Street Champion Amy.
Project: Community Recycling Station
Suburb: Valleyview, South Australia
Amy is a Street Champion who started a community recycling drop-off station on her street.
In March, 2021, Amy and her family set up a community drop-off point for recycling of tricky to recycle items. Specifically, items that cannot be recycled kerbside. They accepted printer cartridges, pens, blister packs, toothpaste tubes and other oral care products, batteries and light globes. The idea was that it would create a more convenient and local, all-in-one, drop-off point for these items. Rather than having many people driving all over the place to drop-off these items, they have one point and Amy and her family make two trips per year to the appropriate recycling points for these items.
To date, they have recycled over 3000 items, which is over 15kg of waste!
“Knowing that together, we are making a difference, no matter how small, has brought us all much satisfaction and joy.”
Amy, what’s your best piece of advice for anyone embarking on an ‘In Our Street’ project?
“My advice is to start small and build upon a solid foundation. Master one aspect and then move on to the next.
We began by accepting just a couple of items at first. Then, once we knew it was sustainable for us to manage, we added more items. It’s a good idea to only take on what you can manage.
I know we often want to do everything all at once but that often leads to burnout and feeling overwhelmed. Set boundaries and be clear about what is manageable for you. It’s a team effort after all. If everyone chips in just a little, it makes the bigger tasks much more achievable.
Once our drop-off point was running smoothly for our immediate neighbours, we expanded to those within our local Buy Nothing Group.”
What has this project meant to you?
“This project has given me a great sense of accomplishment and pride. It has helped me to feel more connected with my community and like-minded people in my area. Knowing that together, we are making a difference, no matter how small, has brought us all much satisfaction and joy.”
