"Let's not blow this, good planets are hard to find"
Phillip Gear- Eco Monitor

Important Dates

9th-15th November- National Recycling Week

11th November- Barwon Waste Wise Councils Network Meeting

12th November- Barwon South West Climate Change Forum

19th November- Waste Wise Geelong Network Breakfast

20th November- submissions to the Future Directions Paper close

26th November- BRWMG Board Meeting

For more information about any of these events/dates please email Amy O'Brien

Website of the Month

Whether you’re organising a music festival, launching a product or having a backyard party, it’s important to gain an understanding of the environmental and social impacts that events create and work towards more sustainable event practices.

As thousands of events are staged throughout Australia each year, it’s easy to forget the range of impacts that these celebrations have on the local and global environment.

The Sustainable Events Planner aims to assist event organisers and their visitors to make sustainability the main event.

To view the Sustainable Events Planner click here

Waste Wise Geelong Network Update

The next Waste Wise Geelong Network event will be a business breakfast held on the 19th November at the Geelong Conference Centre. Ralph Plarre- Co-Owner of Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses will generously share insights into the journey to review the sustainability of the bakehouse production.

Ferguson Plarre Bakehouse won the 2009 Small and Medium Enterprises Sustainability Award and also went on to claim the 2009 Origin Gold Banksia Award at the Banksia Environmental Foundation Awards.For more information on this event and other WWGN activities contact Liz Raimondo

Barwon ResourceSmart Schools Network

Teachers from across the region gathered at Rollins Primary School Batesford Campus on Thursday 22nd October for the Term 4 professional development and network meeting. Students from the school displayed their sustainability knowledge as they showcased the school’s initiatives.

Jim Mead, Landcare Education Officer provided a hands-on introduction to the Biodiversity Up Close tool which is a great resource for schools undertaking the ResourceSmart AuSSI Vic Core or Biodiversity Modules and assists schools to input biodiversity data into the online Schools Environmental Tracking System.

The Network’s online groupsite and its functions were also highlighted. Currently approximately eighty teachers have signed up to the site.

Queenscliffe Eco Expo

The BRWMG sponsored a new Eco Expo held in Queenscliffe in September and supported the event with an information display.

Love Where You Live, Reduce Your Carbon Footprint was the key message for the two day event that included information stalls, displays, talks, tours and an art exhibition

Contacts

Message from the Chair- Dir. John Burgess

This month the Barwon region was pleased to host a visit from the Honorable Gavin Jennings Minister for the Environment and Climate Change. Minister Jennings visited Geelong for a special celebration of the successful Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) recycling project managed by the Barwon RWMG in partnership with GDP Industries and funded by the National Packaging Covenant (NPC).

Minister Jennings was joined by Mr Ed Cordner Chair of the NPC and acknowledged the success of the Barwon RWMGs EPS project in bring together product stewardship, local processing and the development of sustainable end markets to effectively recycle EPS waste.

Minister Jennings crumbling EPS with GDP Staff

News from the Executive Officer-
Enzo Bruscella

The Region is pleased to support the Victoria wide Get It Sorted campaign which commenced on the 9th October with a launch at Eaglehawk Resource Recovery Centre in Bendigo. The campaign aims to encourage householders to sort their materials in their trailers before they visit their local Resource Recovery Centre to maximise recovery opportunities at the centre and provide a potential cost benefit to the resident.

The campaign advertisement is being screened on Win and Prime television and at the Village and Reading cinemas in Geelong during October and November, The campaign is supported with radio and print media promotions, along with gate signage, sticker giveaways and a kids competition.

Get It Sorted Campaign Launched in Barwon

The Barwon Regional Waste Management Group in partnership with its member councils is pleased to announce the launch of the new statewide campaign “Get It Sorted” designed to raise the profile of the resource recovery centres in the region.

The campaign, funded by the Victoria Government Sustainability Fund in partnership with the Association of Victorian Regional Waste Management Groups is running right across the State.

Get It Sorted focuses on educating the public about the correct way to use resource recovery centr's and how to sort your load to ensure you recycle as much as you can. Find out more...

Resource Recovery Centres

There are 12 Resource Recovery Centres located across the Barwon Region- these are centres where you can take all sorts of rubbish and recyclables. Each one is different so click on the following links to find out more about the one nearest you.

City of Greater Geelong- Douro Street, Fyansford, Point Henry, Drysdale

Colac Otway Shire- Colac, Birregurra, Alvie, Marengo

Surf Coast Shire- Anglesea, Lorne, Deans Marsh, Winchelsea

Resource Recovery Centres are not the tip, they are a collection point for a range of different recyclable materials as well as general garbage. By sorting your load you can save the environment and you can save your money. Remember unsorted loads cop the maximum fee- to find out more about how to best use your Resource Recovery Centre, click here

National Recycling Week Activities