Waste education

Waste Education in Schools and Early Years

For information on how we support schools and early years services to reduce their waste and educate children and youth on waste issues, visit our Sustainable Schools page

Recycling Bin Education Program

Recycling collections that include non-recyclable items can cause significant problems for our recycling sorting process. Contaminating items can break sorting machinery, and can get mixed up in recyclable items, creating issues when it comes time to turn them into new products. 

Like many Councils across Victoria, Yarra Ranges Council regularly checks recycling bins before collection from households across Yarra Ranges and provides information to residents on how well they are doing with their recycling efforts. You may have received a coloured tag on your bin handle:

Green to say: ‘Thanks, you’re doing great!’,
Orange to say: ‘You’re doing ok, but there’s room for improvement’, or
Red to say: ‘We’ve found a few items in your bin that are considered contamination. Please dispose of these more appropriately in the future’. 

If you are unsure of which items belong in which bins, check out our A-Z waste guide

Reducing our Food Waste

Did you know that the average Australian home throws away more than $2000 worth of food each year, and two-thirds of this food was still edible?

For tips on how to store your fresh produce and use your leftovers and reduce food waste, go to the Sustainability Victoria website.

Gardens for Harvest is a program run by Yarra Ranges Council and Knox City Council to help residents grow more of their own fresh and healthy food at home and in local communities. The Gardens for Harvest program shares information on how to grow fresh fruit and veggies, as well as how to compost food waste and other organic materials at home to create compost for the home garden.