Welcome to the spring edition of EnviroNews

Do you feel it's time for some good news about the environment? This spring there is much to be upbeat about in our beautiful corner of the world. With good news on the Keep Victoria Beautiful awards, upcoming Greening Our Future events, the new food waste collections, recycling, community planter boxes, gardens for wildlife and lots more, this edition is bound to put a spring in your step.

Keeping Victoria Beautiful

Frankston City shines at recent state awards

There was a lot to celebrate at the Keep Victoria Beautiful awards last month, with Frankston City a finalist in multiple categories. The Resource Recovery and Waste Management Award was taken out by our very own Frankston Regional Recycling and Recovery Centre (FRRRC) for 'Leading the way in waste recovery'. It was noted that FRRRC goes above and beyond through supporting initiatives such as the Treasure Chest shop, Detox Your Home, Garage Sale Trail and the Specialty Recycling Hub at the Civic Centre. 

The wonderful environmental volunteer group Frankston Beach Association won the Environmental Sustainability Award for its ongoing foreshore revegetation work.

Highly Commended awards were given to Council for 'Powering up local communities', St Jude's Primary School for their 'Minnie Vinnies' recycling paper program and Kananook Creek Association for its 'Green Army Kananook Creek Restoration' project. To top it all off, local environmentalist and educator Narelle Debenham won the Dame Phyllis Frost Award for her work with local young people educating them about the natural environment.

Congratulations to all involved. It is wonderful to have such passionate and dedicated local people joining Council to help sustain our local environment as a green, healthy place for all to enjoy.

Greening Our Future events

Cloth Nappies 101

Saturday 12 October, 10.30am – 12pm, 

Frankston Library, 60 Playne Street, Frankston 

The popular Greening Our Future events series (finalist in the recent Keep Victoria Awards) boasts some brand new topics in October and November including modern cloth nappies.

Do you know that the average baby will go through around 4,000 - 6,000 disposable nappies before they are toilet trained? They can take hundreds of years to break down in landfill while releasing methane gas, a damaging greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming. 

Modern cloth nappies have come a long way from the terry towelling squares and safety pins of the past and are now not only easy to use but stylish too. While cloth nappies do have an upfront cost, they work out to be significantly cheaper than buying disposables in the long run. Plus, using modern cloth nappies can require less water and energy than what is used in the production of disposables, particularly if they are line dried and washed in full loads (source: Sustainability Victoria) so it can be a win-win for families and the environment.

Come and hear from an expert who has used them with her own little ones and learn how they can benefit your baby, budget and the environment. It may be easier than you think!

Kerbside Food Waste Collection Service

Great news - it's started!

If you live in Frankston City and have a Council garden waste bin, you can now put out food waste with your green waste (rather than into your rubbish bin) and it will be turned into nourishing compost for Victorian farmers. This includes food waste that shouldn't go into home compost systems, such as meat scraps and bones, bread, pasta, seafood, dairy etc. So even if you have a great compost bin, you're still likely to have some food scraps that you would otherwise send to landfill.

If you have a garden waste bin, you are also eligible to order your FREE benchtop kitchen caddy and liners, to make it even easier. Simply place your food waste into your caddy, then empty the caddy into your garden waste bin.

For more information about this new service and how to order a garden waste bin, visit Council's website or click on the green button below.

Correct recycling as important as ever

Get it right on bin night

Want to know what happens to your recycling? Your household recycling is processed at Polytrade Recycling, where it continues to be sorted into different streams such as paper/ cardboard, plastics, glass, aluminium and steel. From there it is sent to different markets for further processing and recycling.

Unfortunately more rubbish has been observed in recycling bins lately, which causes big problems for recycling processing. We urge you to continue to recycle well by taking the time to think about and be informed of what can and can’t go in your yellow-lidded recycling bin.

Reducing contamination in the recycling bin by ensuring only the correct things are put in is more important than ever and key to improving the recycling industry in Australia. 

It's National Recycling Week 11–17 November, the perfect time to learn how to be part of the solution by becoming an even better recycler! 

Waste Wise Events Policy

An important way to help our local environment

We are pleased to announce that the Waste Wise Events Policy was endorsed by Council on 2 September 2019. This aims to help minimise waste and litter at public events in Frankston City.

The Policy applies to all Council events, as well as commercial, community and not-for-profit events on land owned/managed by Council that require a Council event application form.

Under this Policy, the use and distribution of balloons at outdoor events, plastic shopping bags and polystyrene food and beverage packaging is prohibited. Disposable straws must be kept out of the customer’s line of sight and only given out when requested. This will help keep these often littered items out of our natural environment and waterways where they do much damage to native wildlife.

Thank you to all community members who provided feedback to Council to help shape this important policy. 

Community planter boxes

Supporting our six-legged friends

This 'Insectary' (pictured) was built and decorated by local volunteers and students from Frankston High School, with their teacher Brendan McKinnon and Narelle Debenham from Natured Kids, as part of the Council's Love Where You Live initiative.

Meadow flowers, native grasses, indigenous plants and the 'bug hotel' will provide food and habitat for our pollinators, pest controllers and pollution preventers (AKA insects). These beneficial bugs will be regularly monitored by students as part of Australia's Wild Pollinator count.

Congratulations to Frankston High School, volunteers and students for embracing this project and the great job they've done. Council is proud to have supported this important Junior Landcare citizen science project that aims to support a more balanced ecosystem with the help of our precious insects.

Powering up our community

Local groups enjoy solar benefits

Frankston City Council has a long history of leading the way with renewable energy. Since 2014 Council has funded and installed more than 60 solar panel systems at community sites throughout the city as part of our commitment to be carbon neutral (zero net emissions) by 2025.

More recently, 20 solar power systems have been installed over the last two years on community-use facilities (with a combined capacity of 136 kilowatts), benefiting 17 local sport and recreation clubs, two community centres and a Men’s Shed.

These community groups have dramatically reduced their energy bills, with the cost savings able to be directed towards their other important services. The installations are expected to reduce over 205 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year and include the trial of solar battery storage.

By proactively investing in solar, Council is helping to lessen local emissions that contribute to climate change, while supporting our community to build their resilience and thrive in a carbon constrained future.

Your special place

Photo exhibition needs your pictures

Where’s your favourite piece of nature in Frankston South? Why? We’d love to know, please send us a photo or a story.

Love Where You Live - Frankston South is creating a photography exhibition of people’s favourite spaces and places in the suburb.  You may have a special story or want to share a photo of somewhere beautiful in Frankston South. Submissions close Friday 25 October. 

The exhibition will be hosted by Frankston South Community and Recreation Centre in early 2020.

Email your photo to lovewhereyoulive@frankston.vic.gov.au or for more information, phone: 9768 1629.

Springtime at Paratea

Always something happening for the nature lover

Paratea Flora and Fauna Reserve is delightful in spring, as its wildflowers emerge from the depths of winter. The grassy woodland hosts many varieties of ground flora, including numerous native orchids and lilies that can only be seen at this time of year.

If the attraction of wildflowers is not enough for you, there are also many bird species to be seen, including the bronze-wing pigeon, grey fantails, yellow robins and honeyeaters.

At dusk there is a 'changing of the guard' as the nocturnal creatures take over. If you are lucky you may catch a glimpse of the very cute sugar gliders or ring-tail possums as they move around in the branches above, or glimpse the fleeting silhouette of a fast moving microbat, catching insects between the trees.

This local gem can be found in Paratea Avenue, Frankston South. Why not explore this and some of Frankston City's other stunning natural reserves this spring? Now is the perfect time.

You can pick up your free copy of Natural Reserves within Frankston City at your nearest Council Customer Service Centre and discover more details about Paratea and 16 other local natural reserves. Enjoy!

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