March 2, 2018 | Sonja Leigh

This month the Monbulk War on Waste we will spend time understanding our current waste position as a community. Each week we have a different topics with locally relevant content. We encourage you to join in discussions and ask questions in the comments below or on the Monbulk Sustainability Group's FaceBook Page.

March

A Good Place to Start

Week 1 - Household Waste Audit

Week 2 - Recycling

Week 3 - Composting

Week 4 - Utility Audit

Household Waste Audit

This week we start with a waste audit of our household waste, this is to get a starting measurement for us compare our progress against, throughout the year.

Directions

1. Print the below image, or, for a green star, reuse a scrap piece of paper and draw it up

2. Stick your audit worksheet somewhere near your bin where you will be prompted to use it

3. Start your waste audit on 'bin-day', that is a Monday for me

4. Every time you put rubbish in your bin, or recycling, put a mark on your waste audit, in the relevant category

5. At the end of the week count how many marks are in each section and take a photo of it

We will repeat the waste audit at the start of each month, you may choose to do it more or less.

Everyone will have different ways of measuring their waste, there is no rules besides consistency - make sure you measure the same way next time you do it.

Share a photo of your waste audit, in progress or completed, on the Monbulk Sustainability Group's FaceBook Page or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. it to us. We will make a picture gallery of your audits and compare them throughout the year.

Join us this Sunday for Clean-Up Monbulk Day at St George's Park. We will have copies of the waste audit worksheets and showing you an example with the litter we recover.

*Please be kind to yourself, and others, throughout this process. This is a long journey and together we will make it easier for others to follow. Small, slow solutions.

March 8, 2018 | Sonja Leigh

The future of council recycling is in question but this doesn't mean that households should give away their good recycling habits and  send everything to landfill.

Locally, we have many alternative recycling services and with your help we will create a directory of where to send out household waste for recycling.

Yarra Ranges Fortnightly Council Recycling:

• Cardboard boxes

• Steel cans including aerosol cans, aluminium cans, clean aluminium foil and pie trays

• Glass bottles and jars (including lids)

• Milk and juice cartons

• Books, envelopes, brochures, newspapers and magazines

• Plastic bottles, containers, trays, plant pots with codes 1-7

• Pots and pans

• Plastic Toys

Find more information here.

HILLS Recycling

Located at the Monbulk Produce Market - Monbulk Sustainability Group stand.

The Monbulk Sustainability Group has teamed up with HILLS Recycling to bring more options Monbulk. Every month as the Monbulk Produce Market we will be collecting the below items for recycling.

Find more information here.

REDcycle - Soft Plastics

Located at Monbulk Woolworths

• Biscuit packets (outer wrapper only)

• Bread bags (without the tie)

• Bubble wrap (large sheets cut into A3 size pieces)

• Cereal box liners

• Chip and cracker packets (silver lined)

• Chocolate and snack bar wrappers

• Cling Wrap - free of food residue

• Confectionery bags

• Dry pet food bags

• Fresh produce bags

• Frozen food bags

• Green bags (Polypropylene Bags)

• Ice cream wrappers

• Large sheets of plastic that furniture comes wrapped in (cut into A3 size pieces)

• Netting produce bags (any metal clips removed)

• Newspaper and magazine wrap

• Pasta bags

• Plastic Australia Post satchels

• Plastic carrier bags from all stores

• Plastic film wrap from grocery items such as nappies and toilet paper

• Plastic sachets

• Potting mix and compost bags (cut into A3 size pieces and free of as much product as possible)

• Rice bags

• Snap lock bags / zip lock bags

• Squeeze pouches with lid on (e.g. yogurt/baby food)

• Wine bladders - clear plastic ones only

Please make sure your plastic is dry and as empty as possible.

Find more information here.

March 1, 2018 | Sonja Leigh

Welcome to your year long, local approach to reducing waste and our impact on the planet, together. Every month, for the rest of the year, we are going to discuss different rooms or rituals, to help us to find small, slow and local solutions.

With your help, we will find local, sustainable business, products & services to support and promote - we might even find the need for new ones. We will run workshops to create related products and kick-off a local initiative. Later in the year we hope to start a monthly Sus' (sustainable) Movie night, where we can get together and discuss different ideas.

Check out the Monbulk War on Waste Month-by-Month plan. If you know of a local business which could help our community to reduce house hold waste please contact the Monbulk Sustainability Group via Facebook.

Each month we will have more information, activities and recycling facilities at Monbulk Produce Market.

Together we can make a difference.