CONTAINERS FOR CHANGE
Did you know Baysie is part of Containers for Change? Simply drop off your eligible containers to the green bin in the Recycling Hub, or at any collection point, enter Bayswater’s Scheme ID: C10277186, and BPS will receive the refund donation. Couldn’t be simpler!
See here for more info and to check container eligibility: https://www.containersforchange.com.au/wa/
Blister Packs
How can I recycle tablet/medication blister packs?
A blister pack is a thin sheet of plastic with pockets that contain tablets or capsules. The blister strip is sealed with a thin sheet of aluminium foil on the back and then packed in a cardboard box. You pop out the tablets through the aluminium foil. Because they’re a combination of different materials, blister packs can’t be recycled via your kerbside bin, but we’ve found a way you can avoid sending them to landfill.
A big shout out to these businesses who are doing their bit for the environment and accepting medication blister packs for recycling. Some options are free, and some have a postage cost.
All branches of Blooms the Chemist across Australia are now accepting medication blister packs for recycling via Pharmacycle. To find your nearest store, go to: Blooms the Chemist Store Finder. Our closest is Blooms Dianella (Shop 17 Dianella Plaza, 366 Grand Promenade, Dianella).
If you don’t have a participating pharmacy near you, ask your local pharmacy to consider providing a Pharmacycle or Terracycle recycling box. Visit Terracycle Zero Waste Boxes for more information.
You can also recycle your blister packs via post – there is a postage cost involved which is to help cover the cost of recycling.
Banish Recycling Program
Start collecting your medication blister packs until you’ve got enough products to fill an old shoe box or compostable satchel. When you are ready, go to the Banish recycling program page for more information and to buy a pre-paid label to send your items to Banish. You’ll also receive a voucher to spend in their online shop!
Tip: Give your empty blister packs a bit of a squish to flatten them – and if you’re really committed – roll them flat with a rolling pin! You’ll fit more into whichever recycling method you are using. Acknowledgements: Little Aussie Directories article: https://www.littleaussie.com.au/post/recycle-tablet-blister-packs
Give Write
Starting each new school year can be an expensive exercise, with book lists, uniforms, shoes and school fees. Many families struggle to provide the basics, including the book list items needed for their children’s schoolwork.
Give Write is a local WA initiative that takes pre-loved stationery at the end of the year then repackages it for kids in need for the following year.
It’s an environmentally friendly program that makes the most out of items that would otherwise clutter homes or be thrown away and end up in landfill.
This is a great way to give to kids in need, so they have the tools to feel engaged and inspired to learn at school. Visit Give Write for more information, to find public donation points or to see how you could run a donation drive: www.givewrite.org.au
What to do when your pens run out
In Australia alone, over 140 million pens are sold annually, with the majority discarded, adding to the plastic problem. This results in around 700 tonnes of plastic waste being dumped in local government landfill sites across Australia.
Remember to use our Recycling Hub located in the breezeway to drop off your used pens and markers, which will then be recycled through Terracycle.
Do you give a hoot?
You might not have been lucky enough to see one, but there are owls living throughout Perth’s suburbs. At night-time you might hear the “mo-poke” call of Nyawoo-nyawoo or the Boobook Owl, which is Australia’s smallest owl. Koobdimool, or the Barking Owl, has a hoot which sounds like a barking dog, but an alarm call that sounds like someone screaming! Nyiwaloong, or the Masked Owl, is the second largest nocturnal bird in Australia.
Q. Why don’t owls study for tests? A. They prefer to wing it!
Unfortunately, Perth’s owls face many threats: predation by feral cats, loss of habitat, being hit by cars, and being poisoned after consuming poisoned rodents.
One easy thing we can do to protect the owls in Bayswater is to avoid using poison to kill rodents. Some types of rodent poison are more dangerous for owls than others, so you can check https://www.actforbirds.org/ratpoison to find out more. Using snap traps are a sure way to keep our owls safer.
You can also download and print out this poster to put up in a window or on your front fence, to encourage friends and neighbours ‘hoo’ may wish to join you in protecting owls.
It’s perfect timing as next week is
National Bird Week (19th – 25th October)
- Knock knock
- Who’s there?
- Owls
- Owls who?
- Yep, they sure do!
What are you waiting for? Fly to it!
Solar Our Schools
There’s an exciting new parent-run campaign calling on the federal government to direct COVID-19 recovery spending to the installation of solar panels and batteries on all schools and early childhood centres across the whole of Australia!
The key to its success is gaining parent support. To show yours, you can sign the Open Letter: https://www.ap4ca.org/solarourschools.
Using solar and batteries to generate and store energy to power schools and childcare centres means:
- Job creation across Australia, including rural communities
- Reduced greenhouse gas emissions
- A safer future for all our families
- A reduction to annual electricity bills for schools and childcare centres.
If you like the sound of that, please visit https://www.ap4ca.org/solarourschools to sign the open letter, and share the link with your friends. You can also sign up as a Local Champion to help spread the word further!
Carbon Counter
See how much CO2 you could save with just one change to your lifestyle!
If you want to do something about climate change but aren’t sure where to start, the ABC Science Carbon Counter can help you identify simple ways to reduce your carbon footprint – and see how much CO2 you would save.
Could you have shorter showers? Or try eating kangaroo instead of beef? What difference would composting make? You can compare the savings from different challenges to choose the one that suits you.
JOIN IN as an individual, household or school group by visiting: https://fightforplaneta.abc.net.au/carboncounter/
Tune into ABC TV or iView to watch ‘Fight For Planet A’, a 3-part series where presenter Craig Reucassel looks at the practical day-to-day changes that each and every one of us can make to reduce our carbon footprint, and help minimise the impacts of climate change.
Climate change is a daunting problem that requires society-wide solutions. But ABC’s Carbon Counter shows that individuals can also make a difference, especially if we work together!
Carbon Counter is based on Fight For Planet A, and is a National Science Week project.
Single Use Plastic
COFFEE CUPS
Around 500 billion disposable coffee cups are produced each year!! Most of these cannot be recycled due to what they’re made of.
DO SOMETHING FOR PLASTIC FREE JULY!
Take 10 minutes and dine in at our cafés to support them now they are open again, make your own coffee or hot choc at home or work, take your disposable cup/lid to Morley 7-Eleven who have partnered with Simply Cups to recycle the cups, use cups which are hot-compostable and dispose of them in the correct ‘Hot Compostable’ bin, or use a reusable coffee cup instead.
Why not pop down to our local Environment House, where you can pick up a Keep Cup®, or alternatively visit their Eco Shop online: http://www.envirohouse.org.au/view/drinkbottles
COMPOSTING AWARENESS WEEK WAS LAST WEEK (3RD MAY 2020) BUT COMPOSTING NEVER GOES OUT OF STYLE!
Wondering what you can do during COVID to help the planet???
By using a compost bin you can help reduce the environmental impact of food wastage. Of all food purchased by Australians, 20% is thrown out!!
It’s a waste of resources needed to produce the food as well as a waste of money!
Composting can make use of food waste, reducing the environmental impacts of all that waste going to landfill.
Add a layer of green material, then a layer of brown material.
Brown material is moistened cardboard, egg containers, shredded paper (not glossy paper), straw, hay, sugarcane mulch, dry leaves etc.
Green material is garden clippings, grass clippings, vegie scraps, green leaves etc
Hillside Harvest has 3 composting bays, composting bins and aerators, and all BPS’ food waste is now composted (or will recommence as soon as COVID calms).
Kids, why not show your folks how it’s done??!!
More info: http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s4439784.htm or visit our local Environment House who also hold workshops (www.envirohouse.org.au/), and sell composting products/units.