Benalla Sustainable Future Group
  • Home
  • ABOUT
    • ABOUT BSFG
    • Advocacy, Education and Lobbying >
      • ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY
      • Education
      • Lobbying and Media
    • INTERESTS >
      • Bio-diversity
      • Food and Agriculture >
        • Food & Agriculture
        • Food Co-op
        • Benalla Local Food Network
        • Permaculture and Sustainable Gardening
      • Renewable Energy >
        • Renewable Energy
        • Calculate Your Carbon Footprint
        • Renewable Energy Benalla
        • Benalla Community Energy Project (BCEP)
      • Sustainable Building >
        • Sustainable Building
        • Green Rebuild Toolkit
        • BSFG's Guide to Sustainable Housing
      • TRANSPORT/TRAVEL >
        • Bicycle Action Group
        • Cycling in Benalla
      • Waste/Plastic >
        • Plastic Wise Benalla
        • Single Use Plastics
        • Microfibre shedding
        • Plastic Wise News
    • FUNDING
  • ACTION GROUPS
    • Connecting and engaging the community
    • Ecological Sustainable Design and Development*
    • Greening and cooling our Urban Spaces
    • Renewable Energy
    • Sustainable farming systems
    • Waste Wise Benalla
  • Food Co-op
  • NEWS
    • News
    • Newsletters >
      • BSFG Newsletter Archive
      • Climate Ready Hume - February 2025
      • Benalla Permaculture
      • NERSA News
    • Swanpool Environmental Film Festival
    • Hot Topics and Kitchen Table Conversations
    • Light Ideas
    • Gallery
  • JOIN
    • Become a Member
    • Online Membership Form
    • Membership Form
  • CALENDAR
    • BSFG & Food Coop Calendar
  • Links
    • BSFG Favourites
    • Catch Up videos
    • Benalla Central Community Garden
    • Benalla Permaculture
    • Bendigo Sustainability Group
    • Climate Ready Hume
    • Ecoportal
    • Gecko Clan Landcare
    • North East Region Sustainability Alliance (NERSA)
    • Our Strathbogie Forest
    • Totally Renewable Yackandandah
    • Wangaratta Land Care and Sustainability
  • Contact

'The Five 'R's' to being Waste Wise'

6/3/2023

0 Comments

 
Everything you put into your landfill bin (the one with the red lid) goes into the landfill at our local transfer station. A plastic bottle can take up to 450 years to breakdown in landfill. Nylon clothes can take 40 years, acrylic clothes can take 200 years.
 
Let’s look at some ways to keep as much waste as we can out of landfill, using the 5 ‘R’s. 
 
REFUSE
How to refuse to add to landfill:
  • Rather than buying meat on plastic and foam trays, ask your local butcher if you can bring your own reuseable containers.
  • Shop at a bulk food store or the Food Co-op and bring your own containers.
  • Make your own cleaning products and refill existing containers, there are lots of ideas on the internet.
 
REDUCE
Cut down on the amount of packaging you buy that will go into landfill.
  • Buy bulk quantities of products and dispense into your own containers, for example bulk nuts rather than small individual plastic wrapped packs of nuts.
  • Use a reusable bottle or cup for your hot and cold drinks
  • Take your own bags when shopping.
 
REUSE
There are lots of creative ways you can reuse your waste:
  • Before you put worn out clothes in the landfill bin, can you cut them up for cleaning rags, or use them to stuff a comfy cushion. 
  • Make mini green houses out of clear plastic food containers, like yoghurt or a coke bottle
  • Clean your foil and reuse it next time.
 
RECYCLE
When you are shopping, buy things, and their packaging, that can be recycled, whenever you can:
  • Check labels to see what it says about recycling the item and its packaging.
  • Take a look at the Benalla Council website and waste app for more details of what can be recycled locally.
  • Rinse and dry your recycling before putting it into the recycling bin.
Look for less known ways of recycling include
  • Batteries to Benalla Food Co-op 
  • Clean old sneakers to Sportspower stores 
  • Used Printer Cartridges to Stuck on Stationery
  • Old Phones and accessories to Post Office - ask for the self addressed satchel to put them in and post them off.
We’ll have more ideas in this column coming up! 
​
ROT
Make use of your organics bin or your home compost:
  • Put your waste food into the organics bin or your compost. Food in landfill breaks down into greenhouse gases including methane.
  • Shred up any waste paper and pop it into your organics bin
  • Put any small pieces of paper, tissues, napkins etc directly into your organics bin
  • Remember to put your organics bin out every week, even if there's only a small amount in it. 
Picture
​
Waste Wise Benalla Media Release
Article appeared in the Benalla Ensign on Wednesday 15 February 2023
0 Comments
    Picture

    'Waste Wise Benalla'

    A  group which builds upon BSFG's concern about single use plastic waste reflected by the Plastic Wise action group.  Waste Wise Benalla goes further, drawing from a  broader conception of the Circular Economy.

    Links

    Keep it out of Landfill!
    Waste Wise Benalla's list of Recycling Options in Benalla, March 2024.
    Plastic Waste Makers' Index 2023 - Minderoo Foundation
    National Recycling Week resources from Cleanaway - useful all year round!

    Contact

    Picture
    Kaye Blore

    Categories

    All
    Aluminium Foil
    Benalla Landfill And Resource Recovery Centre
    Container Depost Scheme
    Donations
    Five Rs
    Foott Industries (CDS)
    Household Batteries
    North East Waste Alliance (NEWA)
    Old Phones
    Old Sneakers
    Organic Waste
    Printer Cartridges
    Recycle
    Recycling Blister Packs
    Recycling Deposit Points
    Reduce
    Refuse
    Replas - Recyled Plastic Products
    Reuse
    Rot
    Soft Plastics
    Sportspower
    Stuck On Stationery
    Terry White Chemmart
    Textile Recycling
    The Green Bin
    WasteWise Annual Report To AGM

    Archives

    April 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    September 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022

    RSS Feed

Picture
Picture
Picture
News Blog
​Gallery
Newsletter
Light Ideas
​Hot Topics
Mailing List
Membership Form
​
​Donate to Support BSFG

Action Groups
​Benalla Food Cooperative
​Connected, Engaged Community
Ecological Sustainable Design and Development
​Greening  and cooling our urban areas 
​
​
​Renewable Energy
Sustainable Farming 
Waste Wise 
Email addresses: 
BSFG:    [email protected]
Food Co-op:  [email protected]
​Benalla Sustainable Future Group acknowledges the traditional owners of the land on which we live, work and meet, the Taungerang, Yorta Yorta and Bpangerang people ​of North East Victoria, and pay our respects to their elders past, present and emerging.