Last year Hilary Benn announced that the goal of the United Kingdom should be to become a zero waste country, or as close to it as possible. Many thought this was an impossible task as it was announced earlier this year that the UK as behind most of its European counterparts when it comes to recycling and waste management. Recycling rates around the United Kingdom have gone up since but are still far behind most of Europe and certainly nowhere near the level of a zero waste country. After the United Nations summit on climate change was deemed a failure by leaders around the world most communities realized that real change would have to come on the local level. That is why one family in the United Kingdom is being praised and held up as an example for the rest of the country and world to follow.
The Strauss family, who come from Longhope, Gloucestershire managed to get through all of 2009 filling only one garbage can. The family found a variety of ways to reduce the amount of rubbish they were throwing away to literally only a handful or so a week. They grow much of their own food, do their own composting, and only buy food from local vendors, which makes extra packaging unnecessary. Studies have shown that a large percentage of the trash that gets put in landfills comes from some type of packaging. The Strauss’ managed to cut theirs down by doing things like bringing their own reusable packaging to the butcher.
The family also recommends buying clothes from second hand shop, and reusing packaging in gardening applications.
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