Greater Manchester Environment Plan 2019–2024
Chapter 7: Our food and our waste
An in-depth analysis of city region’s environment policy and where it falls short, presented in a series of 10 chapters related in the style of a fictional leader using language the crisis calls for #TellTheTruth
Each of us needs to create hundreds fewer kilos of waste every year.
But when the average citizen of Greater Manchester produces a staggering 400kg a year, that does not sound unreasonable does it?
Waste not, want not 2.0
The earth — and therefore we — can’t afford the resources all that stuff is using never mind the impact of throwing it away.
We definitely can’t afford to try and recycle it all, nor put it in landfill where it creates methane that adds to global warming, or incinerate it.
Because that’s what happens to it — yes almost all non-reycled domestic waste in GM is burnt — releasing Co2 not to mention many noxious gases.
I suppose one thing we may have to do, is introduce waste charges if this waste doesn’t go down enough. Sorry about that.. what do you suggest? Get over our objections to smaller bins for starters.
Of course we also we need to recycle loads more — but a bit like energy — recycling is like putting a tiny sticking plaster on a deep cut — we want to avoid the cut in the first place.
It’s actually a distraction from the fact we need to create millions of tonnes of less waste in the first place (see previous point!).
So next time you are about to make a purchase think of it this way — it’s not whether you think you want it, or even if you think you need it — it’s ‘can the earth afford it?’
This environmental footprint calculator is one way you can measure that.
We currently manage to recycle 47% of our domestic waste (though of course we all know deep down that recycle often means our rubbish just … goes on holiday to poorer, developing countries that need the money and are willing to take it — ‘there is no ‘away’ after all).
We need to get our recycle rates in GM from 47% to 65% by 2035 — I know that doesn’t seem much in 16 years and that would put us on a level in 2035 with where the top European recyclers like Wales are now (oh the power of proper devolution…).
But to do more than that, we’re gonna need more powers to enable us to increase how we mandate recycling & resuse by our residents and businesses, so get that on your ‘Election manifesto checklist’ too..
And this food we throw away — what’s going on with that? On average, £700 a year in food per household in GM is tossed in the bin. A waste
a) of our money
b) the resources to produce it (water, soil etc)
c) the emissions produced to package and transport it
d) the emissions from landfill
e) the packaging
f) aargh!
It’s REALLY bad to waste food and it’s not that hard to avoid it.
You know how you’d feel if you threw a £10 note in the bin?
We somehow need to feel like that if we toss a load of manky salad away because we forgot to eat it.
This page is part of a series critiquing and presenting the Greater Manchester Environment Plan, in the style of fictional leader Sandy Turnham.
All measures and facts and descriptions are accurate as far as my understanding but some artistic licence has been taken with tone in order to #TellTheTruth.
3. Our homes and the energy we use
5. Our cars and how we get around
7. Our food and the waste we create
8. Our businesses and their responsibility
