Source: Radio New Zealand
Anita Vandyke started out her working life as an aerospace engineer, then pivoted to medicine.
Now she uses the problem-solving skills she developed working in those fields to help people reduce waste.
Vandyke was born in Guangzhou, China, raised in Australia, and now lives in Sydney.
Anita Vandyke cuts down on food waste with this simple trick.
Anita Vandyke
She has a big social media presence where she shares her insights into how to reduce, rescue or reuse items.
Practical steps are the key to starting a zero waste programme in the home, she told RNZ’s Nine to Noon.
Start with the rubbish bin, Vandyke says.
“So put on some gloves, reusable of course, and look at the things that you’re throwing away.
“Is it food waste? Is it plastic containers? Is it takeaway containers?”
A “rubbish audit” gives you a clearer idea of just what you’re throwing away, she says. Then you can do a waste reset.
“If it’s food waste, can you think more wisely about waste not want not? Making sure that you have meals that you plan carefully.
“Use everything in terms of your vegetables and fruits and make a curry out of it or a stir fry so that you’re not wasting any food.”
Vandyke has a box for neglected food on the top level of her fridge.
“We all have those orphan vegetables, that lonely carrot or banana that is sadly sitting in the corner of our fridge.
“Instead of hiding it away and being forgotten, you can put it in the eat me first box.”
Vandyke has reduced packaging waste in her household by switching to reusable cups and drink containers and making more packed work lunches.
“Educating everyone in the household for them to be responsible for their own waste is a great initiative in the first instance.
“And then you can make those switches.”
As well as making sure the house is well stocked with reusable containers she’s started making her own products as well.
“I made my own body scrub, I made my own cleansing oil, and it proved to be really cost effective and also really beauty effective.”
Clothes are bought second hand, she says.
“I buy all my clothes second hand, except for underwear, and I encourage everyone to do the same.”
Rather than being time consuming, her zero waste has freed up time, Vandyke says.
“Once you get the systems in place, it’s actually an easier way to live, because you’ve streamlined a lot of those habits.
“Making beauty products is takes me less than 15 minutes.”
Living minimally keeps clutter out of her life and frees up money and time, she says.
“I don’t like to buy excessive amounts. So, I don’t have to take care or maintain that stuff that we have.
“So, a bit of a declutter and streamlining your processes to begin with means that I actually have more time to do the things that I want to do.”
Anita Vandyke’s first book A Zero Waste Life: a thirty day guide is published by Penguin Random House, Australia. Her second book is A Zero Waste Family.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand