Meet the family who produce one garbage bin of rubbish - A YEAR!

A mum of two pre-school children has revealed that she and her family produce just one garbage bin of rubbish - every year!

Nic Turner is the founder of Mainstream Green, New Zealand’s first ‘greenfulness’ coaching business, and encourages families and businesses to try to live with zero-waste.

But how does she do it?

'The first step for us was to get better at simple things like menu planning, using leftovers and freezing things to stop them going off,' she told the Daily Mail.

'We started a compost bin as it's the easiest way to get a handle on food waste.

'And we made a worm farm - they take a bit more to get going but once they are up and running they are super efficient.'

The family also use a Bokashi bin to compost their meat and dairy. This air-tight system ferments organic waste so it can be dug into the garden soil.

And Nicole, who lives with her husband Ryan and children Asha and Mahki, believes the changes have helped her financially too. 'I now grocery shop once every six weeks for my family of four, and put out one wheelie bin of rubbish a year. Going on this journey really made me want to help others to do more with less. I want to show people that more stuff doesn’t make for a happier life – in fact, it really can do the opposite.'

Nic says she knows many people think reducing their waste will mean a complete lifestyle change - but she says that's not true.'I teach others that you can live the life you want, with less stuff and less waste. I’m not expecting everyone to wash their hair with baking soda, make their own bread and stop driving. It’s about doing what you can, when you can and with where you are at.'

'I strongly believe in “ripples of change” – that lots of small changes can gather momentum and eventually create a revolution. People tell me they’ve started composting, joined a buying co-op, no longer use disposable razors, have ditched toxic cleaning products and more – and I know they will be creating their own ripples of change,' she says. 

Could you do it?