15 March 2023
By Hannah Wilcox
With sustainability listed as one of its eight core values, North Sydney has a range of initiatives in place to promote green living.
North Sydney Council currently has a range of volunteer programs running within the area including Bushcare, Adopt-a-Plot, Wildlife Watch, Native Havens, Streets Alive, community gardens and Harbourcare. In saying that, practising sustainable habits or introducing lifestyle changes can be difficult to maintain in the midst of the current cost-of-living crisis. Below, the Sun has compiled a list of services and organisations available in the North Sydney area that can help you reduce, reuse and recycle.
Recycle
Firstly, the Northern Sydney Community Recycling Centre (NSCRC) is a North Sydney Council operated collection point for household waste and other unusable goods.
Opened in 2017, NSCRC aims to keep potentially hazardous waste out of landfill, help improve recycling rates and contribute to saving water, energy, and other valuable natural resources.
Currently, the centre collects the following free of charge: Paint, gas bottles, fire extinguishers, motor and other oils, fluorescent, halogen and LED globes and tubes, electronic waste, household batteries, lead acid batteries, smoke detectors, mobile phones, X-ray films and printer cartridges. Household quantities and maximum limits of each product can be found on their website.
It is open Monday, Tuesday and Friday, 8am – 2pm and Saturday and Sunday, 8am – 4pm at 8 Waltham Road Artarmon.
Similarly, the Bower Reuse & Repair Centre offers free collection for residents looking to get rid of unwanted household items in the North Sydney Council area.
They accept household furniture, bikes, some electronic appliances and building materials, bric-a-brac, kitchenware and books and can also advise other charities and organisations who will accept other goods such as large and bulky items, mattresses, bulky whitegoods, clothing and textiles.
Items are then either resold back to the community at a low cost, with funds going back into the centre, or donated to people in need via Bower’s House to Home program.
The centre itself is located out-of-area in the Addison Road Community Centre in Marrickville.
Reuse
Why buy when you can borrow? The Sydney Library of Things (TSLoT) is a not-for-profit service that provides the local community with access to a collection of common items available for short-term loan from the Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability in Waverton.
Open every Saturday from 9am-12pm, TSLoT aims to reduce waste and build a more connected and sustainable community by making common items more accessible to borrow – saving money, saving resources and saving space in homes.
“We’re like a normal library but with things instead of books”, their website reads, “we hope that by encouraging people to borrow instead of buying or throwing away their unwanted items, together we can create a better connected, more sustainable and stronger community”.
The library currently has over 250 items that can be borrowed for a period of two weeks, TSLoT Co-Founder and President Dr Carol Skyring told the Sun.
“These range from kitchen items such as a bread maker and a food dehydrator, to household tools such as high pressure water washers and power tools, through to camping gear, party items and a sewing machine.”
“Borrowing seldom used items saves households money and contributes to the circular economy by reducing the demand for newly manufactured items”, she said, as “accepting donated items from householders reduces waste by ensuring that items that are no longer needed don’t end up in landfill.”
As it is membership based, anyone over 18 interested in joining only pays for their membership not for borrowing individual items.
Members can borrow up to 5 items, for a loan period of 2 weeks and items can be renewed for a further two weeks if they haven’t been reserved by others.
The prices start from $30 for a quarterly membership, $50 six-monthly and $85 for the year with discounted concession rates available also.
All membership fees go to maintaining the library, tools, insurance and building the collection.
The idea for the library was born after local resident and Lane Cove Councillor Bridget Kennedy noticed everyone in her street owned various household items, many of which were only used a few times a year.
“She researched and visited several tool libraries and wanted to expand this notion into a library that lent many and varied objects. Bridget reached out to the local community to see if there was interest and put a proposal together to North Sydney Council which was very supportive”, Dr Skyring said.
Kennedy then co-opted Carol Skyring & Jacky Barker to work with her to establish TSLoT at the Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability.
After calling for donations of items, and volunteers to take on the various roles needed to run the Library, it opened on 27 November 2022.”
Dr Skyring said along with becoming a member of TSLoT, and borrowing instead of buying, the library is just one of many evolving sustainable initiatives.
“A broad definition of sustainability is using the Earth’s resources to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”, she said.
For those who love to shop, there are plenty of second-hand clothing options available to save both the planet and money. In Neutral Bay, the Precious Finds Preloved Fashion offers a collection of good-quality pre-loved and new clothing. VENLA Resell + Relove in Mosman provides a sustainable way to shop for secondhand designer clothes and accessories, whilst Studio61 in North Sydney is a preloved designer boutique which sources and sells unique fashion pieces.
Reduce
‘Toss it? No way!’ is the motto of the Sydney North Repair Cafe which opened in 2016. Located on Longueville Road in Lane Cove, the cafe is a group of local volunteers passionate about breaking the cycle of buy, use, toss it out.
Open 2-4pm every first and second Sunday of the month items such as jewellery, ceramics, shoes, toys, clothes, zips, bags, umbrellas, small woodwork repairs, and household battery-operated and electrical items can be brought in and repaired.
Similarly, an initiative to reduce waste was launched by North Sydney Council’s Better Business Partnership (BBP) mid-last year following the news that 2.7 million disposable cups are being discarded across Australia every day.
Partnered with Green Caffeen, customers who use the app to purchase a takeaway coffee are eligible to receive a free coffee.
It was launched at the Foliage Cafe in North Sydney, with the offer available at other cafes in the area such as the Best Bagel Co in Cremorne and The Coal Loader Cafe in Waverton.