Chermside is next up for BCC’s Kerbside Collection on Monday, the 28th of August. This is the perfect time to get rid of those unwanted clutter and those pieces of furniture and appliances that are too big for the wheelie bins.
Be mindful of the items that you will take out on your kerb. There is a list of acceptable and unacceptable items. You can’t take out household waste that normally goes into the waste and recycle bins. The Council will not collect glass, mirrors, car parts, car tyres, and car batteries.
Kerbside collection happens only once a year, but you can’t just dump everything at once this day. The Council will only collect piles that are not larger than two cubic metres, in order to cater to the whole neighbourhood.
If you have items that are not included on the approved list or reached the Council’s kerb limit, you can take these items to these places.
Resource Recovery Centres
The Resource Recovery Centres is open for both recyclable and green or general waste. There are four recovery centres in Brisbane, formerly known as transfer stations, located in Willawong, Chandler, Ferny Grove, and Nudgee. The upgraded centres will help in reducing waste to landfill by making recycling easier and faster.
Vehicles that are under 4.5 tonnes Combined Gross Vehicle Mass (CGVM) can use the drive-through recycling area for free, whilst vehicles above 4.5 tonnes CGVM can still recycle, but with fees applied.
The centres are open from 6:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. every day of the year, including Christmas Day and other holidays.
Tip Shops
The Resource Recovery Centres turn over all recyclable items to the tip shops in Acacia Ridge and Geebung. These items include household furnishings, collectables, books, toys, and sporting equipments.
The tip shops are operated by the Endeavour Foundation, one of the largest non-government organisations in the country that helps people with disabilities.
These shops aim to reduce the amount of waste to landfill by reusing, recycling, and recovering valuable resources. The shops urge people to rethink, recycle, and upcycle our rubbish.
The tip shops are only open on Saturdays and Sundays, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. All of the proceeds are reinvested back into providing assistance to people with disabilities.
From July to August, the Salvage Recycling Art Exhibition at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts display the works of artists that used items from the tip shops. There is also free upcycling workshops that will demonstrate how to effectively restore items.
NACRO
One man’s trash can be another man’s treasure. Why don’t you save these items from getting dumped and donate the items to charity?
According to the February 2017 NAB Charitable Giving Index, total charitable giving fell in Queensland by 2.5% over the year course since February 2016. This has made Queensland the lowest of all the states in terms of total donations.
The National Association of Charitable Recycling Organisations Inc. (NACRO) is the peak organisation that holds several charities and tip shops all over Australia. The Endeavour Foundation is also under NACRO.
Everyday, NACRO is assisting people across Australia through home visitations, refugee assistance, hospital and health services, aged care services, and other essential programs that are beneficial to the society.
GIVIT
GIVIT is a national non-profit virtual organisation founded by CEO Juliette Wright. They support all agencies, services, and charities in Australia to store, sort out, and distribute the donations to specific individuals or communities who exactly need the items. This virtual organisation is currently supporting over 1,240 charities and community service providers all over Australia.
Interested donors can either check the list of the items needed by other people and the charities or pledge the items into the virtual warehouse by registering every item on their website with specifications on the delivery preferences. Just be mindful of the list of prohibited items to avoid inconveniences.
You can donate as much as you can, but make sure that these items are usable. People in need deserve to receive quality items, too.