flypig.co.uk

I've just uploaded the latest set of my waste data measurements. The most notable change this fortnight is that iron suddenly died. It caused me significant grief: I took it to an electrical repair store and was essentially told that it would be impossible to get it repaired (too cheap, no available parts) either by them or anywhere else. Eventually I resigned myself and bought a new one, returning the broken iron for recycling. It adds a whopping 805g to my general waste. But it raises broader issues. When I moved to Finland I essentially bought an entirely new life: new furniture, new appliances, new utensils. In some sense, my low waste output has been riding on that wave since then. Now as things start to break and decay, I'm going to begin having to dispose of some potentially heavy items. If my bed breaks, for example, that could double my annual output. That's one of the reasons I've enjoyed such low levels of waste output for the last two years. Maybe this signals an end to that. On a more practical level, I'm wondering if I should be distinguishing these larger items from my other general waste. I've decided against: it may be unpleasant to have to include the weight of these large items in my statistics, but it's a reality nonetheless that they contribute to my impact on the environment. I may yet decide to separate them out in future given the means of recycling is different than for other items, but right now I think it's fair to include my iron as part of my general waste. The good news for this fortnight at least is that an iron isn't as heavy as a bed, so my daily average of 225.15g/day is still below my 250g/day target.

The first waste data dump of the year. It's a bit of a strange one, since I've been out of the country since mid-December, a fact that's apparent in the figures and on the graph. My average of 21.34g/day is therefore pretty much irrelevant, but things should get back to a more normal situation with the next data dump. I've not yet posted a summary of my 2020 waste output, but it's on my list of tasks, so expect it soon.