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Vincent Neighbourhood Soup – Boomerang Bags Foyer Oxford

Boomerang Bags Foyer Oxford photo

Bronwyn’s Boomerang Bags @ Foyer Oxford was voted to receive funding at the inaugural Vincent Neighbourhood Soup in 2017.

Bronwyn pitching Boomerang Bags Foyer Oxford at Vincent Neighbourhood Soup 2017
Bronwyn pitching Boomerang Bags Foyer Oxford

She shares her project’s progress below.

Boomerang Bags is going well.

We have made approximately 100 bags. This may seem like not many but all of the people making bags hadn’t touched a sewing machine before so it has been a big learning curve.

With the bags we were able to put up a string of bags for Light Up Leederville to help promote boomerang bags. We also have a stand in Foyer Oxford with bags for residents/staff/volunteers to take when heading to IGA to grocery shop. Foyer can have up to 95 people living within the building plus all staff throughout the day so I would average about 150 minimum people having access to the bags per day.

We have had a few obstacles to overcome, the biggest one is the reliability of our boomerang bag team. It has been very hit and miss on whether residents come to the sewing bees. The other challenge we have had is the time it takes to complete a bag. Because of this we have decided to keep the bags within Foyer currently as we would not be able to maintain upkeep if opening it to the general public.

One of the successes I did not anticipate was the conversations engaged in during the sewing bees. There have been in-depth discussions on how to create less waste, become plastic free and the importance of getting rid of plastic bags.

We actually still have a good portion of the funds for on-going needs for Boomerang bags. We have used the funds to buy an overlocker, calico for the logo for boomerang bags, a screen printer and paint and the hat stand for their display.

Transition Town Vincent is proud to have helped fund the Boomerang Bags @ Foyer Oxford project.

If you have a project or an idea to improve the City of Vincent community, Vincent Neighbourhood Soup 2018 will be on Tuesday 31st July.

Submit your idea!

Attend Vincent Neighbourhood Soup 2018

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Glass half-full

Clear glass tumbler half-filled with water.

It is said that optimists see the above as half-full and pessimists see it as half-empty.

It is the opposite when it comes to my journey into living a sustainable life.

I see that my half-empty green-lid landfill bin as a sign of optimism.

Actually, my green-lid bin is not quite half empty.  Most weeks, it is actually about 10% full.

And my yellow-lid mixed recycling bin is usually more than 75% full.

It has taken effort including:

  • buying wisely (what is needed and choosing to pay more for things that will last a long time),
  • composting kitchen waste at home, and
  • green-lid bin diving to retrieve recyclables from ending up in landfill – training the family is still on-going.

Where I was

Before I became aware of sustainability, I viewed the dumping everything into the green-lid landfill bin as a great convenience.

An event that prompted my desire to live more sustainably was when the City of Vincent (CoV) surveyed ratepayers (people who live in the locality and pay they city for services) about what kind of recycling we would like to have the City provide.

For convenience sake, I replied that I would like a large yellow-lid mixed recycling bin.

Since joining Transition Town Vincent (TTV) and learning more about waste, I wish I had opted for the alternative of having multiple smaller bins which would contain waste that residents had already sorted (e.g. paper & cardboard, glass, plastic).

It turns out that the contents a significant number of yellow-lid bins are rejected because they contain non-recyclable material, like garden and kitchen waste.  Rejected contents are sent to landfill.

Hence my regret for choosing the convenience of mixed-recycling.

But I live and have learnt.

Where I am

Contents of my yellow-lidded mixed recycling bin

Now, through my work with Transition Town Vincent, I try to influence my local community to effect better recycling practices (i.e. only putting the correct materials into their yellow-lid bins) and with the City of Vincent to trial waste disposal alternatives.

On the latter, TTV and CoV are have set up a Community Composting Station, which will accept kitchen waste which will be composted locally, reducing greenhouse gas emission from garbage trucks.

The City of Vincent is trialling a smaller green-lid bin for a once-off $40 discount.  I have chosen not to participate because I don’t think that once-off $40 discount is sufficient incentive to have the convenience of occasionally being able to send more to landfill.

Where I want to go

My journey still continues and I think I will be on it for my whole life.

The optimist in me would like to achieve a green-lid bin fully empty AND a yellow-lid bin also fully-empty.

The pragmatist in me acknowledges this will be difficult but I like being an optimist.

Individual journeys

Each persons’ waste reduction journey is their own.  How fast they travel and where they want to go is up to them.

I believe by reading this blog, you have started or are well on your way on your journey.  I congratulate you – it takes all our efforts to make our communities more sustainable.

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Community Composting Station

Do you want to compost your kitchen scraps but don’t have the time, equipment, skills or inclination to do it yourself?

Maybe you’d like to do your bit for the environment and remove the organics from your bin that is destined for landfill (in landfill, the organics break down to methane gas, which is a big contributor to greenhouse gas emissions).

The Community Compost Station has been set up to take local kitchen scraps and turn them into compost.

A sign in the foreground, dome holding bin in mid-ground and a storage shed in the background.

It is run by volunteers from Transition Town Vincent, with full support from the City of Vincent.

The Community Compost Station (located beside the Floreat Athena Football Club at Britannia Park) is open to accept your kitchen scraps in 3 easy steps:

  1. Save up your kitchen scraps (hint: keep them in a container in the fridge so they don’t get smelly).
  2. When your container is full, drop your scraps to the Compost Station (while you’re there, turn the compost tumblers to help keep the composting waste aerated – this aids the composting process)
  3. Join our Facebook Group, and we will let you know when a batch of compost is ready (so you can come and help yourself to this wonderful free garden resource).

Handful of compost

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Living on the verge!

Have you ever noticed the lovely front verges in your neighbourhood which have been converted from grass to native trees or shrubs? They definitely stand out amongst the usual grass front verges and it had always been my dream to have one of those beautiful spaces at the front of my home.

Last month I finally made that dream come true! (With a bit of planning, sweat and hard work!)

I live in the City of Stirling and they provided a $250 rebate to convert my front verge from grass to water-wise plants and mulch. The City of Vincent has an Adopt a Verge program – find out more here:  https://www.vincent.wa.gov.au/residents/environment-health/environmental-sustainability/news-events/adopt-a-verge.aspx)

The first step was to have the grass removed by a bobcat. I had initially thought I could dig out the grass myself but after a few hot hours of digging, I soon realised it wasn’t going to be viable!

Once the grass was removed, I collected a heap of old carpets and rugs from my local Buy Nothing Facebook page and lay them over the verge to suffocate any grass roots that might still be there and stop it from growing back. I left it for a month or so.

Next step was to cut holes in the carpet where I wanted to plant my natives.

Then I got some landscape soil delivered to cover the carpet.

It was then time to pick up my 20 free native shrubs from City of Stirling’s plant giveaway day and stick them in. City of Vincent has a native plant sale twice a year where residents can buy natives for $1 each (what a bargain!) or you get 20 free if you’ve signed up to the Adopt a Verge program. https://www.vincent.wa.gov.au/residents/environment-health/environmental-sustainability/news-events/local-native-plant-sale.aspx

Next I covered the whole area with mulch from the free mulch pile at Britannia Reserve.

After putting in a dwarf Meyer lemon tree and a Silver Princess weeping gum, my dream is almost complete! My last steps will be to put some trellis along the brick wall for the vines to climb up, and put in drop line retic to each plant.

If you are dreaming about creating a beautiful native verge yourself, are part of the adopt a verge program in the City of Vincent, but do not have the manpower yourself to put in the hard work, get in touch with Transition Town Vincent on info@ttv.org.au. They might be able to help you realise your dream too.

I’m finally living on the verge and it feels (and looks) good.