What do you learn when you look at your trash for 30 days?

With this post in early November, we set ourselves a mentally demanding challenge. We at Rifuz decided to photograph and post pictures of Rifuz trash cans for 30 consecutive days.

In doing so, we held up a mirror to ourselves to see just how much waste Rifuzl actually produces. And since we don’t want to hide anything, Klara posted photos of the bins—taken by our shop assistants every day— on Instagram Stories, along with a brief explanation of what was inside them.

Since I believe that every challenge is only useful if we learn something from it, I reviewed all the photos, your questions, and comments. Here are the lessons we’ve learned from 30 days of trash bins:

First: receipts and scale stickers belong in the mixed waste. And we accumulate quite a lot of those!

This fact came as a surprise to many of you as well. Receipts and scale labels are printed on thermal paper and thermal labels. The thin plastic coating, which is temperature-sensitive, contains BPA (or BPS—bisphenols). Because of this, receipts cannot be recycled like regular paper and belong in mixed municipal waste. From noprintZ:

Did you know that most receipts are coated with the hazardous substance BPA, which is classified as an endocrine disruptor and poses a risk to our health? Because of their BPA content, these receipts cannot even be recycled.

Source: noprintZ

You can find another source on Snaga Marib’s Facebook profile

What are we going to do about this?

• Invoices: We’ve been planning to switch our invoicing software for quite some time. One of the criteria we considered when choosing a new provider was that the software allows for paperless invoicing. We’re working on it so that, by the end of winter, you’ll be able to receive Rifuz invoices via the noprintZ app —no printing and no waste! ?
• Labels:
  • We’ll reduce the size of the labels printed by our packaging weight scaleby 67%—this project is already underway, and I hope we’ll complete it before the end of the year. Once we change the label size, I’ll also check with our new label supplier to see if they offer BPS-free labels (even if they’re more expensive).
  • In the long term, we plan to eliminate labels entirely and use a different method for storing and transferring container weight information from the scale to the register. I’ve already discussed the concepts behind this with Miha from Zavod 404, but this is a larger project for which we’re not yet ready.
  • We encourage you to leave the labels on your jars and containers so that next time they won’t need to be weighed again and new labels printed. For the most part, the labels stay on the containers even if you put them in the dishwasher. Two more tips:
    1) If you have several identical glasses or containers, weigh just one of them,
    2) Weigh the containers once, save the labels in your wallet, and write on the label which glass or container it corresponds to.

Second: if you sell fresh produce, a lot of it starts to rot

In November, the selection of fresh fruit was quite varied: most of the time, we had mandarins, persimmons, and kiwis in stock. Since mandarins aren’t treated on the surface, they start to rot quickly. We check the fresh produce as often as possible and quickly remove any that are starting to rot so they don’t contaminate the rest. If the mandarins are a little rotten, we eat them at the store for a snack, or Manca brings them home and we eat them together. The really bad ones go straight into the organic waste bin.

Every day, (recyclable and compostable) paper towels also ended up in the organic waste.

What are we going to do about this?

• Rotten fruit: this is a double-edged sword. Of course, we don’t want food to spoil and be thrown away. But to prevent rotting, surface-treatment agents are used, and we don’t want to sell fruit treated in this way at Rifuzl. Our stance is that it’s better for apples to be grown and stored as naturally as possible, even if some of them rot as a result and end up in organic waste. After all, that’s natural.
  You can do a lot to help reduce fruit and vegetable waste by using our order form. There are so many benefits that it’s hard to list them all in one breath: you’re guaranteed to get what you ordered (you won’t be left empty-handed), we know exactly how much to order, and as soon as the produce arrives, we’ll send you a text message so you can come pick it up (it doesn’t get any fresher than this) …
• Paper towels: If it were up to us, we’d use only washable cotton cloths and hand towels. But as a food business, we must also comply with regulations (HACCP), which require us to use disposable paper towels. So we use recycled Lucart eco natural paper towels, which we purchase from Valtex (which is also a member of the eco initiative). In this way, we meet both the requirements for food-handling facilities and our commitment to purchasing recycled and compostable paper towels.

Third: Rifuzl still produces some plastic waste

This is perhaps the fact that shocked or saddened many people the most in this challenge.

We’ve never hidden the fact that some plastic waste is generated at Rifuzl. But as you can see from the conversation above, many people create an idealized image of Rifuzl in their minds, where nothing we sell has ever “come into contact” with plastic.

Here comes the moment of truth:

Some products arrive at Rifuzl packaged in plastic.

I know that you expect (and it’s also our duty) Rifuzl to do everything possible to protect nature. I’m grateful for that, because it means you care and are critical of our work. That’s a good thing, and we want to meet those expectations as closely as possible.

But at the same time, it’s Manca’s and my personal responsibility (and the wish of many) to ensure that Rifuzl survives in the long run. With all these conflicting desires and interests, we’re navigating between your expectations, our vision, and very concrete market rules (we can’t operate outside certain global frameworks at this moment, no matter how much we might want to). At the end of the day, we’re also realistic: Rifuzl is a business, and for all the positive changes we’re already making—and still want to make—in this world, the prerequisite is that we continue to exist (in other words, that we don’t “go under”).

Rifuzl, as it stands today, is not the goal, but the path to the goal. In the same way, it is the path for every individual—and consequently for society as a whole—to move away from the current dead end of consumerism, population growth, and unlimited economic growth, toward a more sustainable way of life.

In this light, we also order products that arrive at Rifuzl packaged in plastic bags because our customers kindly ask us to carry these items. I could write for hours and hours on this topic, but for now, let’s just take a look at the rest of the trash. ?

What have we already done about this?

• For the most part, we work with local producers and suppliers. We import from abroad (these are foods that are packaged in plastic bags far away from Rifuzl’s shelves) only when such products aren’t available locally (various nuts, grains, and dried fruits that aren’t grown here, etc.). This is also reflected in our product selection guidelines.
• We encourage you to buy local products instead of asking for imported ones, such as Indian nuts. Once there is no longer significant demand for imported products, we’ll be happy to remove them from our selection. Products that are literally “zero waste” (in terms of plastic waste from the field to Rifuzl) are simply basic local products. Examples of products that have truly never been packaged in plastic include: oil (which we receive from producers in returnable metal barrels), locally dried fruit, fruit juices, honey, porridges, groats, cereals, seeds, etc.
• In our online store, we’re gradually labeling more and more products to indicate where they come from, how they’re produced, who produces them, how they’re packaged before reaching us, and whether any waste is generated in the process.
• This is a direct response to the conversation with Špela mentioned above: from many environmental perspectives, it’s still much better to buy a product in bulk at Rifuzl, even if it arrived at our store in a plastic bag:
  • The psychological perspective: through your actions, you encourage (or hinder) change in society. If you buy the same product in a plastic bag at a regular store, using the excuse, “It’s the same as buying it at Rifuzl, because they get it packaged in plastic there too,” you’re supporting the status quo. It’s similar to arguing that for lunch, you should throw soup, potatoes, a steak, salad, and dessert into a blender and mix it all together—because it’ll all get mixed up in your stomach anyway. Do you really not care?
  • Overall, it still produces significantly less waste. A company buys peanuts in the same plastic bags from the same supplier that we buy them from and then repackages them into smaller, “branded” bags for the store shelf. Of course, peanuts are just an example. Most of the food you see on store shelves is repackaged in plastic this way. So by shopping with us, you’re significantly reducing the amount of waste. The packages we order come in 10- to 25-kg bags (depending on the food item). That company repackages 25 kg of cashews (1 large bag for transport and storage) into 250 small 100-gram bags. At Rifuzl, however, there’s no such waste. That makes a difference, don’t you think?
  • Whenever possible, we find ways to reuse plastic (and other) bags (we give them to our farmer-suppliers, our employees use them at home as trash bags, we give them to you, our customers, we donate them to various organizations and nature cleanup events, etc.).
  • If we ever do end up with too many plastic bags, we dispose of them properly, and I’m very confident that this portion of our waste is actually recycled. Why? At seminars, roundtables, and events on waste and sustainability—to which I’ve often been invited or where I’ve given presentations—I’ve learned that large packaging (precisely those large plastic transport bags) fetches the highest price on the waste market because it is by far the easiest and most practical to actually recycle in the true sense of the word. It’s a large piece of homogeneous, clean material, which is why this is possible. Smaller pieces of plastic and packaging that is printed on, dirty, mixed with other trash, and made up of several different materials or multiple different plastic parts cannot be meaningfully recycled. Perhaps in a laboratory, but not in practice. Anyone who “sells” you the theory that single-use plastic packaging in the household is perfectly fine and can be recycled either doesn’t know the reality or is lying straight to your face and misleading you. And don’t even get me started on bioplastics…

As contradictory as it may seem, even I sometimes side with the defenders of plastic. It’s unfair to lump everything together in the same basket (both literally and figuratively?). In fact, as far as I know, a plastic bag is currently the best compromise for transporting certain foods (context) and along certain transport routes (context). When I look at the big picture, I see many reasons why, given its properties, the use of plastic is the only logical choice in certain situations: it protects food from moisture, rodents, and other pests; it preserves its smell and taste; it’s very light for transport; it has a low production cost; and so on.

Of course, this doesn’t mean I’m suddenly defending it. I’m simply saying that whether its use makes sense depends on the circumstances. And there are circumstances in which it makes sense to use it.

Fourth: If we didn’t operate paperlessly, could we go sledding on paper??

In today’s world of “zero-wasters,” paper has a much less negative connotation than plastic. And for good reason: it decomposes faster in nature and is recycled to a greater extent. But it still requires cutting down a tree and using some chemicals and energy to turn wood into paper.

At Rifuzl, we go to great lengths to ensure our operations are as digital and paperless as possible, for two main reasons. There are two main reasons for this: environmental and practical. You see, Rifuzl’s office is our dining table at home (that’s where Manca works) and the table in the bedroom (that’s where I work—and where I’m writing this article). If we were to archive all our invoices and other documentation in physical form, Manca and I would have run out of space to eat and sleep long ago. That’s why we started “nagging” our suppliers very early on to send us all documents electronically. We didn’t have any problems with most of them; others were a tougher nut to crack, but overall, I’d say we produce at least 90% less paper waste than we would if Manca and I hadn’t insisted on electronic documents. It seems crazy to me that in 2020, someone is still sending invoices by mail. But on the other hand, I get it—old habits die hard. ?‍♂️

Since we also accumulate a lot of smaller pieces of paper and scraps, the girls at the store turn them into envelopes (for storing receipts from the terminal or for sending gift certificates), business cards, price tags, and notepads, …. But despite all our efforts, we end up with more than we need ourselves.

Until, in one of her shift summaries, Marcela wrote:

One lady suggested that we also have some cards like this one—“I Can Handle Anything”—or some cute ones to include with a gift or to write a note on.

Marcela, in a shift summary on Slack

One idea led to another, until the whole thing turned into a mini-project. Tamara used scraps of boxes, paper, and string to make the cutest, one-of-a-kind greeting cards for New Year’s or just to send warm wishes: ?❄️

Summary of paper waste:

• We’re “pushing” a bit aggressively for all companies to do business with us exclusively electronically.
• We try to save the paper bags that imported food comes in (there are far more of these than those in plastic bags) from the trash by using them for organic waste, as packing material for shipping packages, and for customers to take as compostable waste bags.
• We use the cardboard boxes in which we receive certain products from abroad (such as Georganics toothpaste and Muhle razors) to ship packages from our online store or to give away.
• The cards created by Tamaraaa are made from scraps of paper, cardboard, and string. Each one is unique, and when you buy one, you’re supporting the handiwork of a Slovenian designer and the elderly, whom the Vida project helps through Humanitarček.

Fifth: Rifuzl’s bins also end up with trash that wasn’t generated at Rifuzl

This past spring, Manca and I organized two cleanup campaigns around the store and, among other things, gave new life to some old concrete planters. Now the Rifuzl team takes care of them, and even though they’re planted with flowers, passersby apparently mistake them for trash bins. As a result, our employees have to pick out plastic bottles, cigarette butts, cigarette packs, cigarette filters, and plastic “to-go” cups from them.

I figure this is just part of our culture. We’ve written to the city to ask them to add a few more trash cans in our neighborhood, but they’ve assured me repeatedly that the zoning plan doesn’t allow for it and that trash cans are already placed frequently enough in this part of town. Think what you will about this. I think that those who are drafting the zoning plan should go out into the field a little more often and talk to the people living in the area they’re planning.

Sixth: if clumsy fingers drop food on the ground, it belongs in the trash can

With this post, we wanted to remind those of you visiting us for the first time—and who aren’t yet used to shopping with your own containers—to please wait a minute or so so the clerk can attend to you and help fill your containers:

It’s with a heavy heart that we throw food that’s spilled on the floor into the organic waste bin. Well, to be honest, we do salvage some of it: our greyhound, Gili, happily eats all the pasta that spills around Rifuzl and that Manca brings home. We save the spilled grains for Božidar’s chickens, who diligently lay eggs under Lisca—eggs we sell at Rifuzl.

BUT HEADS UP! What’s written above isn’t an excuse for you to go around spilling pasta and grains wherever you please. We’ll make sure Gili and the chickens don’t go hungry.

Long live #30DaysOfWeedingForTrash!

In the announcement of our 30-day challenge, I named it “30 Days of Trash Bins” and launched the hashtag #30dniKosevZaSmeti. The goal is that we Rifuzlars aren’t alone in this challenge—we want to encourage others to do the same.

As you can see, it’s worth it—we’ve learned a lot, gotten new ideas, and maybe even inspired someone. Did we succeed? Our digital host Klara, who writes her blog Curry and Love, joined the challenge. You can read about her experience with the challenge here. Manca and I will probably do something similar soon with our own home basket—if you’re interested, of course?

Next up is you! Start your 30-day challenge today by taking photos of your trash bins and posting them, tag them with #30DaysOfTrashBins, and get others involved in reducing waste too! ?