Looking for some tips to cut down your waste, learn more about recycling or do a DIY workshop on upcycling pieces for your indoor décor? Then the 2020 Zero Waste Festival is calling your name.
The two-day virtual initiative of Canberra’s Zero Waste Revolution will run across 11 and 12 November, boasting big names like author Jackie French and 2020 ACT Young Australian of the Year Maddie Diamond.
Zero Waste Revolution chair Mia Swainson said next month’s event, which attracted over 800 people at its inaugural festival at the National Museum in 2019, was suitable for everyone.
“It doesn’t matter where people are in that zero waste journey, it might be someone saying ‘you know what, I want to take that first step towards having a bit less garbage’, or someone who has been doing it for years,” she said.
“We all put stuff in the rubbish bin, we all buy things, so we should all have really practical and tangible solutions that make a difference for the planet.
“Really small changes in our consumption or habits can make a really big difference.”
The festival will run a series of free and paid virtual masterclasses and panel discussions across both days, including Five Sustainable Money Saving Ideas with Serina Bird, author of The Joyful Frugalista.
There will also be a No More Bloody Plastic event, exploring the range of reusable period products to eliminate waste, run by Maddie Diamond and Jess Fordyce of Trash Gather.
Ms Swainson, who has had her own waste journey and delivered a Ted Talk on the subject during 2019, revealed her own top tips to cutting down.
“Do it one step at a time. Find something that suits your lifestyle and do that first,” she said.
“If you want to be systematic about it, then I have three steps.”
She said learning to recycle properly and taking your organic waste out of landfill through composting or a worm farm were her top two.
“The most powerful and third step is changing the way you consume. Looking at what comes into your life and working out what you can do to reduce it,” she said.
“Set yourself a buy nothing new challenge, it can be for a week or a month, but it taught me so much about going to gumtree or The Green Shed before I go into the shops.”
If you want to learn more about living sustainably, you can buy tickets to the 2020 Zero Waste Festival online.
