Stop buying bin liners

Bin liners are a big waste of money, but they also contribute to the huge environmental problem caused by plastic bags.

While plastic bags can be recycled, few are. Most end up in landfill or waterways, where they are are a real hazard. The QLD Environmental Protection Authority estimates 100,000 marine mammals and turtles are killed by plastic litter every year around the world.

Many shoppers are proud of carrying their "green bags" to the supermarket and declining plastic bags at the register, only to purchase plastic bin liners. Talk about a false environmental economy!

As evidence, a recent Australian study [PDF] showed that between 2005 and 2006, the number of shopping bags used in Australia dropped by 560 million (showing that the say-no-to-plastic-bags message is getting through), but the number of bin liners sold increased by 38 million.

Bin liner alternatives

Yes! There are easy alternatives to bin liners:

• Put rubbish in plastic bags that wrap other products you buy, such as bread, breakfast cereal, and pasta.
• Wrap rubbish in newspaper, thin card (e.g. cereal boxes), or other waste paper from around the house, and put it directly into your council-issued bin each day.
  
• If you recycle and compost, so that you reduce the amount of binnable rubbish you have, you'll find that your rubbish is drier and less, well, icky. You may be able to forget entirely about wrapping your rubbish: instead, throw it direct into your unlined kitchen bin, and from there, direct into your council-issued bin each day. When your kitchen bin gets dirty, wash it with bicarb and rinse with hot water.
• If you live in the city, green garden waste that you can't compost can be thrown directly from your barrow or bucket into your green waste bin -- there's no need to bag it first.

Are you one of the millions saying no to plastic bags, including bin liners?