Hey Green Junkie!
Instead of complicating sustainable and green living, what if we just simply thought of how we can become masters of reducing?
What if we just decided to consume less and reduce the amount of products and things we use in a given day?
What if that was the key to helping our beautiful planet – would you do it?
In today’s episode, I brought on Anhely Millan, the author of The World Behind Recycling, to discuss recycling, climate change and how we can reduce our impact on the environment with simple and easy to implement changes.
In this episode I will touch on:
- Are we too late to reverse climate change
- How you can add more sustainability changes to your everyday life
- The power of reducing and the impact the simple act has on the environment
- How simplicity is the key to lasting impact
If you love this podcast be sure to leave a review and share a screenshot of this episode to your IG stories. Tag @thisisstephaniemoram so I can shout you out and publicly say thanks.
Thanks for listening and being here.
Your green bestie,
Xoxo Stephanie
Hang With Anhely
https://www.instagram.com/anhelymillan/
https://www.instagram.com/sustainabilityforkids_au/
https://www.tiktok.com/@anhemillan
https://twitter.com/anhemillan
https://www.facebook.com/sustainabilityforkids/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainability-for-kids/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anhely-mill%C3%A1n-b7277291/
Get a Copy of Anhley’s Book “The World Behind Recycling”
www.sustainabilityforkids.com.au
USA: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WKMHXYX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_XZGBBMH1R5G881TQH4N3
Send Anhely an email at anhely@sustainabilityforkids.com.au telling her why you want her book “The World Behind Recycling,” and she will send a hard copy to one person!
Previous Episodes Mentioned
#2. 5 Simple Ways to Reduce Your Waste
#27. Solving The Daily Lunch Woes – One Box At A Time With Courtney Stewart
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1850972/11340376
Follow Me on Instagram
Follow Me on TikTok
Follow Me on Linkedin
Follow Me on Twitter
Wanna go the extra green miles? Binge (and download) my complimentary audio series to reduce your waste and learn how to consume less in just five days!
Produced by: Alecia Harris
Music By: Liz Fohle
LISTEN BELOW
TRANSCRIPT FOR EPISODE 57
Stephanie Moram 0:00
Hi, GreenJunkie, it's Stephanie Moram and today I have the pleasure of speaking with Anhely Millan, the author of the book, The World Behind Recycling. She is a Venezuelan living in Australia, a mother of one little girl and a dog. She is a scientist married to a graphic designer who complements her scientific mind, and has a passion for sustainable living. Her purpose is to educate younger generations as she believes they are the generation of change. She has worked in packaging innovation for over 20 years. And after seeing how the world is changing, she decided to make her contribution for a better planet by writing and illustrating educational stories about sustainability targeting little ones and grownups as well.
Stephanie Moram 0:51
You can head over to my Instagram and Tiktok @thisisstephaniemoram to follow along my journey. If you want to reduce your waste and learn how to consume less in just five days, you can binge my complimentary audio series, the links, you will find them all below. And please don't forget to subscribe to the Green Junkie podcast on whatever platform you get your podcasts. That way, you will never miss another green living episode.
Stephanie Moram 1:23
Hello, hello, how are you? Thank you for being here today.
Anhely Millan 1:28
Hey, thank you. And thank you for having me. So exciting.
Stephanie Moram 1:32
Of course, of course, I'm excited to dive in. And so I'm just gonna dive in and ask you a question that you said you recently you had someone ask you. So we're just gonna get right into it. Do you think when it comes to sustainability, that there is still hope? I know, that's like a big question. But you told me that someone had asked you this. And you thought it was such a great question. And I would love to know your thoughts and answer.
Anhely Millan 2:00
Yeah, indeed. My personal view is that there is hope as long as we take actions now. And, you know, educate people, not only kids, but you know, people in general, around the importance of living a sustainable life, at least with, you know, small actions. I think that's, that's the most important thing in how we can contribute, you know, to that in our day to day activity. So the, the answer to that is depends on, on on what we do, to be honest, that are, you know, many people, like you, of course, in many experts around the world working on a more sustainable future. What my, my feeling is that, you know, there is a gap in it between the experts and the people at home. So, and that's basically the reason why I wrote the book, you know, targeting people at home who want to, you know, do the right thing, but they don't know how so I think the future depends on definitely the actions we take now. And, yeah, the help is there.
Stephanie Moram 3:41
And so when you're saying different actions, what type of things can people do around the house? You know, somebody's listening, and they're like, you know, I recycle and that's it. And I'm not saying that's not a good thing that they recycle. But, you know, or they say, I compost but I don't do it all the time. I don't know where else to start, or I recycle. I don't know where else what else to do, or, you know, I buy organic food when I can, but I don't know what else to do. So what would you tell somebody that's kind of like a deer in the headlights and wants to have more ideas on what they can do to make changes in their lives and to be more sustainable?
Anhely Millan 4:23
Yeah, one thing is, sustainability implies a lot of changes behavior and changes. And some of those changes. You could see in see them as a as a working against us. For example, convenience. To buy a bottle on the go and then the bottle I would What do I do with the bottle? Do I keep it in my car? Do I throw it in the trash? You know, it's kind of like oh my god, especially for you know, in my case, you know, I have a daughter is like, oh, you know, things on the go and that convenience and flexibility. I think the first thing you can try, and this is what we've been doing for a couple of years now, especially when we were in lockdown, you could see the impact of waste in the environment. So I would say you could definitely try to reduce, reduce everything reduce the time you take, you know, to shower, reduce the time you spend, you know, with the lights on, produce this, the items you buy, you know, that's the first thing we should be thinking of.
Anhely Millan 5:44
And then you know, going down to that waste hierarchy to recycle them in, in compost, recyclability, mobility is, of course, at the top of the trends now, same as composting. However, there is more infrastructure around recycling and composting. So knowing how to recycle is also important. People might say, hey, yes, I recycle. And you will be surprised what you see in the recycling bins, I work pretty close, pretty closely with material recycling facilities. And, you know, the other day, I was talking to my manager, and she said to me, Oh, I was, I was in the material recycling facility the other day, and I was, I was amused to see all the items that people put in the recycling bin, from a an extinguisher to a teddy bear, you know, so knowing how to recycle is important, especially because there is so much investment around the world to make recycling work. So it's important also to understand what materials can be put into the recycling bin? And what items and how, even though, you know, if you if you know, that I am, for example, a plastic bottle could be put into the recycling bin? What do I do with that bottle? Do I keep the cap? Or do I take the cap off? You know, do I rinse it, it's that type of things that will help also the recycling stream to to work more efficiently.
Stephanie Moram 7:22
And I think when it comes to recycling that I think one of the biggest problems, in my opinion is that every country, every state, every province, every city, every country like town, all of the ways that the recycle are different. So if I go to Australia, from Canada, and I recycle, I might say, Oh, I can put this plastic bag in the recycling and you're like, I don't know what the laws are in Australia. I'm just giving an example. You might say no, no, we do not recycle plastic bags. But here, in my small town, we take plastic bags, but if I drive 20 minutes to Montreal, they don't take plastic bags. So there's so much discrepancy and like the info like the systems that are in place, I just feel like they could just be more similar, I think people would understand recycling a little bit more.
Anhely Millan 8:21
100%. And that are appropriate individual individual programs as well. So, for example, here in Australia, all soft plastics are recycled through a individual party. So it is a separate company from the curbside recycling. And then you need to take the bags to the supermarkets. So, if you want to recycle your plastic bag, so you go into the supermarket and put the recycling aka all the bags into the recycling soft plastic bins. The other thing is that even though they are all the, you know, the infrastructure is a little bit different than in the rules, let's say they are a little bit different, there are certain things that are common. So for example, P E T plastic is globally recyclable. You know, things like that, and cardboard boxes, paper, those materials are high value materials and can be recycled and say in an easier way to other types of plastics or materials. So you know, if you if you want to start at least to you know, be conscious about what you put into the recycling bin make sure that at least you're put in the P E T plastic bottles, the paper or containers, or the paper, you know, materials in there because they might, you know, get recycled more broadly than other type of materials. So, that's at least a good start, even though that the rules are different, yep.
Stephanie Moram 10:18
And I like how you said MIGHT get recycled.
Anhely Millan 10:22
I sent my ticket recycle, because in case of paper, and you know, paper is a big deal for us, there is a law and my you know, it might get in trouble with this bit there as there is a lot of greenwashing around paper you know, paper coated materials or containers are not necessarily recyclable, just because the coating is plastic and cotton will be separated as part of the recycling process. So any, any paper container that has a plastic liner or anything like that, is difficult to recycle. So, you know, you need to be conscious about, you know, that type of materials that even though if you put them in the recycling being, they will contaminate the resultant stream.
Stephanie Moram 11:22
That's the thing. I think so many people wish cycle right? Or like, well, it's paper, or it's this. And when you're talking about that type of paper, like the, it's like the waxy type of papers that like almond milk containers and stuff like that, where I live, they take them. But then again, I'm gonna go down to another place, like to another city, and they're like, no, no, no, no, we don't take that. Yeah, the one thing I'm gonna say is here in Quebec, we have on metal on like, I'm going blank right now on aluminum cans. We have an amount of money we get back. So I think CANS is like five cents, depending on the cans, and glass bottles, I think are like 20 cents or something like that. And what they're trying to do right now here in Quebec is those containers, like the almond milk that you can get any plant based milks, regular milk comes in those containers as well, they're trying to set up the exact same program. And I think those programs are amazing, because it's a way to separate recycling. And we're kind of doing it for them, right. So if we're throwing in those milk containers, or almond milk containers, they have to sort through that. But if they have something in place where all the metal cans, all the glass, you know, beer bottles and stuff like that, and now all the milk and almond milk containers are not even ending up in curbside recycling. That's, that's great. It's like eliminated. It's almost easier for the facilities to be able to recycle properly.
Anhely Millan 12:54
Yeah, when we when, in here in Australia, we have a similar, similar approach. So we have the curbside recycling, and then the return, we'll call it return scheme. So that return scheme is basically the same. So you know, glass, aluminium, plastic bottles, mainly for P E T bottles. And then and then and then the consumer goes to these places, they put the, you know, the different materials in the different sections, and they get money back. Really the thing with sustainability, and we need to remember that sustainability needs to be profitable, as well to be sustainable over time. So all the you know, all the things we've all the activities and programs and schemes that we put around sustainability need to add value. Otherwise, you know, companies and people in general, we'll say, well, what's the point? Yeah, yeah, sounds it sounds bad. And, you know, there, there are certain you know, institutions that fight truly from heart to you know, protect the environment. But in the end, if they don't get any funding or anything, they will die over time. So we need to be conscious that sustainability needs to add value needs to have, you know, a sense of profitability, because otherwise we'll, you know, we'll die. So the consumer pays, or the, the engagement with consumers is very important. So any, any program, any recycling program, any reuse, reuse, reusable, reusable, containers, steam and things like that needs to also add value to the consumer. Otherwise the consumer will say, well, what's the point if I return this to work? You know, what's the point of me making a big effort, I'm so busy, you know, making a big effort to return these back to you. They need to, they need to have some sort of added value.
Stephanie Moram 15:14
100% agree because, especially when it comes to the consumer, if the consumers like, so I'm gonna bring these aluminum cans back. And you're gonna say thank you.
Anhely Millan 15:28
So that effort also needs to be recognized. So as a consumer, any sad to think of, you know, that way, because when you are so passionate about, you know, sustaining the future, you say, well, you should do it by heart, like, I should do it, because it's the right thing to do. But at the same time, and I speak on my, for myself, like is, sometimes I completely forget to bring all the bags to the supermarket. And I said, Oh, my God, I forgot, you know, like, it's kind of like, it's just the you know, the day to day and you are consumed you into your day to day activities. So that's why all these things, the simpler the better for people in general, because otherwise is not going to be sustainable.
Stephanie Moram 16:23
And in your book, so the book that you wrote is called the world behind recycling? Are these the types of things that you speak about in the book that you talk about that you educate on?
Anhely Millan 16:33
100% So the book is kind of like, the main character is Mr. Ben, so is the recycling bin who takes kids through this mission of recycling, and it starts from, of course, explaining what recyclability means, what the symbols you know, around recyclability means and, and the different types of materials that can be put into the recycling bin and explains how the waste is separated in the material recycling facility, and then the individual recycling processes for paper, metal, and plastic and glass, how you can recycle other items that are considered contaminants to the recycling stream that can be still be recycled. And the book closes with, you know, a really nice way to encourage kids to commit on one simple thing you will do, you will do differently from now on. And that's, that's my point on simple steps, you know, baby steps to change those behaviors that we have at home. So that's the intention and and, you know, especially for kids, my daughter, and I just see my daughter all the time asking me Hey, Mom, is this recycle? Do I put these in the recycling bin? Do I put these in and they are in, you know, they are more conscious, more conscious about on the impact they make, to the environment? If I compare it to myself, to my 12 years old? You know, when I was a kid, I didn't even know that, you know, what it's like to be like that probably. recyclability didn't exist that probably for glass only, but you know, they are more conscious about it. And, and the more information we provide them, I hope, you know, they will be that generation of change that we need in the future.
Stephanie Moram 18:45
And can you just touch on, before we, we close up? Can you touch on like the sorting, you know, you mentioned how they kind of sort and the different plastics and metals and glass. Can you touch on that? You know, quickly just what does that look like? From a recycling facility standpoint?
Anhely Millan 19:10
Yes. So it is indented or globally speaking, those facilities work in a very similar way. So is literally physically separated so that our stations and it's more more complex than it sounds. But our stations where the bales are coming from, you know, different bales of waste. They get into a big massive, let's say massive conveyor. And then in each of the stations, the paper gets separated by air for example, the metals are separated by I kind of like magnets, it's not necessarily mad at that just to, you know, put things in context separated by magnets, and then the plastics get separated, you know, from, from glass and so on. So is a very complex facility here in Australia, majority of them are private owned, probably sponsored by government. I'm not sure if in other countries will be 100% owned by the government consoles, you know. But yeah, is a very complex and high tech facility, basically. The mechanism to separate the items is physical.
Stephanie Moram 20:50
Yeah. And I think that's why, you know, a lot of people say like, oh, do I have to rent out, like my plastics and stuff like that. And for me, because I know that it's manual. One thing is, it's hard to recycle stuff with like, baked on food. And second, real people are separating the recycling. And if it turns, like how long we don't know how long the plastic is sitting there for right, from the time that we put into our recycling van, from the time that it gets picked up on the, like, on the side of the road, the time that it gets to the facility, they could be backed up for weeks. Right? Like, who knows when that piece of plastic is actually getting recycled?
Anhely Millan 21:38
It can get really nasty. Like if Yeah, like if, for example, it's a milk bottle.
Stephanie Moram 21:47
yeah, and so real people are the ones, you know, like you said, it's manual labor. So you think of the people that are doing this, they're handling this stuff, they're touching it, you know, and it's just identically I'm just like, please, print out your stuff.
Anhely Millan 22:01
Yeah. And it's like, yeah, it's not a it's not a hard, you know, it's not too hard. Like, if like, even, you know, the, just just a quick rinse is important. As I said, the, the process is very physical, there is real people in the process, not necessarily separating the items, items, but removing the contaminants. As I said, Before, people put, you know, quote, piece of clothing in there, you know, things that that are, you know, if you, if you have a piece of a rag in red can get tangled into the machinery. So it's kind of like they, they need to remove all that also to avoid any complications across the process. So, yes, there is real people working in there, then the containers if they don't, if they're not clean, and not necessarily super clean, but if you if you don't clean set a home, they can get really nasty the smells, it's kind of like working in a big mass mass of waste. meatery. So, to be also to consider those peoples that work in the people that work in there, you know, it's also important that, you know, we do a small step before putting the items in the recycling bin.
Stephanie Moram 23:32
And it's so crazy to me, you know, I know we're talking about recycling, but, you know, we have curbside composting where I live so it's a big brown bin that you put your composting in. It's super clear on the website like Uber clear what you cannot can and cannot put in the compost. Like, I often go over like, Oh, can I put this and I go back and refer to it, but the average person is not and I remember I went for a walk was last year I'm going for a walk and it was compost A. So I see all the compost bins lined up on the street. And I see like wood in the compost. But like from the side of someone's house with paint, I'm like, okay, yeah, that doesn't go on the compost. And then I'm thinking, all the work that I'm doing to compost. Are you screwing it up for me now? Like, are you screwing up? how hard I work for composting and the same is true for recycling. I work really hard to follow what they say to do. Like they say, for plastic bags. You need to take one plastic bag and put all the plastic bags into a bag, tie it up, throw it in the recycling. I feel like I'm the only person in my town that does that. I just have a sneaky suspicion. I'm like one. Maybe there's a couple others. And I'm like, then I think and I'm thinking to myself, or other people screwing up how hard I work. work and how hard other people work to follow the steps for recycling for composting. And then they go throw in, like a random t shirt in the recycling, or they throw like, something that's not supposed to be in the compost. So I have a lot of trust issues. When it comes to that.
Anhely Millan 25:17
Yeah. You're so right. And I think is just because the information is not easy will easily viable. For me, I always say to, you know, I always wonder, and I have fought written letters to my constant saying, hey, it'll be so much easier if you just put a big sticker on the bean and say, Hey, these are the items you could put in it. And like, you know, it's more like, I don't know, if is a matter of, you know, putting more in a more visual way. Because people will know, they are not going to go to a website just to check, what is his name, you put in notes? Maybe? And some others I do. But you know, the majority, unfortunately, majority of people are not going to do it. And and they don't do it just because is it extra effort they need to put into it. Some of them don't see the value. So then they say, Well, why do I bother, you know, so things needs to be simple, needs to be more visual. Education, again, is a big, big, big massive gap, we need to start by educating people educating people on on things that, you know, are simple and can make a massive change. So yeah,
Stephanie Moram 26:52
Yeah. And I think, to like close this loop up at the very beginning, you said, you said we need to stop using as much we used, we need to start reducing. So even before we start recycling, it's, we need to reduce and reduce the amount of stuff we're actually putting in the recycling rate. And so it just kind of ties this up in a nice little bow that yes, recycling is Uber important. And you everyone should go buy, go buy your book, the world behind recycling, and go to their local websites, you know, where they live and check what can be recycled. But even before that is reduce and consume less. So your blue bin or whatever color your recycling bin is that there's less stuff in it
Anhely Millan 27:38
100%. And again, going back to that waste heterarchy where the first thing you need to, you need to think of is, Do I really need that item? Do I really need to buy a new one? Can I re repurpose it? Can I repair it? And then can I reduce and then reuse? And then you know, recycling is just probably middle of that pyramid? You know? And then composting is kind of like, yes, composting and recycling are the things that are getting more attraction and an attention because there is an economy behind it. The other thing is, there is a lot of investment put into those two, you know, streams globally. But before that we have many other hours, do you know that we need to, we need to be thinking of first. Yeah, so that's probably my my call to people. Please, before, you know, even thinking on how to recycle and all that sort of things, re think re use, read use, you know, before going into the recycling piece, and go buy your book, the world behind recycling, or you can. If you want to learn what to put into the recycling bin, then you buy the book.
Stephanie Moram 29:11
And I will have all those links below in the show notes. So thank you, Amhely for being here. I appreciate it. I know it took us a couple of tries to get this interview on the books. But I'm so glad that we were able to have this interview and that even though there's 14 hours between us we were able to make this and so thank you so much.
Anhely Millan 29:34
Thank you for having me and a pleasure. Please contact me anytime I'm you know more than happy to help and educate in any aspects related to sustainability. So it's a pleasure for me. Thank you.
Stephanie Moram 29:49
And how can people find you?
Anhely Millan 29:51
Yeah, well, you can go into the website so it'll be www.sustainabilityforkids.com. I am on social media, Anjali Milan, in Instagram in Twitter, you can also find sustainability_au in Instagram. So it's more related to the book and my email annually at sustainabilityforkids.com.
Stephanie Moram 30:23
And I will have that all below in the show notes. So thank you again for being here.
Anhely Millan 30:28
Pleasure.
Stephanie Moram 30:31
For more sustainability living inspiration, you can check out a couple of my favorite episodes. Episode 2 Simple Ways to Reduce Your Waste. Episode 8 Recycling Plastic, What do Those Numbers Actually Mean? And episode 55 Eliminate Food Waste One Meal at a Time. Also, Amhely has graciously offered to send one listener, a copy of her book The World behind recycling. All you have to do is send her an email at Amhely@sustainabilityforkids.com.au and the first person that sends that email will receive a copy of her book simply stated in the email, why you need this book in your life. And she will get the book out to you. Please share this episode with your friends co workers Mom, Dad, uncle, cousin, seriously, anyone? Anyone you think will enjoy this episode all about recycling, maybe even your chiropractor. Thank you so much. Stay connected with me on Instagram and TikTok @thisisStephanieMoram. And don't forget to subscribe to the green junkie podcast on your favorite platform. And you can always download my complimentary audio series. You will find everything in the show notes below. Thank you for listening and I'll see you next Tuesday Green Junkie
Leave a Reply