The clearest signal that modern lifestyles are unsustainable is the quantity of waste we generate every day.  We are using, and wasting, the resources of the planet at an ever-increasing rate.  We need to live on the ‘interest’ generated by the earth’s resources rather than eating into the ‘capital’ if we are to leave enough for the generations yet to come. 

The latest waste report from the EPA shows that some 3,224,481 tonnes of municipal waste (household, commercial and local authority cleansing wastes) were generated in Ireland in 2008.  This amounts to over three quarters of a tonne of waste per person and is high by international comparisons.  Most of that waste is consigned to landfill where it rots and generates odorous landfill gas and highly polluting leachate. 

Progress has been made in recent years with growing recycling rates for some materials, such as packaging waste, and producer responsibility initiatives such as the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) recycling scheme.  However we are still poor at diverting biodegradable material away from landfill and we lack essential waste handling infrastructure.

At the domestic level the easiest way to make a significant difference is to consume less.  Before you buy a new product think carefully about whether or not you really need it and consider if there is an alternative such as living without it, repairing an existing one or sourcing a second-hand one.  Every day people discard perfectly good products in order to have the latest model - this is unsustainable.

When you do purchase, avoid products with excessive packaging and recycle all packaging and other recyclable materials through the green bin. 

If you have a brown bin place all biodegradable waste there.  Otherwise compost green waste at home and use the compost on a vegetable patch or flowerbed.

Burning waste in the home or in the garden is dangerous and should never be done.  The smoke from the burning spreads dioxins and other carcinogenic chemicals around the area where they remain for many, many years increasing the risk of cancer for you, your family and your neighbours.

Remember to separate out any hazardous waste such as batteries, paints, solvents, pesticides and herbicides and take them to one of the 96 civic amenity sites operated by Local Authorities around the country.  The heavy metals in small batteries will never degrade in the environment and will continue to pollute forever if discarded in the black bin.

Similarly, take empty bottles and cans to one of the 1,989 bring banks around the country.  Consider for a moment the amount of energy and effort that goes into the making of an aluminium can.  Bauxite ore is mined from the earth and transported to alumina plants such as Aughinish Alumina in Limerick.  There, aluminium oxide is dissolved out of the ore using a very strong caustic solution under high temperature and pressure and the re-crystallised aluminium oxide is shipped to a smelter where vast quantities of electrical power are used to make aluminium metal by electrolysis. 

In 2008 some 12,252 tonnes of aluminium waste were generated in Ireland and 9,497 tonnes (77.5%) of that waste ended up in landfills around the country where it will pose a permanent threat to the environment. 

It is in our own hands to stop this tremendous waste of the earth’s resources.