In the middle of the pandemic, I was interviewed about zero waste, a couple of weeks after the story featured on the front cover.
Story below, written by Nicola Cutcher.
Ander Zabala, recycling manager for Hackney council, London
Through my work, I have seen the huge amount of waste and recycling that we produce. Watching an incinerator for half an hour shocked me and made me want to take action. I was standing on a balcony wearing a full body suit and goggles watching gigantic grabbers emptying waste from trucks. The scale is so shocking and you realise how tiny we are compared to the amount of waste we create. I don’t want to contribute to that wastefulness and it has made me want to take action.
In 2018, I did the Zero Waste Week challenge and then kept going. I set myself a goal for 2019 of not having any waste collected. I made that commitment on social media, so I felt invested. Instead of using a bin, I put my waste in a jar each month so that I could see what I was throwing away. I also reduced the amount I was recycling.
I look at waste from a data perspective. At the end of 2019, I opened all the jars of non-recyclable waste I was keeping. They weighed a total of 5.72kg for the year. The average London house produces 10kg of waste a week, compared with my household’s weekly average of 0.11kg. So our waste was 99% less than the average.
My husband and I get a veg box delivery from Riverford every week. I buy most other things loose from my local corner shop and other bits from a nearby Bulk Market and Turkish supermarket. I bring my own containers and bags to fill with cereals, flour, pasta, rice, tofu, sugar, coffee beans, lentils, spices and more. I also refill my shampoo, washing-up liquid, laundry liquid and toilet cleaner bottles. I also get bottle refills of wine from a local shop.
At first I felt a bit weird taking my own containers, but it forces you to explain what you are doing to people around you. Generally, people are really positive and say: “What a great idea.” I take tubs back to my Indian takeaway to be refilled and now they expect it. Of course, at the moment I wouldn’t ask them to refill my containers because everyone is taking hygiene precautions due to the coronavirus, but I still use the tubs for my regular grocery shopping. My recycling has increased during lockdown because I cannot reuse things as much as I normally would.
One of the biggest lifestyle benefits has been using my local shops more. I used to go to the supermarket and self-checkout, but I have gained so much by talking to local shop owners and cashiers. We have also done a lot more cooking, especially making things that we can’t buy without packaging. My husband learned to make chapatis and naan bread, and they taste better than the ones we bought in the shops – and he can make them in minutes. We make our own oat milk, which is so cheap and easy. I will buy a packet of biscuits occasionally because I don’t have the time to make everything. Sometimes, I would get a bit militant. I would ask friends at parties: “Why did you buy that when it can’t be recycled?” Or I would find some plastic packaging in the house and text my husband saying: “What is this?” I have been called the zero-waste police. But now I am going a bit easier on myself and others. Overall, these changes have saved us a lot of money, mainly by reducing our consumption. We stopped buying stuff that we don’t really need, but spend a little more on the things that we do buy. We have also eaten more healthily because we have bought less processed food.
I am still putting my waste in a jar to keep it visible. I know that if there is a large bin in the room, people will use it.
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