Susan’s Story

“My first introduction to OzGREEN and their Rethink Waste program was through the Thrive Festival” Susan Lumsdaine, Chairperson of Bellinger River Agricultural Show Society (BRASS), comments. “Friends of mine who were at Thrive as volunteers were very impressed with the waste management, so that’s what put me onto them.” From there, BRASS contacted OzGREEN about working together to reduce waste at their upcoming show.

“OzGREEN supported us by running the waste stations which were designed to educate people on where to put their rubbish. Our goal was to reduce the amount of waste that we send off to landfill every year, so it was educational, but practical as well” Susan explains.

The partnership between BRASS and OzGREEN was organised only weeks before the annual show, so there were limitations with what could be implemented without prior agreements established with stallholders. Despite this, and working together, OzGREEN and BRASS managed to reduce waste by 25%. “We usually get twelve cubic metres worth of waste going to landfill, this year we only had nine”, Susan celebrates.

The significant impact within such a short time has sparked BRASS’s enthusiasm towards continuing to improve waste management for future shows. Susan sees education along with increasing waste capturing capacity as central to this. “I would like to expand from what we did this year and have double the number of waste stations, as well as a massive increase in the use of reusable cups”.

In reflecting back on her learning from the recent show, Susan smiles about becoming an ardent ‘waste warrior’. “I never thought I’d get so excited about diving into a bin and pulling stuff out!”, she laughs. Susan was also struck by how a small collaboration could have such a big impact. “It was great to see how a relatively simple intervention can change people's behaviour and create a really positive outcome”.