GREAT Sorts are popping up in every street, here’s how to become one of them!

While the good people of Perth understand the importance of sorting our waste, and contributing positively to recycling in Australia, there will always be room for improvement.

These days it’s pretty normal to find ways to avoid throwing things into your general waste bin and there are increasing numbers of ways to easily get your awkward waste picked up, dropped off, or find a new home and new life for some of the reusable items.

The implementation of Containers for Change has been important, seeing over 2.7 billion 10-cent containers saved from landfill in the last two years – which is largely thanks to everyday West Aussies embracing the program and that there are more ways than ever to have containers collected!

And there are more and more people becoming GREAT Sorts – we’re talking about the people of Perth doing the right thing and doing better than the bin.

Turns out there’s always somewhere better for your waste to go than your general waste bin and it’s really easy to become a GREAT Sort yourself.As always, we’re here to help:

Gifting

One person’s trash might be another person’s treasure, and GREAT Sorts take their unwanted, but still good things, to charity shops, or swap or sell things using social media or online marketplaces, like Pay It Forward and Buy Nothing Facebook groups. Remember – second hand doesn’t mean second best! 

If you’re uncertain about what you can donate, this handy Reuse A-Z guide has got you covered! You can quickly identify what’s good to gift, and also offers some valuable tips for the best donation method for your generous items.

Recycling

As we outlined at the beginning, recycling is one of the simplest ways we can all contribute to keeping waste out of the environment. Turns out it’s pretty simple when it comes to what we should be putting in our yellow-lidded bins as well.

All you need to do is remember to recycle the five: paper, cardboard and cans, plus containers, bottles and jars made from plastic or glass . All these five things, and only these five. Your cans and bottles are ready to mingle and be sorted along with your neighbours’, so it’s important to keep them loose (not in bags or boxes), rinsed, and with their lids removed.

Alongside taking better care of the environment,  recycling is good for the WA community: 

• Recycling can create jobs and support local communities, especially when its local businesses keeping collecting, processing and creating new products. 
• Recycling allows materials to be reprocessed and reused, reducing the need for new raw materials, meaning less use of natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals.

Earth-cycling

One of the best ways to reduce landfill is to earth-cycle, which is all about turning your food scraps and garden waste into compost.  Want to give composting at home a go, but not sure how to get started? WasteSorted has a great beginner’s guide, or you can check out ShareWaste and link up with people in your community who can take your compostable waste.

If you live in a suburb that offers a FOGO bin, (that’s the lime-green lidded bin which is collected weekly) your community is doing a great job of keeping food and garden organics out of landfill. All of your food scraps can go in the FOGO bin, including fruit, vegetables, bread, meat, bones and leftovers. So can grass clippings, flowers, weeds, herbs, small branches and leaves. The only bags that go in FOGO are the special compostable caddy liners, so release the organic goodness of your soggy salad mix by emptying your food from packaging.

Avoiding

It’s really easy to manage our waste when it doesn’t exist in the first place.  Some items can’t be recycled or gifted, but we can try and avoid them where possible! Outside of dusting off your reusable coffee cup (we understand many found their way to the back of the cupboard during COVID), some other examples, according to WasteSorted, include organising your shopping list with low-packaged items ahead of time, reusable shopping bags and a reusable water bottle.

Getting creative in the kitchen is another way that GREAT Sorts avoid food waste. Blemished bananas make brilliant smoothies, stir fries are a superb way to use up the broccoli and other veg you bought with the best intentions earlier in the week, and dinner leftovers can become tomorrow’s lunch. WasteSorted have a week’s worth of ideas that’ll get you making the most out of your last food shop. 

Resisting the urge to buy something just because it’s cheap or part of a multi-deal is a sure-fire way to save money, frustration and reduce clutter. Give fast fashion the flick by choosing one good quality item in place of five cheap options, explore ways to borrow, rent or share one-off items such as tools, party decorations or clothes, opt to repair instead of throwing away, and check out second hand marketplaces for unique items for your home and wardrobe. 

Taking

For those items that cannot be put in the kerbside recycling bin (batteries, light bulbs, e-waste), GREAT sorts take them to specialised drop-off points, which is a lot easier than you might think. Many stores accept e-waste and batteries  including the major supermarkets, along with Battery World and Bunnings – you can find a detailed list of locations here. There are even dedicated facilities for dropping-off Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) like paint, oils and other household nasties.

If you’re keen on becoming a GREAT Sort and joining other people around Perth who are doing better than the bin, learn more at wastesorted.wa.gov.au.