Hi, my name is Meghann Rowling and I own Yippie Yopi Yoga Studio in Napier where one of our company values is sustainability. We don’t use a lot of products at the studio but I try to ensure that the ones we do use are as good for the environment as reasonably practical.
We were using compostable rubbish bin liners for our wire and cane rubbish bins and as I was researching to make sure we were using the “right” ones I found out that compostable bin liners were potentially worse for the environment than the plastic alternatives. They go into the landfill where they don’t have the conditions they need to compost properly. Instead, they create methane gas which is poisonous and dreadful for the environment. The same thing happens when green and food waste is placed in landfills.
Compostable bin liners can only go into the compost. This whole time I thought I was doing the right thing using compostable bags when I was actually making things worse for the environment.
Anyway, I kept researching and found some fantastic reusable washable bin liners! EcoWarehouse sells them online but I’ve ordered through Eco Kiosk who are based in Napier to ‘keep it local’. I have enough for each of our rubbish bins and a few extras so that the dirty ones can be chucked in the wash when necessary.
They’re so great! It had never crossed my mind to use reusable bin liners – I didn’t even know they existed!