pdf of habitat - Australian Conservation Foundation

EarthKidsRubbish — handlewith careNow there’s a fresh take on a stale problem.dirtgirl and her friends have teamed up witha New South Wales council to launch aninnovative new waste management program.“When I found out we need to reduce rubbishgoing into landfill by 70%, I wanted to getinvolved,” said dirtgirl.“Me too! Who wouldn’t?” added an enthusiasticscrapboy.The idea was to help people give moreimportance to sorting their waste so theywould give the whole process more value.The Clarence Valley in northern NSW hadinvested in compost big time and wanted bigheads around the table to think up the best way to let everyoneknow about the changes.In the new system the residents would receive a new green binfor all organic waste, a larger yellow recycling bin, with no needfor sorting, and a smaller red bin...the bin of last resort forabsolute rubbish destined for landfill.The times when rubbish was to be collected were changing too.So there were lots of practical messages. But what about thebigger message?The council made a commitment not just to get people puttingthings in the right bin but to a new way to think and feel abouthow their community deals with waste in their daily lives.At its heart it’s about taking more care with our waste, caringabout what waste comes into our homes and caring enoughfor the environment to want to lower landfill rates. And so theslogan was born. Rubbish ... …handle with care!16 habitat