Six Tips To Turn Trash Into Treasure

By Nicola Saltman, Senior Enviro Officer at Waverley Council on April 29, 2015 in Other

Got stuff to dispose of after a declutter? Streamlining before a move, offloading your old table or updating the TV to the latest and greatest?

Before you chuck anything in the bin (or on the sidewalk, for that matter) check out these easy ways to dispose of, reuse or recycle your pre-loved stuff. If more folk find better homes for unwanted items, there’ll be less dumped junk around our ‘hood. How good would that be?

Sell, donate or give it away
One person’s trash is another’s treasure, right? Your unwanted couch may be a welcome sofa for someone else, especially if they can’t afford much. Call charities and not-for-profits like Vinnies, The Bower or Salvation Army to collect your second-hand goods for those in need. Have a garage sale or find happy bargain hunters via websites like OzRecycle, Freecycle, Gumtree or eBay (yep, you can even score some cash for waste). Otherwise, donate stuff to Reverse Garbage, Australia’s largest reuse centre in Marrickville.

Electronic goods
Drop off your broken toaster or outdated TV at a free e-waste collection day. They’re held twice a year in Waverley. Metals from the electronic goods collected are recycled into new products, cutting down waste and chemicals that go into landfill. Put the next e-waste drop-off day in your diary: Sunday 24 May, Lyne Park car park, Rose Bay. Randwick Council residents can drop items off at Randwick Recycling Centre, 72 Perry Street, Matraville, from Monday to Saturday.

Paints and household chemicals
Safely ditch old poison bottles, car batteries and paint cans at a Chemical CleanOut Day. It’s a free government-run disposal service for household chemicals that could cause harm to human health and the environment if not thrown out correctly. The next local CleanOut day is on Saturday, May 2 at Clovelly Beach car park from 9am-3.30pm.

Batteries
Old batteries can leak chemicals if not disposed of properly. Drop them off at Waverley Council’s Customer Service Centre or at Aldi supermarkets. Car batteries can also be offloaded at a Chemical CleanOut Day, selected car product stores (e.g. Repco) or at Sita’s Rockdale Drop Off Centre.

Whitegoods
The Fridge Buyback Program collects old fridges and upright freezers for free – www.fridgebuyback.com.au. If you’ve exhausted other reuse and recycling avenues for unwanted whitegoods, take them to the Randwick Recycling Centre or book a free household clean-up collection (Waverley – 9369 8000; Randwick – 1300 722 542).

Mattresses
Each year, around 1.25 million mattresses end up in landfill in Australia. Waverley Council offers free mattress recycling for residents – just call the Resource Recovery Hotline on 9369 8080.

Info and feedback:

• www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/residents/waste_and_recycling
• www.randwick.nsw.gov.au/services/rubbish-and-recycling
• Call 9369 8000 if you see dumped waste
• Send ideas and feedback to environment@waverley.nsw.gov.au