War on Waste

In Episode One, presenter Craig Reucassel kicks off the War on Waste by tackling the issue of food waste. Australians wasted 3.3 million tonnes of food in 2014 - 2015. To give the audience a national recognisable measurement reference Craig stands in the middle of the MCG and makes the point that our food waste would fill the MCG 6 times over! So where does the food waste problem begin? On average, Australian households are throwing out a fifth of all food that they buy. To show exactly what that amount of food looks like Craig fills a truck with almost a tonne of food and drives it into the middle of a shopping centre car park. Not only that, he decides to dive some shoppers’ trolleys and grabs a fifth of what they’ve just purchased. Surprisingly, people aren’t too happy to give up their groceries. But most are shocked to learn that the truck represents a year’s worth of food wasted per household. To see if we can all make a difference, Craig sets a challenge for a neighbourhood of ten Sydney families to live as “waste free” as they possibly can. Their task over the next month is to try to reduce their household waste. He’ll be there to help them but first he wants to see what they waste, so he borrows their garbage bins and sorts through the contents – it’s a messy, stinky job! When confronted with their waste the families realise they have to start to make changes – first job is to install compost to tackle their food waste. But the whole rubbish sorting experience raises some questions about recycling that motivates Craig to investigate further. One of the major supermarkets finally agrees to an interview with Craig to address food waste and the meeting reveals that there’s more to do on their “zero food waste to landfill” target.

The convenient plastic shopping bag seems harmless enough, but the environmental impact they’re having is huge. In Episode Two, Craig dives underwater to discover the shocking amount of plastic waste that ends up in Sydney Harbour, which in turn becomes ingested by our marine life. Interested to find out the history behind the plastic bag ban, Craig speaks to various experts including DoSomething founder Jon Dee. Tasmania has had a ban on plastic bags for the last ten years. Craig discovers how it started, but soon finds out there’s a sneaky loophole in the current scheme. Inspired to challenge other States to instigate the ban, he surprises various politicians with a giant plastic bag ball to highlight the issue and get some answers. To answer the question of what we can and can’t recycle, Craig talks to expert Tim Silverwood and together they head back to our Sydney neighbourhood to set up a recycling challenge for our “waste free” families. Can they help them (and us) learn some basic rules and tricks when it comes to recycling? To continue their “waste free challenge” Craig’s families join him at the Bower Repair centre to learn how to repair & reuse broken household items – it’s has a surprisingly emotional outcome.

There is no doubt that we live in an increasingly throwaway society. In Episode Three, presenter Craig Reucassel maintains his War on Waste by exploring the impact that coffee cups and fast fashion have on our society. It’s estimated that over 1 billion coffee cups are ending up in landfill per year. While most people believe coffee cups are recyclable, this is not quite the case. Craig catches up with the experts including Brendan Lee from Closed Loop to find out what is going on. To highlight the issue, he fills a tram with coffee cups and encourages Melbourne’s coffee lovers to start using their own recyclable cups. Can the movement take off? Craig examines our obsession with fast fashion - it’s an issue that’s causing an environmental crisis globally as textile waste is piling up at catastrophic levels. Our clothing charities are inundated with the volume of clothing coming to them, much of which now ends up in landfill at a cost to the charities. A recent audit by the City of Sydney reveals that 6 tonnes of textile and fashion waste are going to landfill in Australia every ten minutes. Craig visits Martin Place to illustrate just what a pile of this waste looks like. He tracks down four fashion-obsessed millenials and, with the help of celebrity stylist Aleysha Campbell, inspires them to slow their fashion down by going on a fashion diet. Craig returns to our “waste free” families to see what they’ve accomplished over a month. Finally, he follows up with supermarkets and recycling facilities to encourage them to make changes for the better. Will he have an impact? Only time will tell.

In Episode Four, presenter Craig Reucassel continues his battle in the War on Waste by revisiting the major issues and highlighting the positive changes that have occurred over the past few months. Disguised as a courier he fills several boxes with plastic bottles collected from Melbourne’s Yarra River and delivers them to the office of the Victorian Premier. Craig continues to challenge politicians and government departments and follows up with supermarkets and major corporations to encourage them to make changes for the better.