Caring for our environment and living sustainably have always been areas in which Kiama residents and council have excelled.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Residents of the Kiama municipality are great recyclers. Our waste to landfill has been steadily declining every year and we’re at the forefront of innovative sustainability initiatives.
Since 2007, Kiama has also participated in a program called Fridge Buyback. This program offers free pick-up of your second fridge or upright freezer and you’re paid $15 for participating. The benefits of this program are very significant.
Residents are saving $119,700 each year on their power bills, 3192 tonnes of greenhouse gas, and 26 tonnes of metals have been recycled.
These figures are so impressive that we are now ranked 14th out of the 50 participating councils, in terms of environmental and financial benefits realised by our residents.
Not bad, given our small population.
If you have a second fridge or upright freezer, in working condition, with 200 litres or more in capacity, you are eligible to participate in this program. You can save an average of $300 per year on your power bill.
The next collection is scheduled for Thursday, December 10. More information is available on our website at www.kiama.nsw.gov.au - just click on the OK logo.
Residents also have the option to dispose of their non-working metal white goods at council’s Minnamurra Waste and Recycling facility.
Another very positive step we have made to further reduce waste to landfill is the introduction of the new waste service OK Organics Kiama. Currently, four of our 10 urban waste zones employ the new service.
The remaining zones will convert to OK Organics by the end of June 2016. For those who aren’t aware of the new waste service, OK Organics is essentially about placing food waste in your green lid bin along with your garden waste to make nutrient rich compost.
This bin now becomes your food and garden organics bin and is serviced weekly. In addition to this, your recycling bin will be serviced weekly and your red lid bin will be serviced fortnightly.
The Ok Organics program has already resulted in a 38 per cent decrease in waste to landfill, 19 per cent increase in recycling tonnages and 63 per cent increase in organic waste tonnages. I encourage residents to embrace this change. - Brian Petschler
