How do you think we can achieve better education around disposing of compostable items?
“It starts at school,” he says. Marinus has two bachelor’s degrees — one in Music, one in Theoretical and Nuclear Physics. Speaking about helping his son with his maths homework, he says “it’s great problem-solving skills — but, he wouldn’t know what goes in the recycling bin unless I told him”.
This alludes to a larger, societal issue of apathy when it comes to waste and recycling. Speaking personally, Marinus says, “all of our recycling goes through the dishwasher, then it goes into our very clean recycling bin, and then it goes into a truck full of contaminated recycling… and then it goes to landfill,” he laughs. “So, I think there’s a massive fundamental failure in how we educate people”.
The problem is rooted in our throw-away culture, but it’s especially apparent in the way we dispose of fast-food packaging. First, he says, “they have a bag — not recyclable, with a cardboard box — not recyclable, with more paper, more straws, and it all just gets thrown out. The whole culture of throwing stuff away just blows my mind. It’s very ingrained, and it’s very lazy — but it’s also made really easy”.