Discussion keeps the world turning.
This is round table.
Zero waste lifestyle came to people's attention a few years ago when online influencers showed us how to minimize waste.
Their methodology, although rather extreme in some people's opinion, proved that zero waste is possible after all, on the individual level.
Meanwhile, on a wider scale, a growing number of chinese cities and rural areas are trying to overcome even more challenges to reduce waste.
Hello, I'm Lola Ming and this is roundtable today with my colleagues Neil Holing and Brandon Yates, we investigate the progress of building zero waste cities here in China.
We begin with Brandon.
And have you ever tried the zero waste lifestyle yourself?
I mean, I try and do my part.
I try and always reduce, reuse and recycle.
I suppose I could make more of an effort in terms of research, what I can do to live a less wasteful lifestyle, but I'm definitely conscious of certain things.
So the amount of plastic that I'm using or the amount of water that I'm using, and it kind of comes at different stages.
I mean, when I look back at my time in South Africa, in Cape Town, we had a very severe drought at one stage, so we found ways to take care of our water usage.
So, for example, using rainwater in buckets and capturing some shower water falling out of your body into different containers and using that water for different purposes, etcetera, which is quite an extreme example because it was an extreme situation, but in, you know, inverted commas, normal times, I guess the biggest thing is just being aware of the plastics that I use and, and my water consumption as well, I'm also quite conscious of.
So water consumption and plastic waste are the two major challenges that you have to overcome if you were to really implement a zero waste lifestyle.
Yeah, and I think that's also the two areas, is that I think individuals are capable of really making a difference in their own lives.
I think when it comes to greater scales, then, you know, governments and municipalities, et cetera, needs to take more of the responsibility.
But I think where individuals can really make a difference is probably those two areas, water consumption and plastic usage.
There used to be a time when it's much easier if you are living in rural areas than it is when you are living in urban areas where you always have to buy stuff, sometimes with plastic packaging.
Like Brendan said earlier, plastic waste can be a challenge for any individual who want to exercise this zero waste lifestyle.