Over the last few years, I’ve walked thousands of kilometres around Ireland - on trails, roads, mountains, forests - anywhere and everywhere that I can.
It’s safe to say the outdoors has given me so much joy and connection throughout all of my adventures, and so it only stands to reason, that it’s time I gave something back.
The average Irish home creates one tonne of waste, every year. That's a lot of crisp packets, drinks cans, nappies, food waste - you get the picture. And so, over the course of 2023, my aim is to remove one tonne of waste from the Irish environment.
I’m weighing in - both literally each month with the rubbish I’ll collect, and also on the environmental conversation happening here in Ireland, and around the world. All of our outdoor spaces need us. Join me over the course of 2023 to see where this project takes me, and what I learn along the way.
Some further details
This figures quoted in this project are based off of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) statistics, taking specific note of their data for household waste (2017).
In this linked PDF, the EPA write that “each household in Ireland produced an average of 907 kg of household waste in 2017”. However, household waste has steadily been on the rise for the past five years, and so I decided to round this figure up to a full 1 Tonne.
When out hiking, Carl and I would be passing through a remote bog, high in the hills, and suddenly be faced with a pristine electric whisk. Why is this whisk here, and who thought they could plug in an electrical appliance to a picnic bench?
It’s been the build up of such moments - of finding regular, household things in the exact moments that I was actively working at being as far away from civilisation as possible, that cemented the idea for this project.
What is counted as “Household Waste” in Ireland?
Household waste includes residual (black bin) waste, recyclable waste and organic waste collected directly from households, as well as waste brought by people to waste collection centres such as bring banks, civic amenity sites, and pay-to-use compactors.