Blog Post B: “Get it right on Bin Night”

“Australia is one of the highest waste producers in the world, recently ranked in the top five waste producing nations, on a per person basis” (Living Smart, 2011.)

In my Research i have been using suitable data Methods to obtain findings and expose trends. I have been doing so by observing and looking at previous case studies to find the data trends of the usage of bins.

As touched on in my Blog post A there is a sense of automation when we dispose of our waste. When two bins are next to each other; a recycling and a normal waste bin. Which one do we use more? Do we put the right waste in the right bin?.

As Sean Duffy an associate Professor of psychology at Rutgers explains in this article “People fail to recycle for a number of reasons, including misinformation and forgetfulness; however, it is also a design problem” (Heimbuch .J, 2009.)  

 

 

 

 

 

Design plays a massive part in getting people to recycle, using big bold signs and bright colours to exclaim the positives of recycling and reusing organic waste in a fit to give us the satisfaction of doing the right thing for the environment, as seen in the above picture “Recycle for your community” giving us a sense of making a difference to the environment but as Katharine argues:

“Recycling can be a cop-out for consumers, making us feel justified about buying stuff in excessive packaging. The sad reality is that many of the things we toss in the recycling never get recycled because they disappear from the recycling stream and are never accounted for. And plastic is never recycled; it’s always downcycled into a lesser form, until eventually it ends up in landfills.”(Martinko .K, 2014.)

As recycling and sorting out organic waste has not yet become Mainstream, nor do many people stop to think about the amount of trash they generate daily.

On the total flipside and other side of the world where recycling is considered mainstream.

If you think sorting recycling from trash is a hassle, then try sorting all of that recycling into 34 separate categories. People of Kamikatsu Japan have a demanding waste management program that recycles or composts 80% of waste that is produced by the 1700 residents. The remaining percentage goes onto landfill, although Kamikatsu hopes to eliminate that amount entirely by 2020.(Martinko .K, 2016.)

Resident Hatsue Katayama describes the experience:

“If you get used to it, it becomes normal. Now I don’t think about it. It’s become natural to separate the trash correctly.”

Will we ever get to this stage in waste management? or will it be too late. When will this model reach major cities? When will it become mainstream to dispose of waste correctly?

 

A lighthearted short comical take on what this blog is about.
(City of Sydney, 2016.)

 

 

References:

City of Sydney, 2016. Recycling, Viewed 11 June 2016.
<http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/live/waste-and-recycling/recycling&gt;

Martinko .K, 2014.  The pains and joys of recycling. Viewed 11 June 2016<http://www.treehugger.com/green-home/pains-and-joys-recycling.htm&gt;

Living Smart, 2011. Australian Waste Stats. Viewed 11 June 2016.
<http://www.livingsmartqld.com.au/modules/waste/Australian-Waste-Stats&gt;

Heimbuch .J, 2009.  Recycling Bins 34% More Effective When They Have… Holes!. Viewed 11 June 2016.
<http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/recycling-bins-34-more-effective-when-they-haveholes.html&gt;

Martinko .K, 2016. This Japanese Town Aims to Produce no Trash by 2020. Viewed 11 June 2016
<http://www.treehugger.com/green-home/japanese-town-aims-produce-no-trash-2020.html&gt;