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Put your food and green waste to good use!
During June and July, we’re delivering food and green waste bins to 22,000 Darebin residents, along with a handy kitchen caddy to make collecting food scraps even easier.
For those who already have a green bin, you can order a free kitchen caddy by filling out this online form before August 31.
Remember, you can also use any airtight container such as an ice-cream container or food container to store your food scraps. Keep it somewhere easy to access, like your kitchen bench or under the sink so it’s close to hand when cooking or clearing up after meals.
Introducing food and green waste recycling as part of our standard kerbside collection service will help us divert more waste from landfill and turn valuable food and garden waste into compost for use on farms, parks and gardens across Victoria.
If you already compost at home, we encourage you to continue doing so. There are some items like meat, bones, dairy, citrus, garlic and onion which you can’t put in home compost or worm farms, which you can put in your food and green waste bin.
For more information visit darebin.vic.gov.au/foodwaste.
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Workshops and Events
Please note all workshops and events are subject to COVID-19 restrictions.
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Hard rubbish collections starting in June
13 June - 15 July 2022
Darebin’s hard rubbish collection is being rolled out area-by-area from Monday 13 June until Friday 15 July. You will receive a brochure in your letter box two weeks before your area's collection with everything you need to know (when, where, what and how).
Only certain items can be recycled, other items go to landfill. Check your brochure carefully and do what you can to repair, reuse or pass on items to others if they are in good condition before putting them out for hard rubbish.
Different types of items will be collected on different days during your collection week, so it’s important to remember:
- Only place your items out between the time and dates shown on your brochure
- Don’t add to your items after 6am on the Monday of your collection week
- Items placed out late will not be collected
For more information visit darebin.vic.gov.au/hardwaste.
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Darebin Libraries celebrating World Environment Day
Sunday 5 June
Each year Darebin Libraries celebrate World Environment Day on 5 June. This year’s theme is #OnlyOneEarth.
It’s a call for collective, transformative action on a global scale to celebrate, protect and restore our planet.
We have many resources to help you learn, participate and make positive change. Here are four simple options to get you started:
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The DHRH reLOVE pop-up – keeping preloved in use
Opens Saturday 4 June
Darebin Hard Rubbish Heroes’ (DHRH) first reLOVE pop-up shop opens on Saturday 4 June at 684 High Street Thornbury. You can visit the shop Wednesday to Saturday 10am-4pm until Saturday 30 July.
The reLOVE pop-up will provide an alternative to items being put out for hard rubbish collection and going to landfill. The shop will offer free and low-price items, and include upcycling, recycling collection and workshops.
Upcycling will be the main feature from Saturday 4 to Saturday 11 June, with local makers selling items made from preloved materials. There will also be a recycling collection station for residents to drop off hard-to-recycle items.
Workshops will include: preparing for hard rubbish collection, rehoming and rescuing advice, small electrical item cord replacement, and upcycling from rescued materials.
Visit the DHRH website for details including a link to the Facebook event. RSVP to the event to receive reminders and help spread the word. |
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Friends of Darebin Creek community planting and cultural connections event
Sunday 5 June
The Friends of Darebin Creek are holding a community planting and cultural connections event on World Environment Day - Sunday June 5.
The day will involve a range of community activities, including a Welcome to Country from a Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Elder, water bug discovery and tree planting for small woodland bird habitat as part of establishing a biodiversity corridor in the stretch of Darebin Creek from Nangak Tamboree near Plenty Road to the Ring Road.
Lunch will be provided at Kingsbury bowls club. Please register for catering purposes.
This event is Covid safe and we expect all attendees to be fully vaccinated.
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DIVRS seedling stall at Alphington Farmers Market
Sunday 5 June
DIVRS, the Darebin Information, Volunteer & Resource Service, will be at the Alphington Farmers Market on Sunday 5 June with winter seedlings for sale, including strawberries, peas and broad beans.
They will also have a seed-sowing activity for the kids (of all ages!) as well as info about their Urban Food programs and how you can get involved.
Drop in and say hi!
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Oakhill Food Justice Farm
Winter/Waring* Season workshop series
Oakhill is a community space and food justice farm in East Preston, operating in the vicarage of the Anglican church. We invite you to join us for farm days with our wonderful farmers, where we grow produce to share or donate, or to use the spaces. Please check out our website to enquire or for more details. We hope to see you soon!
Join a hands-on workshop and learn about growing berries, pruning fruit trees, worm farms and more. During the winter school holidays, you can drop the kids off at a half-day workshop and they'll come home knowing how to propagate plants and preserve seeds.
Learn more: www.oakhillfarm.org.au/events
*Waring - There are seven seasons in the Kulin calendar; Waring is the cold, wet season, a time of misty mornings, low temperatures and higher rainfall, a time to see Waring (Wombats). source: Muesum Victoria.
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Winter Solstice Celebration
Sunday 19 June, 1-4pm
Join Sylvester Hive Community Garden to celebrate the winter solstice! This will be a family friendly gathering. A sausage size and afternoon tea will be provided. Register here |
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Waste-free lunchbox ideas - Regent Community Garden
Sunday 26 June 2-3pm
Get ready for Plastic Free July in June with a Waste-free lunchbox ideas workshop at Regent Community Garden.
You will learn some tasty ideas on how to make your lunchbox waste-free, and get inspired to make more delicious lunches that don't cost the earth.
Be part of the solution as we work towards a waste free lunch box and only use packaging that can be composted or recycled.
All welcome and bookings are essential so please register using the online form.
The community garden is run by volunteers and is an inclusive and welcoming environment. Wheelchair accessible space with all abilities facilities.
When: Sunday 26 June 2-3pm
Cost: Free.
Contact: To find out more, join us at facebook.com/FriendsofRegentGarden or email: friendsofregent@gmail.com.
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Darebin's Rewilding planting season 2022 has kicked off!
Last Friday on World Bee Day, close to 100 people from across Darebin departments came along to the Council staff planting day at Bundoora Park.
The challenge was to get 5000 indigenous plants in the ground by the end of the day… and we did it!
A big thank you to everyone who rolled up their sleeves to help create more habitat for native bees and other pollinators.
Since the launch of Darebin's Rewilding program in 2020 over 300,000 plants have been planted.
Let's keep rewilding Darebin!
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Solar Victoria Rebates for Small Business Expanded
The Solar for Small Business Program from Solar Victoria has recently been expanded to include businesses with up to 50 FTE employees. They’ve also added access to up to $5,000 interest-free finance on top of the $3,500 rebate, reducing the barrier of up-front cost for many small businesses.
Installing solar on your business is a great way of keeping money in your pocket instead of spending it on your power bills.
Jason from ierac-i (pictured) installed a 6.6kW solar power system on his hair salon and espresso bar using the Solar Victoria rebate and is very happy with the savings.
Register your interest with the Darebin Sustainable Business team for more information and assistance.
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Introducing Reservoir East’s newest community garden!
The Reservoir East Primary Community Garden is a growing community space where students, parents and members of the local community have been growing organic fruit and vegetables. Established in 2019, the garden has several wicking garden beds, a fruit orchard, compost and recycling centre and hügelkultur beds. They have plans to build a chicken run in the future, and later this year will be hosting a series of working bees to plant a native tree plantation.
The garden is open every Wednesday 9-11am to anyone with an interest in gardening, sustainability or just having a cup of tea. Join their Facebook group to find out what this garden is up to.
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Pointing to our bike repair stations
Do you know where to find Darebin’s ten public bike repair stations? We’ve recently added large arrow decals on adjacent bike routes so you’ll know where to pull over. The repair stations include a pump and basic tools for minor maintenance on your bike. They’re also listed on our website and on our trusty new 2022 edition of the Darebin TravelSmart Map available from all Darebin customer service centres and libraries.
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Keep warm this winter with energy saving tips
Heating your home efficiently will save energy and cost less to run. The key is to use your system so that it doesn’t work harder than it needs to and avoid losing heat.
Making changes to heat your home more efficiently can lower your heating costs by up to 40%, create consistent comfortable temperature in your home and lower your greenhouse gas emissions.
Simple things like regularly cleaning heating system filters and closing curtains and blinds when heaters are on can make a big difference. Read more about how you can heat your home efficiently from Sustainability Victoria.
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Congratulations and thank you to everyone who participated in the City Nature Challenge 2022!
Last month, 545 cities all around the world competed to see who could find and record the most (and most interesting!) observations of local plants, animals, fungi, and insects using the iNaturalist App. Globally, 1,558,839 observations were made!
Darebin, along with 20 other councils, represented Greater Melbourne and the results were amazing! With a total of 12,599 observations Greater Melbourne ranked #34 on the world. Locally, Darebin was the council to gather most observations with a total of 1,931.
Exciting finding! Darebin staff Francesca Leonard found and recorded a species of skink, Liopholis whitii, or White's skink, that was thought to be extinct from Darebin. As a result, council and scientists will work together to develop a plan to enhance its habitat and ensure its protection. As you can see, the data collected by participants really helps experts to better understand biodiversity in cities all over the world, and how to better protect it.
Explore the results in detail: Global Results - Greater Melbourne’s Results - Darebin’s Results
City Nature Challenge 2023 … here we go!
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