes it to community food programs.
Spade and Barrow is a social business that works directly with farmers to buy produce at a fair price, regardless of appearance.
Consumers are educated to look for perfect-looking fruit, leading to the rejection of 'imperfect' but still good produce.
Australian households waste around a thousand dollars worth of food each year due to a culture of convenience.
There's a need to reconnect with the provenance of our food and the resources that go into producing it to reduce waste.
Growing your own food helps reduce packaging and the environmental impact of food transportation.
Shopping at farmers markets allows for direct purchase from producers, reducing plastic waste and supporting local communities.
Buy Nothing New Month encourages people to consider the source and impact of their purchases and seek alternatives to consumerism.
Recycling is important, but reducing waste and single-use items is a better solution to our waste problems.
Shopping at local farmers markets or bulk food stores with reusable containers supports local industry and reduces packaging.
The quality of produce at farmers markets is often superior due to direct purchase from the grower.
Eating whole foods is instinctively healthier and more satisfying than consuming processed foods.
Transcripts
[Music]
thank you
[Music]
thank you
[Music]
we're going to talk food wastage and
food packaging then a really good place
to start is inside the average
Australian's shopping trolley Ben
earlier let me look inside his trolley
and I've got to say it looked pretty
healthy there was a holy of organic
fruit and vegetables some organic Meats
bread cheese a bit of milk and a bit of
chocolate it's pretty much what I ate
each week but the problem is the whole
lot was wrapped in plastic we counted 26
pieces of plastic in there now if you
extrapolate that out over a year we're
talking a thousand pieces of plastic in
Australia the population's 23 million
people you're talking tens of billions
of pieces of plastic every year that's
just thrown out now I honestly think we
can do better than that
foreign
[Music]
tells the story of plastic pollution
better than any other it's a juvenile
lace in Albatross that was born on
Midway atoll in the Northwest Hawaiian
islands and people often look at this
image and think it's been photoshopped
but it's real and what's most
heartbreaking is that all the plastic we
see here was actually fed to this bird
by its adults who forage over the open
ocean looking for food and they're
mistaking all these items for food so
seeing this in 2009 I just said to
myself this is what we're doing as
custodians of our planet and I've got to
do something
you often think about you know when
plastic gets into our oceans and
waterways that that's the end of the
story but it continues Anything That
Floats will not just go away it'll go
out to our open oceans where it can
circulate on things known as gyas and
this is an example of what these gyres
look like this is the big island of
Hawaii a beach called Camilo Beach and
all the debris that you can see here
actually came from countries like North
America or in countries in Asia and it
traveled there thousands of kilometers
to get to this beach so that's what the
Great Pacific Garbage Patch looks like
and it really is a uh a blight that
humans should be pretty ashamed of
in nature there's no such thing as waste
everything gets returned back to the
system
if we want to get serious about
sustainability it starts with waste
[Music]
Port Phillip Eco Center is a community
managed environment Center and
not-for-profit organization and we're
located here in the beautiful St Kilda
botanical gardens just to give you a
picture of what the waste stream looks
like in the city of Port Phillip in 2009
2010 at the local Council collected
through curbside collections about 34
000 tons of waste in total and around 20
000 was sent to landfill and 14 000
approximately tons were recyclable
material the trends show that um
amount of recyclables that people are
processing through curbside collection
isn't it is nudging up slowly so it's
nudged up about five percent somewhere
between 2005 2010 but uh the other Trend
that Council has reported is that the
overall volume of waste that's been
collected is uh increasing exponentially
as well so even though we're doing a lot
better at recycling on the whole we're
still producing an awful lot of waste
and in fact I came across a statistic
that the average Port Phillip household
produces about 50 kilograms
a year more waste than 10 years ago
[Music]
we're wasting over eight billion dollars
worth of food every single year in
Australia so that's over a thousand
dollars for every single household most
of that food goes to landfill where it
rots and creates CO2 emissions and at
the same time there's nearly 2 million
Australians who don't have enough food
to feed themselves and their families
and they have to resort to emergency
food relief programs at second bite we
don't think this makes any sense
so what we do is we rescue some of that
fresh perfectly edible food that would
otherwise go to waste and we
redistribute it to over 1 000 Community
food programs across the whole of
Australia
there it's converted into healthy
nutritious meals and meal hampers for
people in need
well spadenboro was started because I
spent some time at second bite as the
founding CEO for seven years and one of
the sectors that we approached with the
farming community and asked them if they
had any produce that they were able to
donate and the common answer was that
these farmers were doing it incredibly
tough and actually were almost at the
point of needing food relief themselves
as opposed to being food providers and I
realized that something was very very
wrong with the food system and so we
decided to start up a social business
which is a Wholesale Food business with
an entirely new way of doing business we
work directly with farmers and we buy
their produce at a fair farm gate price
in all shapes and sizes and we bring
that into commercial kitchens such as
cafes restaurants some hospitals and
schools and Child Care Centers and a
whole variety of people that purchase
this produce
supermarkets and the wholesale Market
demands fruit that looks perfect because
that's what consumers believe well
that's what consumers have been educated
to to look for and so the the fruit
that's not quite perfect it may have a
mark on the skin it may have some other
imperfection it's still perfectly good
fruit it's the same fruit on the inside
and so what what is happening with spade
and Barrow it gives us the opportunity
to to move that imperfect fruit
here in Harcourt we've had a number of
Growers leave the industry in the last
few years and it's happening more and
more because they're they're finding
that it's becoming uneconomic the the
first grade fruit moves fine but the
Lesser grade fruit is very hard to move
it's incredible to think that Australian
households are wasting around a thousand
dollars worth of food every year and
when I think about it the key behind
that is that we've been sold a culture
of convenience we're marketed this ideal
that we can just get anything we want
any time we want and that is the source
of the problem
I think it's really important to ask
ourselves why we're wasting so much food
I think it's because we're literally we
take it for granted I think we've lost
touch with the provenance of our food
and lost touch with the amount of
resources that actually go into
producing it so we've got this
impression that there's this abundance
of beautiful looking food on the uh on
the shelves in the shops and it's
difficult to think about how much water
and land the energy the resources that
go into producing that food and so we
don't we don't value it as much as we
should
I think in Australia we waste so much
food about eight billion dollars worth
every year because a we are buying and
purchasing our produce with our eyes not
our taste buds which is what we should
be purchasing our produce through what
does it taste like and secondly I think
we've really lost touch with the people
that grow our food and that's why Spain
and Barrow is all about shortening that
supply chain so that we can actually put
the consumer back in touch with the
farmer who actually grew their food in
the first place we need a newfound
respect for the food that is grown in
this country there is no need for
imports at all this is such a bountiful
country with such an amazing array of
produce that we can stay within our
borders and we can be absolutely
satisfied with the produce produce
that's grown here
now our grandparents lived in an era
when they simply couldn't afford to
waste food they used the bones to make
stocks they use the dripping to spread
on toast and that's what I saw my
grandfather doing when I was a little
kid today of course we feel like we
don't have the time we simply just don't
know how to use up our leftovers but
using up every last bit of food is
actually really simple when you know how
it also saves heaps of money and heaps
of time which is why I do it it creates
incredible flow in your week so I'll get
home from my shopping and I'll cook up
all my vegetables in one hit I steam
them to about 70 percent I let them cool
and I put them in a Ziploc bag and store
them in the freezer so I'll put some
broccolis and partly frozen broccoli
into my green smoothie in the mornings
or I'll throw into a casserole or I put
it in my lunchbox and add it to a salad
once I get into work for lunch that day
my beetroot leaves I will steam them up
and eat them like silver beet or I make
a soup out of them and then any off cuts
I actually put into one bag and I place
it all together with some herbs any kind
of leftover bits of onion skin I put it
in the freezer and when I'm ready to
make a stock using some leftover bones I
put it all in together and it actually
extends my kind of nutrient level even
further
foreign
[Music]
can start to reduce food waste is
through their shopping if you buy with
intent then you avoid all the marketing
hype and the impulse and you start to
plan your food so that if you plan your
meals then you actually use what you
have when it's fresh and when it's in
season once you've separated your food
waste you're halfway there you've
actually become a waste Warrior and
you'll notice that your waste bin will
reduce and it won't smell because that
beautiful resource that food resource
can now start its journey into becoming
a rich compost to put back onto the
garden and grow your next lot of
vegetables growing your own food helps
reduce packaging because at the end of
the day nature provides produce with its
own packaging and most of the packaging
that surrounds our food these days is
because of transport when we grow our
own food we're growing it right near
where we live close to our kitchen so
there's no food miles there's no need to
wrap it and protect it and what's more
when we grow it
we know it and when we know it we're not
going to be concerned if there's a
blemish or a bump or a bruise because
we've watched this become what will be
at the end of the day us because we are
what we eat
so you don't have a garden I live in an
apartment I've got a tiny little
concrete Courtyard
there's opportunity all around us if you
live high up in the clouds have a look
out for a community garden what about
the street verges there's lots of
opportunity how about your neighbors it
could be an old couple up the street
within a with a garden tap on the door
say g'day ask them if you can grow a bit
there and share the produce with them
family members other friends who's got a
garden near you if not think about
containers you can grow anything in a
container look at the resources around
you and push your thinking you can grow
so get growing
foreign up on the coastline of Australia
it's um seemingly so clean and clear but
you start traveling around the world and
you realize that pollution is actually a
big problem globally so as ocean lovers
and Surfers and divers we decided that
we wanted to do something about it so
instead of just walking past rubbish on
the beach we'd always pick it up that's
the idea behind tag three you simply
take three pieces of rubbish with you
when you leave the beach Waterway or
anywhere and you've made a difference
because by picking up that rubbish and
putting it in a bin you're removing that
Hazard that risk from the environment
and that's the least we can do to save
our innocent Wildlife Australians are
fairly good recyclers and we've
definitely seen that recycling practices
and has recycling practices have
improved in the last 10 years but it
becomes a problem when uh people
actually embrace recycling as the
ultimate solution to our waste problems
and see it as the end game it's
definitely a really good thing to have a
recycling bin full of well-sorted items
as opposed to an equivalent bin full of
rubbish that's going to landfill but a
far better alternative would be to not
have a bin full of recyclables in the
first place and to actually reduce the
amount of the overall volume of
recyclable items and single use
consumable items that we're sending to
recycling in the first place
I started by nothing new month because I
was just
very curious and confused as to why
we're being so wasteful with our
precious finite resources and I thought
buy nothing new month was a really
fantastic way to encourage more people
to think about our stuff when it come
from who made it what were their working
conditions where does it go when we're
done and what are the Alternatives that
can be better for us our people and our
planet I think people love by nothing
new month because it gives them
a chance just to stop and go I actually
don't need to have more stuff so many
messages out there in advertising tells
us we have to buy this or buy that it'll
make us happier it'll make us prettier
but buy nothing new month just says
you're fine as you are spend money on
experiences with your family that sort
of stuff not on getting more stuff
getting involved is super simple if you
just decide that you're going to buy
nothing new for a month so instead of
going and shopping and buying something
new can you go to the op shop can you
get it second hand can you borrow it
from a friend can you swap it so buy
nothing new month really invites and
encourages people to think about that
and do something about it and look at
the Alternatives in the UK for example
in 2018 I think they're saying they'll
run out of landfill that means in four
years time UK will have nowhere for its
rubbish we've really got to change the
way that we're consuming on this planet
for our sake and for our planet's sake
the decision has to take place before
you've even left to go shopping you've
got to look at what other options are
out there instead of just going to your
big supermarkets so look out for local
farmers markets or bulk food stores
where you can actually buy your produce
in bulk this way we can support local
industry we can phase out packaging
altogether and you can take your own
reusable containers and bags by doing
this we're making decisions that are
better for the planet and better for you
[Music]
thank you
[Music]
what's up
hi I'm Shirley I'm the farmer's market
manager at gasworks
and this is Gypsy she's the assistant
manager and some of the great things
about shopping at a farmer's market well
you can bring your dog for a start and
as well as that you can buy all the
fresh produce from Farmers and producers
around Victoria who come to the markets
to sell their Wares you know it's fresh
so it's going to last longer it usually
lasts weeks longer and it's delicious
you can talk to the person who's grown
it you can bring your own bags your own
containers fill them up go home you
haven't wasted any other resources in
your shopping experience you've met some
Farmers you've talked to some people in
your community you've sat down and
enjoyed a fresh cooked breakfast perhaps
with with equal minded people and lots
of people come to the market and Shop
that way and it's really the best way to
shop because as well as supporting your
local community you're supporting your
rural friends who are The Growers and
producers who are really are our food
bowl and it's the way of the future
for 10 years or more farmers markets has
been where I'd buy my food the main
reason for me is because I'm greedy and
I love delicious things is that the
quality of the produce is so much better
than you can find almost anywhere else
because you're buying direct from the
farmer
and there's something about I think
there's something about eating food that
tastes better that makes you feel better
that has a kind of
I don't know like a halo effect on you
on your health and well-being
there's also something about
eating Whole Foods
that instinctively I think we know
rather than eating something that's been
processed within an inch of its life and
and by definition then has to have so
many other things added to it or taken
away from it
[Music]
thank you
so I've just got back from the markets
with my weekly shop now some of my stuff
has come wrapped in plastic around about
three let's say four items of food now
it's not ideal when you extrapolate it
out it's around about 200 pieces of
plastic a year I'm thrown into landfill
as I say it's not ideal but it's
certainly not a thousand pieces of
plastic now my point being is that we
can all make a difference you know
Australia's Got a population of 23
million people so we could actually be
saving billions of pieces of plastic
been thrown into landfill each year
thank you
[Music]
foreign
[Music]
thank you
[Music]
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