Introduction
It’s nothing new to hear about the impacts were having on the planet, that’s for sure.
Global warming and climate change have been words buzzing around the social conscious of most developed nations for a good couple of decades now.
We all know that waste is a problem.
We all know our throw away culture is a problem too.
And although the climate change debate isn’t quite as hot as it was say, two or three years ago, it’s still a major concern for anyone with even the slightest bit of concern for our environment and how our behaviors are affecting the planet that we all call home.
I must admit, I’ve been guilty of this waste problem too though.
Buying way too many un-necessary presents at Christmas just because it’s Christmas.
Falling for the Black Friday sale offers that penetrate my spam filter like a swarm of locusts.
You know what I mean.
Modern day marketing has a way of influencing our purchasing behaviors like never before.
And the result?
In the blink of an eye, we end up with another garage full of junk.
Much like the garage full of junk we got cleared only 6 months ago.
And look, I know this may seem counter intuitive to talk about too much junk in people’s houses when essentially, it’s what keeps me in business!
But after being in the rubbish removal game for close to 4 years now, I recently reached a point where I knew something had to change.
Eco Friendly Rubbish Removal: Is It Possible?
Don’t get me wrong, the Sunshine Coast council do an amazing job of providing recycling services to it’s residents.
If you head to any waste station on the Coast you’ll see a whole bunch of different sections where you can recycle your junk and it doesn’t stop at just cardboard and metal like it used to.
Nowadays, you’re likely to notice recycle sections for all kinds of other goods such as:
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- Electronics
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- Paints
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- Motor Oils
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- Gas Cylinders
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- Mattresses
It’s literally never been easier to make eco friendly waste removal choices.
And whilst of course, there will be excess waste created by the recycling of these materials, there is definitely some off-set by choosing to recycle these items.
But of course, there will always be the inevitable landfill that comes with disposing of rubbish.
With the fast paced production of material goods focused on quantity rather than quality, it’s easy to see why too.
As a society we’ve become accustomed to buying cheaper made options that are basically built to break, which in turn means more purchasing of goods in quicker and quicker timeframes.
In a lot of cases, it’s simply more expensive to have something fixed than it is to buy new.
Add in the cost of living crises we’re currently going through, it’s no wonder people are seeking cheaper and cheaper options that inevitably have a shorter shelf life and create more rubbish for landfill along the way.
Eco Friendly Waste Removal Service
So over the last 6 months, I started looking into way to help minimize the impact my business has on the planet.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no tree hugger.
But on a daily basis, I do see a lot of waste getting put into our land which as made me more conscious of the impact this has on our planet and the way we interact with it.
And whilst I can’t stop it from happening, I can make small but critical decisions in the role that me and my business play in the carbon footprint we create.
Carbon Neutral – What Does This Mean?
The term carbon neutral is something you’ve probably come across a lot over recent years.
Carbon neutral means you have reduced your climate impact to zero.
It’s clear that we can’t stop the production of green house gas emissions entirely.
Almost all of us live in the modern, developed world where every aspect of our living is creating emissions on a constant basis.
And going off grid, living the perfect sustainable, permaculture life just isn’t practical or possible for most people.
So the question I asked myself a rubbish removal business owner is?
What can I do to create an eco friendly waste removal service that plays it’s part to reduce it’s impact?
And after time spent researching, I came to the conclusion that I need start balancing out my impact on the environment by giving back to the environment.
I worked out the average number of truck loads of waste that we remove per year and decided to start by planting a tree for every load of rubbish we remove for our customers.
So for last year we planted 200 trees in Yarra Yarra, Western Australia via our climate change partner: CarbonNeutral.com.au
It’s a small start I know but with this small change being made, it moved me onto an even bigger goal that I am working towards for 2025.
Carbon Neutral Partnership Goals
After becoming part of the Carbon Neutral Partner program, I continued my research into how my rubbish removal service could look to become a 100% carbon neutral rubbish removal service.
This meant that if we can accurately calculate the emissions we produce over a year, we can not only look at ways to reduce them but also purchase carbon credits to offset them.
Because it’s not just the landfill problem, it’s also the emissions that get produced from our diesel truck that are big contributor to our carbon footprint.
So along with making small changes such as reducing paper usage, switching to an electric blower and making better routes for pickups, we’ve started to identify the types of credits we can purchase.
Carbon credit purchases we will be looking to make are such things as:
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- Renewable energy farms
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- Safe water projects
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- Protection from deforestation
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- Bio-diverse reforestation
But the list doesn’t end there, there’s a vast array of options to help us all do our bit for the environment.
Conclusion
Small changes really can have a big impact and it’s the responsibility of everyone to try and minimize the waste we produce.
Simply being more conscious of our choices, sparing a bit of time to research and coughing up a few bucks can help bring more balance to the environment that supports us.
If you’d like to know more about how you can make a change and off-set your footprint, head to www.carbonneutral.com.au for more information.
Cheers,
Jeremy