A group of Hepburn Shire residents has begun its own war on waste and is looking for input from the wider community to collaborate across the shire’s communities.
Forty people met (via web) in late September to hear from Peter Cox, who was key in initiating the very successful Bendigo social enterprise, the Eaglehawk Recycling Centre.
Opened in 1994, this enterprise continues to thrive today, operating self-sufficiently and profitably with over $1,000,000 in revenue each year. It provides local jobs (12 permanent roles), minimises the waste that ends up in landfill (more than 10,000 tonnes diverted from landfill each year), and saves the council – and therefore the community – tens of thousands of dollars each year in waste management costs.
A core organising group volunteered from the initial Zoom meeting and took up an invitation to visit Eaglehawk on October 31, where they enjoyed a highly informative tour.
Spokesperson Sebastian Klein said Mr Cox guided the group around the enterprise and shared his wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm for this great example of community action.
“It’s inspiring when a community comes together and successfully contributes to creating the kind of world they want to be a part of,” Mr Klein said.
“Peter, and the team who continue the work, can be proud of their contribution.”
So, if the vision of waste reduction and reuse resonates for you, be a part of it where you live.
The currently small group is inviting local residents to participate, as much or as little as you want to.
“We’re keen to have diverse representation from the community because there’s many ways the community could continue on a reduce/reuse path, and we also know there’s many talented people with great ideas and lots of great initiatives already happening in our community,” Mr Klein said.
“We’re lucky we already have some great examples, like repair cafes, community op shops and wholefoods collectives in our region – amazing initiatives started by locals, for locals.
“We’re interested in building the momentum for community-led and community-managed reduction and reuse of our own waste.
“Let’s get together to nut it out.”
If you’d like to be part of the strategy development process, or you just want to be kept informed about progress, email Sebastian Klein: sebastianjohnklein@gmail.com or Helen Tobias: helen@helentobias.com
