When you look in your bin what do you see?

If you're like most Australian households you will see a lot of food waste – in fact, one third of the average bin consists of food waste. This equates to one in five shopping bags ending up in the bin!

Life in lockdown continues to challenge our community in new ways. With spring on our doorstep, and more of us working and schooling from home, it’s tempting to tackle those nagging cleaning and decluttering projects, possibly resulting in a small mountain of stuff we no longer want or need. There is no better time to learn a few good tricks for turning our trash into treasure, so we can mindfully manage the excess.

For the past 100 years since their invention, plastics have revolutionised packaging for everyday products around the world. However, the 3.4 million tonnes used by Australians, or 136 kilograms per person, in one year alone has created significant environmental challenges including pollution of lands and waterways.

The good news is that the tide is turning on plastics at a government level to drive change from the top, as well as via simple actions taken every day by every one of us.

Sondra Beram is one of the smiling faces you’ll find behind the counter at North Bondi’s popular bRU Coffee.  As owner and operator, Sondra has been successfully helping customers move away from disposable to reusable cups for their caffeine fix. We spoke to her about this as well as and a big idea she’s hatching with another notable local – New York Times bestselling author and climate motivator Sarah Wilson.

Waverley Council’s Sustainable Waste Team shares solutions to the growing problem of ‘problem waste’ choking our cupboards, garages, attics, kerbside bins and eventually, landfill. Read on for tips on how you can help reduce and recycle it, and ways this waste is made into other useful products once it leaves your home or office.

Interview with Alex van Os of Op Shop to Runway

Sydney eco-stylist to the stars and op-shop devotee Alex van Os from Op Shop to Runway has a passion for pre-loved fashion. She’s worked on the style teams for popular Australian TV programs including The Bachelor, I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Home and Away, and The Voice, and has a growing fan-base on Instagram.  

We talk to her about her love for vintage and pre-loved fashion, her tips for seeking out the best finds and why she’s on a mission to change the fashion industry, one of the biggest polluting industries in the world.

It’s party time - for all local and Aussie home composters and worm farm-ers! This month we celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the now-national Compost Revolution program.

From humble beginnings as a pilot in Sydney’s eastern suburbs to help reduce food waste with community composting stations and face to face workshops, the program can now lay claim to turning over 60,000 households’ food waste into free fertiliser for gardens across Australia every week.

HIP HIP HOORAY to that!

Melbourne girl and co-founder of the global digital platform Good on You, Sandra Capponi is a pioneering force in the field of sustainable fashion.

She was crowned one of the world's top-50 "badass women" last year by America’s InStyle magazine, alongside pop star Rihanna, 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg and Google CFO Ruth Porat. The list celebrates women from around the world who are driving change in fields such as science, social justice and politics.

Best-selling author, philanthropist, speaker, passionate sustainability advocate and local resident Sarah Wilson shares her top tips in reducing food waste (and a delicious whole of soup recipe).

With many of us suddenly confined to our homes for some time into the future, our household waste and recycling bins could fill quickly. Think food scraps, plastics and packaging. Here are some easy ways to keep household waste under control in these challenging times.