Smarter, Cleaner, Greener - July 2018

Spring Garden Competition - Entries Now Open

Entries in the City of Ryde’s Spring Garden Competition are now open. This annual community event is open to City of Ryde residents, businesses and community organisations. With twelve categories of entry, there is certainly something for everyone. Get your entries in before 31 August!

[Learn More And Enter Now]

Get The Kids Out In The Garden

Get the kids involved in the Spring Garden Competition this year. It’s a great way for children to have fun in the garden and get them engaged with the natural environment. They can enter both the Children’s Garden category for their garden at home and the Children’s Seed Growing Competition.

Free seed growing kits are provided and entries should be made no later than 31 July for the Children's Seed Growing Competition. The official planting date is 29 July, with judging taking place on 13 October. The seeds to be grown this year are the stunning Empress of India nasturtium.

[Read More And Enter Now]

National Tree Day

Join in as we help to improve a wildlife corridor along Buffalo Creek at Laurel Park, Ryde.
Bring the family, improve the local environment and watch over time as the plantings flourish into a haven for native birds, frogs and lizards. All tools, gloves and training provided. Plus enjoy a free BBQ and refreshments at the end of the planting session.

[Learn More And Register Online]

Free Guided Walk - Terrys Creek And Browns Waterhole

This peaceful walk makes its way through remnant bushland and features Blue High Gum Forest. Canopy trees include Sydney Blue Gum, Turpentine and Blackbutt, and the Red Gum Trees found on the walk are important habitat trees for many species. Terrys Creek eventually widens into Browns Waterhole, which features a waterfall and was once a popular swimming spot. 

[Book Now]

Sustainability Talks: Urban Resilience

We have pulled together a stellar line-up of speakers for our next instalment of our free Sustainability Talks. The theme of this event is Urban Resilience and one of our key speakers on the evening is Ed Blakely who was the Director of Recovery in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit. Get in quick with your tickets as this is sure to be a popular event!

[Book Now]

Eliminating Single-Use Plastics

This month is Plastic Free July so it is an opportunity to try and reduce plastics in your life. The focus is on eliminating single-use plastics by refusing the top-4 offenders: plastic bags, water bottles, takeaway coffee cups and straws. To register for the challenge to ‘Choose To Refuse’ single-use plastic during July, and for ideas on how to avoid these items, visit the Plastic Free July website.

[Learn More]

Litter Free Ryde

The NSW Government aims to reduce the volume of litter by 40% by 2020. To this end, the City of Ryde has received funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deliver several litter prevention projects across the City. A recent audit revealed Buffalo Creek, which runs through Laurel Park Reserve, is lined with litter. The litter prevention activities to take place in the park will include:

• painting the stormwater pits with anti-litter messages
• holding a clean-up event on Sunday 15 July
• holding a tree planting event on National Tree Day on Sunday 29 July
• community education.  

If you’d like to take part, email your details to waste@ryde.nsw.gov.au. We realise that this is not an isolated location, so outcomes from this project will be utilised across Council to help reduce litter in all areas. 

[Learn More About Litter Prevention]

Plans Of Management For Parks And Sportsgrounds

The City of Ryde is currently developing two generic Plans of Management, one for parks and one for sportsgrounds in the City of Ryde local government area. These Plans of Management will be applicable to the majority of parks, reserves and sportsgrounds managed and maintained by Council. The purpose of these Plans is to propose strategies that guide the future use and management of these parks and sportsgrounds. We would like to hear how you currently use the parks and sportsgrounds and how they are managed and maintained now and into the future.

[Learn More And Have Your Say]

Facts And Tips

1. Instead of having to discard single-use plastic takeaway containers after a good meal, eliminate waste by visiting one of the many restaurants that are happy to fill your re-usable container: Trashless Takeaways provides a list of restaurants that are on-board and you can add new businesses to the map. [Read More]
2. Wet wipes are one of the biggest problems facing the wastewater industry as they are flushed down the toilet and clog pipes and damage infrastructure. While not flushing wet wipes solves this problem, the wipes are still single-use items that are designed to be thrown away, adding to the waste stream. Why not make the move back to re-usable cloths?

Upcoming Events

• 1 July-31 August: Entries open for Spring Garden Competition [Learn More]
• 1 July-31 July: Entries open for Spring Garden Competition - Children's Seed Growing Competition [Learn More]
• Sat 21 July: SWAP Workshop – From Fast Fashion  to Fabulous [Book Now]
• Sat 28 July: SWAP Workshop – Found Object Figures [Learn More]
• Sat 28 July: Declutter Workshop [Book Now]
• Sun 29 July: National Tree Day [Learn More]
• Sat 4 August: SWAP Workshop – Reverse Garbage Assemblage Sculpture [Learn More]
• Sat 11 August: Composting and worm farming [Book Now] 
• Sun 12 August: Terrys Creek and Browns Waterhole Guided Walk [Book Now]
• Sat 18 Aug: Small Electricals Repair Café [Book Now]
• Tues  21 Aug: Your Waste Adventure [Book Now]
• Mon 10 Sep: Declutter Workshop [Book Now]