WALKING into a shopping centre recently I couldn't find the REDcycle bin.
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I was loaded up with an IKEA-sized blue bag of soft plastics (hold your judgement: it was three weeks' worth) so I refused to go home anything but empty-handed.
I cased the joint for about five to seven minutes.
Shoppers at the check-outs were starting to notice me: Agitated lady with IKEA bag is scoping out the area! Definitely don't make eye contact!!
However, I refused to believe a REDcycle bin would just vanish into thin air.
When I finally cornered a staff member in between serving customers, I asked her where they had put the REDcycle bin today as I'd looked everywhere, even in the bottle shop! (No REDcycle bin there but there were some very worthy Rutherglen reds!!)
She told me they'd stopped offering the service because people were contaminating the bins - with the wrong types of plastics - and the supermarket had been fined too many times.
"Oh! That's rubbish!" I said, before realising how that must have sounded to her.
"That's a shame, I meant to say!!"
What I wanted to say was: "I'm happy for you to check my bag of soft plastics. There's nothing in here that shouldn't be in here, honestly. There's few things in life I feel as strongly about as I do about recycling. Ask my children! Here, let's phone the school!!"
Oh! That's rubbish! That's a shame, I meant to say!! I'm happy for you to check my bag of soft plastics. There's nothing in here that shouldn't be in here. There's few things in life I feel as strongly about as I do about recycling. Ask my children! Here, let's phone the school!!
Instead, I took that IKEA bag back to my car boot, like any mum on a mission, beyond moderately-annoyed that I couldn't tick that job off my longish list of stuff to get done on my day off.
As Meghan Trainor says, I had Champagne Problems, but even still, Meghan!
The REDcycle Program is a recovery project for post-consumer soft plastic by the major supermarkets in Australia.
If it's soft plastic and it can be scrunched into a ball, it can go into the REDcycle bin. Think biscuit packets, bread bags, bubble wrap, cereal box liners, frozen food bags and zip lock bags. Exceptions to this rule are cling film, plastic packaging from sheets or doonas and plastic packaging that has contained meat.
The packaging should be very clean and bone dry.
If it's not plastic, or it's plastic that can't be scrunched into a ball, it can't be recycled via REDcycle. Think plastic bottles, plastic containers and meat trays.
MORE MATERIAL GIRL:
However, if you're neither a scruncher or a folder, you could always just go cold turkey on plastic.
With the end of the financial year (EOFY) nigh, so too is Plastic Free July.
Plastic Free Foundation founder Rebecca Prince-Ruiz and a team in local government in Western Australia started the Plastic Free July concept in 2011.
From small beginnings, it's now one of the most influential environmental campaigns in the world.
Millions of people across the globe take part every year, with many committing to reducing plastic pollution far beyond the month of July.
Millions are choosing to refuse single-use plastics.
My soft plastic collection after just three weeks, as above, is a clue to how challenging I find Plastic Free July.
But who doesn't love a challenge?
Forgotten to pack your shopping bags, again? Juggle your groceries between your handbag and coat pockets until you get to your car without spilling them.
Forgotten to pack your lunch? Skip a meal (diabetes, pregnancy, anything else medical including "hangry" obviously excluded here)!
Forgotten your KeepCup? No coffee for you!
Want to buy meat, fish or cheese? Support your butcher, fishmonger or deli and avoid the polystyrene trays to boot.
Want fruit and veg without the plastic packaging? Shop around or head to the farmers' market.
With a bit of thought, we could make some difference in a month.
Want to find out more about REDcycle? redcycle.net.au/what-to-redcycle
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