Meet Renae

Renae recently celebrated five years as Environment Officer with the City of Playford and has been working in the environment sector for 15 years.

It’s important to Renae she make a contribution through her work.

“…anything that’s helping to make the world a better place is worthwhile to me,” she said.

Renae has some suggestions on how anyone can make their own contribution in simple ways, for a big impact.

“Never underestimate what you can do from your own home to save money on waste disposal AND help the environment.”

Renae encourages everyone to set up a system for household waste, which makes it easier to dispose of waste in the right way.

At the moment, bin contamination is a big challenge when it comes to household waste – that’s the wrong stuff going in the wrong bins. By sorting your waste correctly you can have a direct influence on how much it costs Council to process and also have a positive impact on the environment.

“In broad terms, it’s 5 times more expensive to dispose of waste in your red general waste bin than through the green bin,” Renae says.

“The state levy for landfill has increased significantly, and those costs are inevitably passed on through rate increases, so anything that can keep waste out of landfill is a win. Not to mention that food scraps and organics can be composted and used to fertilise our parks and gardens, giving back in environmental terms.”

If you’re concerned that making an effort to recycle through your yellow bin won’t make a difference, don’t be. Council’s resource recovery partner NAWMA is leading the way with household recycling, and are committed to using local and interstate recycling companies. We are setting the standard for the rest of Australia, so as Playford residents, we have a huge opportunity to make real change right from our own homes!

Renae’s Top Three Tips to Manage Household Waste

1. Make it Easy - Set up a ‘system of four’ in your kitchen: 1. A general waste bin to empty to the red bin. 2. A tub or box for clean recyclables for the yellow bin. 3. A spare shopping bag for clean soft plastics which go in the Redcycle Bins at a Coles or Woolworths. 4. A container or caddy on the kitchen counter for food waste for the green bin or to your garden compost.

2. Cut the Smell – use dry layers in your green bin between the wet food scraps and garden waste, like pizza boxes, cardboard or compostable paper, or dry lawn clippings. Hose out your green bin on the front lawn after emptying. Remove food scraps from the kitchen every two days so it doesn’t get a chance to break down.

3. Identify recyclable plastics correctly – there is a simple way to identify what kind of hard plastics go into your yellow bin – when you crush it with your hand, it bounces back to its original shape. If it splinters or stays crushed, it will need to go into your red bin. (Soft plastics and films need to go to Redcycle at your local Coles or Woolworths – remember to take it on your regular shopping trip!)