In 2018, my life was changed forever. My sustainable lightbulb moment happened whilst on a camping trip to regional Victoria, Australia in the Yarra Valley. My small group of friends and I sat on the bank of the Goulburn River at the back of a cherry tree farm – like we did every year. With the sun high in the sky and a drink lodged in our hands, we sat around poking fun at each other and the world. The zoo-keeping ‘tree-hugger’ amongst the group was readying the waste bags around one of the marquee legs, when a light-hearted tease was tossed in her direction. “You’re just lucky I’m not making you all collect the scrunchy plastics.”
These words forced me into a flashback to a time standing alone in my kitchen. I was holding an empty bag of frozen peas over the bin ready to send it on its journey “away.” I remember feeling that there must be some way to recycle this – it was plastic after all. With an ‘oh well’ shrug, the plastic bag met its fate into my rubbish bin.
Grace’s words stunned me. “Hold on – you’re telling me I actually CAN recycle scrunchy plastic?!” I questioned. “Yes,” she said. “Just collect it in a bag and bring it back to the supermarket.”
My world had been rocked. I had been knowledge-slapped and returned from the camping trip, still reeling. I couldn’t unknow what I knew.
At the time, I was living in a shared townhouse with three other professional ladies. I immediately started a shared scrunchy plastic collection bag, but I soon realised that scrunchy plastic was just my gateway drug into the wider world of waste – and not everyone in the house was on board. Soon after assuming the role of “Bin Police” within the household, it dawned on me that I was alone in the amount of cares given. It was time to move out on my own where I could really lean into this new sustainable lifestyle.
Caitlyn Socwell (DPT)
Global Circular Sustainability Consultant
Caitlyn is the founder of The Waste Not Spot, a consultancy that knows no borders in helping organisations transition to a circular economy and have lasting positive impact on people and planet.
Then, 2020 came around and I think we all know what happened there. COVID sped things up and slowed things down all at once. During this time, I lost work, started a community-based recycling not-for-profit organisation and started a new role as an aged care physiotherapist (little did I know, it would be my last!).
Working in aged care as a healthcare professional during the COVID pandemic was as rough as you can imagine. Residents died and were isolated from their families, and staff were scared, over-worked and desperately underpaid. Between unit lockdowns, sustainability became my saving grace. It gave me the glimmer of excitement I needed to show up to work and was an opportunity to have a meaningful impact on the lives of my residents.
And so it began. Very small and simple at first. It started out with a conversation with the facility manager, which led to a sustainability committee of staff and residents. We set up newspaper recycling boxes, changed from plastic to paper pill cups, hosted Plastic Free July parties, but perhaps the most impactful program was the bread tag and lid collecting and sorting, where my not-for-profit met aged care.
Residents in dementia units are notoriously difficult to engage in meaningful activities as compared with their non-affected aged peers. These residents need activities that fall under the Montessori approach to set them up for success. Cue the lid sorting program.
We began collecting the community’s plastic lids from milk cartons and drink bottles. We washed and sorted them by plastic type, but they then needed to be sorted by colour. Working with the wonderful lifestyle team, the lids were brought down to the dementia ward, paired with some gentle music and afternoon tea. All we could do was facilitate and hope for the best.
We were blown away. Residents with dementia who traditionally didn’t get involved in activities due to their poor cognition, were starting to take notice. They wandered over to see what all the fuss was about. They may not know what day of the week it is or who their children are, but they certainly know that a red cap goes in the red bucket. The lid sorting was a hit and eventually ran multiple times per week. It eventually captured the attention of non-dementia affected residents to come over. In addition to the added mobility, fine motor, cognitive and social aspects the program brought to residents, it also provided them with a sense of purpose and a feeling of being a valuable member of society once more.
It wasn’t long before I was spending more time on sustainability things in the facility than I was on my actual job as a physio. I knew this wasn’t fair to my residents, but also not fair to myself. I clearly needed to pursue my passion as a career and not just a hobby. I wanted to have a bigger impact on the many rather than just a few.
And so I took my first official sustainability job as a Zero Waste Champion with the City of Monash in Melbourne, and loved every minute of it. But I soon felt that pesky pull again to keep moving, keep learning, keep living and experiencing. Before I knew it or could believe it, I sold everything, turned down a permanent position in a role with a team I adored, and moved myself to the Netherlands to found The Waste Not Spot where I now help organisations around the globe transition to transition to a circular economy and leave a lasting positive impact on our environment and its people.
While mine definitely did, it certainly doesn’t take some life changing moment or a move across the globe to have an impact – anyone in any role can inspire change right there in their own workplaces. You just have to find your own scrunchy plastic.
Header image by The Waste Not Spot