Join the War on Waste
If we all get on board with small changes to reduce our waste, we can make a big difference to how much rubbish goes needlessly into landfill.
We all need to do our bit to protect this extraordinary place we call home and reduce the amount of waste heading to landfill.
NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) charge a levy on all waste facilities and this cost is then passed onto Councils. Each year the waste levy increases to encourage the reduction of waste going to landfill and to promote recycling. The current waste levy is nearly 2.5 times more than what is was for 2009-2010.
Simple choices add up and help reduce the amount of waste we generate. Choose to refuse and re-use.
- Use reusable coffee cups, water bottles and shopping bags.
- Put a ‘no junk mail’ sticker on your letterbox.
- Opt out of getting paper copies of the Yellow and White Pages.
Attend a workshop... with a friend
Bring a friend to one of our workshops and save the planet together. Choose from many of the activities listed below, such as fermenting foods, keeping backyard chickens or make money selling unwanted stuff online.... check out these interesting activities to get involved and reduce your impact.
Waste Reduction Competitions
Repair, repurpose what you've got - competition winners
Many of our community have caught the repairing and repurposing bug whilst spending more time at home.
Enjoy the stories of how our four winning entries created their 'new' items.
National Recycling Week - competition winners
Residents were invited to watch our videos on composting & worm farming or keeping backyard chickens and to describe in less than 150 words what they learnt or found most interesting.
Congratulations to Tracey Arcus, Erin Stephens, Aaron Montgomery, Stephanie Ling, Nerida Davies, Sam Marinan, Norma Curry, Natalie Carson, Barry McLean and Carol Tippett who all won a voucher to purchase a worm farm, compost bin or chicken.
Food Waste
Did you know that 38% of rubbish in NSW garbage bins is food waste and that 20% of the food Australians thrown out is because they buy too much or don’t store their food correctly? Once in landfill, food waste produces greenhouse gases that impact on our environment.
You can help stop wasting food by planning your meals, shop to a list, buy fruit and vegetables locally and in season (they’ll last longer), store food correctly, use leftovers and freeze excess food.
Here are some great ideas:
- Seven creative ways to use your leftovers
- Ways to grow veggies from food scraps
- Preserve your excess fruit and veggies
- Avoid food waste and keep your food fresh longer
- Nine ways to use every part of your fruit and veg
- Four veggies you can grow from scraps
Still have food scraps? Try composting, keeping chickens or join ShareWaste a community run food scrap recycling initiative.
Alternatively try your local community garden, please contact the garden first to check whether they are currently accepting food waste.
Visit Love Food Hate Waste for inspiring tips on how to reduce your food waste.
Preserving excess veg and fruit
Stop wasting food and discover the traditional preserving techniques of our grandparents with Moss House. This workshop and webinar is held regularly and allows you to learn new skills for sustainable living. Time to ask questions and of course some taste testing! Recipes included, just bring an apron to assist.
Make Food Not Waste
Chef Sue Lambert from ‘The Wholefood Home’ regularly runs workshops and webinars on creating tasty stocks, marinades and sauerkraut with food that is ‘on the way out’. Check out our video Reducing food waste with Chef Suzanne Lambert for some great recipes.
Composting
Composting and worm farming are great alternatives to disposing of your food waste in the rubbish bin while creating quality fertiliser for your pot plants and garden. Book into one of our workshops at the CEC or Kimbriki.
No room for a compost bin or worm farm? Try keeping chickens or join ShareWaste a community run food scrap recycling initiative.
Keeping backyard chickens
Chickens love your food waste and they give you free, fresh free-range eggs while also making great pets for your kids. Watch our video on how to keep chickens in your backyard.
Check you comply with regulations when housing chickens.
Disposable Plastics
Beeswax wraps
Where possible avoid disposable plastics. Attend one of our Beeswax Wrap workshops and learn how you can swap cling wrap for reusable beeswax wraps.
Can’t make it to one of our workshops? Watch our instructional video.
Pledge Swap This for That
Find out more about our Swap This for That campaign. Take our pledge and put down single-use plastic bags, bottles, straws and coffee cups - aka the ‘Big 4’ – and pick up sustainable alternatives.
Find out more about reducing single use plastics.
Redcycle your soft plastics
Did you know that soft scrunchable plastics such as bread, rice, pasta bags and cling wrap can be recycled in the Redcycle bins at your local supermarkets? REDcycle recycles them into outdoor furniture for primary and pre-schools.
Visit REDcycle for a list of recyclable soft plastic items and participating supermarkets.
Nappies
Did you know every baby will go through between 4,000 and 6,000 nappies before they are toilet trained? This will cost you around $3,000 for just one child. Modern cloth nappies will only cost you between $500 and $1,000 and keep nappies out of landfill.
Read about some other benefits for making the switch to reusable cloth nappies.
Our reusable nappy workshops are perfect for expectant parents with time to work out what options will work best for you and your baby. Parents of toddlers not yet toilet trained are also welcome.
Furniture, Appliances, Mattresses and Toys
We can avoid this type of waste by buying quality items that will last or buying second hand.
Learn how to buy and sell online, and in turn keep these items out of landfill. Give your much-loved items a chance to be used and cherished by another person.
Decluttering
Gain a better understanding of what clutters your life, and how to responsibly get rid of your unwanted stuff. We hold fun, interactive workshop and learn how to identify and ethically declutter.
Our experts help you build a life with less housework and no clutter, making it easy to find items when you want them or find good homes for unwanted items.
