Welcome to the December edition of the HOW newsletter
Hello everyone,
In this edition, get tips for wasting less and recycling more this festive season, find out about Council’s new Waste Wise Events Policy and about upcoming events such as the Detox Your Home household chemical drop-off day and Clean Up Australia Day.
Detox Your Home in Skye this February
Free drop-off service for household chemicals
Detox Your Home is a free service which allows you to dispose of common household chemicals safely.
The collected items are recovered and diverted from landfill.
Date: Saturday 1 February 2020, 9am - 3pm
Location: Skye, site address provided upon registration
Registration: Visit sustainability.vic.gov.au/detoxyourhome or phone 1300 363 744
Registration is required to manage traffic flow and avoid queues on the day, which means you can get in and out quickly.
This Detox Your Home event is made possible through Frankston City Council and the Victorian Government.
Clean Up Australia Day – Site registration open
Participating in a local clean up event for Clean Up Australia Day is a great opportunity to enjoy your favourite park, beach or bushland reserve and to get to know your local community.
Every piece of rubbish picked up makes a difference. Everyone is welcome.
When: Sunday 1 March, 2020
Where: Various locations around Frankston City
Registration:
Register a site or join an existing site by visiting cleanupaustraliaday.org.au or calling 1800 CUA DAY (282 329)
Council may be able to assist you in promoting your community clean up event. For further information, please contact Joanna Drennan, Waste Minimisation Officer on 1300 322 322 or Joanna.Drennan@frankston.vic.gov.au by Thursday 30 January 2020.
Register early for a free post-event collection (selected sites only).
Low/no waste gift ideas
From unwanted gifts, to packaging and wrapping paper, gift giving can be associated with a lot of waste. However a lot of this can be avoided, such as by:
- Giving the gift of an experience or donation to charity
- Buying quality pre-loved (second-hand) gifts
- Avoiding overly packaged gifts
- Wrapping gifts with items you already have, e.g. a kid’s painting, tea towel or pre-used wrapping paper saved from previous years
- Baking or making gifts
- Checking with the person (or someone they are close with) if the gift you have in mind will be suitable
- Organising a Kris Kringle to reduce the number of gifts you need to make/bake/purchase
Where to donate /sell unwanted goods
With the new year fast approaching, now is the perfect time to declutter. But what to do with all your unwanted goods?
There are more options out there than you think. Here are just a few:
- Re-gift items to someone who may appreciate them more
- List the items with online groups and marketplaces for selling or giving away second hand items (e.g. Ziilch, Buy Swap Sell)
- Donate good quality items to an op shop or charity (always check they accept the items you wish to donate first)
Council policy to minimise waste and litter at events
Frankston City Council adopted a Waste Wise Events Policy on 2 September 2019 to reduce and better manage waste at Council events, as well as commercial, community and not-for-profit events on land owned/managed by Council where a Council event application form is required.
The policy includes waste management and site cleanliness requirements, prohibits balloons at outdoor events, prohibits plastic shopping bags and polystyrene food and beverage packaging and restricts the distribution of disposable straws.
The 12 month transition period has commenced and allows stakeholders time to adjust and fully comply with the policy requirements.
Event organisers can get tips for how to make their events ‘waste wise’ and comply with the policy, by viewing the Event Planning Guide (see Council’s ‘Event Application Forms’ page) or by contacting Council’s Waste Minimisation Officer, ph: 1300 322 322.
Plogging – Get fit by cleaning up the streets
Plogging combines jogging with picking up litter. This means that it gives you a cardio workout and challenges your strength as you undertake squats and lunges to pick up the rubbish.
The ‘plogging’ fitness craze started in Sweden and has since taken off in several other places around the world, including here in Australia.
What a great way to keep fit and do your bit for our environment!
‘Love a list’ challenge
One of the easiest ways to reduce food waste is to not create it in the first place.
By planning meals and shopping to a list (and sticking to it!) you can reduce the amount of food waste and money you throw away.
See how much money you can save by reducing your food waste with Sustainability Victoria’s ‘Love a list’ four-week challenge.
Bin collection changes (December – January)
If you are part of the Halve Our Waste program and have a garbage bin with a red lid which is normally collected fortnightly, you can have your bin collected weekly from 1 December 2019 to 31 January 2020. The fortnightly collections will resume from 1 February 2019.
All other Halve Our Waste participants will continue to have their garbage bins (with a green lid) collected weekly.
If you would like to check your bin collection days, download the waste collection calendar from Council's website.
Are you a recycling guru?
Planet Ark has developed a recycling quiz, which is a great way to test your knowledge and bust some recycling myths along the way.
What you can and can’t recycling does change from time to time, so it’s always good to check your recycling knowledge.
For further recycling information, visit Council’s website:
- A-Z Waste and Recycling Directory
- Bin Information (what goes in which bin)
New recycling label for packaging
The Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) is an evidence based label for packaging which tells you how to dispose of the different components of an item's packaging.
The label tells you if each packaging component is:
- Recyclable via your household recycling bin
- Conditionally recyclable (e.g. if it can be recycled ONLY if the instructions on the label are followed) or
- Not recyclable and should go in your household rubbish bin
The ARL is a voluntary program, but has already been adopted by a significant proportion of Australian businesses and this is only expected to increase.
NOTE: The ARL is based on what is typically accepted for recycling in Australia so doesn’t capture regional differences. Visit Council's website for local recycling information.
FRRRC – Drop off e-waste for free
E-waste is any item with a plug, battery or cord (e.g. TVs, computers, mobile phones, vacuum cleaners and toasters).
Recovering e-waste is important and necessary, but what’s even better is to try and avoid creating it in the first place, such as by:
- Re-evaluating whether you really need a new electronic item or device
- Considering the second-hand market
- Looking after your electronic items to preserve their life
- Donating or selling unwanted working electronics, to give them a second life
- Repairing broken electronic items
However if, after considering the above, you still have e-waste to dispose of, you can drop it off to the Frankston Regional Recycling and Recovery Centre (FRRRC) for free or at other local collection points listed on Council’s online A-Z Waste and Recycling Directory
Food waste collection service for households
Turning your food scraps into compost for farmers
Food waste makes up approximately 40 per cent of the kerbside waste currently sent to landfill in Frankston City. You can help us to put your food scraps to better use by placing it in your garden waste bin, to be turned into nutrient-rich compost for farmers. To register for a garden waste bin and claim your free kitchen caddy and six-month supply of compostable liners (optional), contact our Customer Service Centre on: 1300 322 322
Summer composting and worm farming tips
If you are worried about the impact of the hot weather on your compost or worm farm, you may like to consider the following:
Worm farms:
- Move your worm farm to somewhere shady or a cool part of the house so it doesn’t overheat
- Fluff up the worm casting to improve air flow
- Give your worms frozen food scraps on hot days
Composts:
- Add more food scraps or spray with water if your compost is too dry
- Turn your compost regularly to promote airflow
Food scraps typically kept out of worm farms and composts, such as meat scraps, bones, dairy and high volumes of citrus, can now be added to your garden waste bin, as part of Council’s Kerbside Food and Garden Waste Collection Service.
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PO Box 490
Frankston 3199
Tel: 1300 322 322
info@frankston.vic.gov.au