Central Coast Starting Points for Reducing Your Waste
As well as progressively making and buying items with no or less packaging (the Central Coast now even has a few bulk food stores - yay!), you can find out about some cool workshops to attend on the Central Coast from the Council's Events page. To find workshops where you can learn how to reduce household waste, select the "Green Living Workshops" category, and search.
And to show you plenty more activities to do in the local area (including lots of FREE activities), select any other category that interests you and search.
How to start buying second hand
...and give away or sell your items second hand
If you're new to buying second hand, then start somewhere that suits you. If you like going out to shop, hit up your local op shops. There are heaps on the Central Coast to explore.
Prefer to shop to a list (or for a specific item)? Marketplace sites like Gumtree, eBay and Facebook Marketplace may be your preferred avenues. Retailers can also list new products on these sites, so be sure to narrow your search to "Used" items for truly second hand items. If you're not in a hurry, save a specific search so that you can be notified when an item matching your search is listed.
Love a freebie? Check out freecycle - find your local group and join. As well as receiving a wanted item for free, it's also a great (and quick) way to give away a free item without leaving your home.
And for those energetic early weekend risers, the good ol' garage sale can't be beat. The annual Garage Sale Trail could be your bliss, but for the rest of the year, you'll still find garage sales listed in the local newspaper. But tired commuters need not be discouraged - some great freebies from one's wish list can on occasion be found on council cleanup piles the evening before kerb collection day.
ALL OF THESE avenues listed above for buying second hand are two-way. You can also donate or sell your own good-condition items second-hand and let them avoid landfill.
Central Coast Recycling Resources
If you're on the Central Coast, there are plenty of resources online where you can find out what to do with specific items - whether they are recyclable and where/how, or how to safely dispose of some items that are not recyclable.
Not sure what you can recycle through your yellow bin? Check out the list of acceptable items on the 1Coast website. Or perhaps you've got some chemical waste that is not acceptable for the yellow or red bin. Find out more about Chemical Cleanout collections and what you can bring to these events for disposal. Browse the 1Coast website for more information, including local collection points for recycling other items, such as light globes and batteries.
The Central Coast Council website also has helpful local information on reducing waste and recycling, as well as collection points for recyclable and non-recyclable or hazardous items.
For soft plastic recycling, don't forget to look up REDcycle for what you can recycle through the REDcycle program, and where to find your nearest drop off location.
And as a final favourite go-to, Planet Ark's Recycling Near You website allows you to search by area and material to find where you can recycle a specific item. This is a broader search so generally yields good results. Some listings are out of date, so emailing or calling the drop-off location or pickup up business is advisable before you start your legwork.
Read blog articles about Reusing, Reducing and Recycling on the Central Coast
