In this issue - Community Recycling Network Australia · PDF file · 2016-04-25CRN...
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COMMUNITY RECYCLING NETWORK AUSTRALIA In this issue: • REmida: Fusing art and education for a sustainable future. • The Quality of Commodities • Collaborative Consumption • Plus much more... E-BULLETIN FEBRUARY 2014 PHOTO: REMida WA
Transcript of In this issue - Community Recycling Network Australia · PDF file · 2016-04-25CRN...
COMMUNITY RECYCLING
NETWORK AUSTRALIA
In this issue:• REmida: Fusing art and education for a
sustainable future.
• The Quality of Commodities
• Collaborative Consumption
• Plus much more...
E-BULLETIN FEBRUARY 2014
PHOTO: REMida WA
CRN Australia Bulletin FEBRUARY 2014
www.communityrecycling.com.au [email protected] 2
REmida originates in the educational philosophies of Reggio Emilia, in Italy, where the first REmida centre opened in 1997. The word REmida is Italian for ‘King Midas’ - Midas turned everything he touched to gold just as REmida reinterprets discarded materials as valuable, interesting & beautiful, turning trash into treasure so to speak! There are REmida centres across Italy, in Norway, Sweden, & Canada as well as Western Australia, forming an international network working towards the same aims. The REmida WA project was initiated by the staff and parents of Bold Park Community School in 2004 and incorporated as a not-for-profit organisation in 2008.It now runs independently and is entirely self funded from mostly membership & workshop earnings.
MATERIALSREmida’s collection of discards, off cuts and remnants of industry is unique in Western Australia. Maintaining its focus on industry sets REmida apart from a general reuse organisation and brings in exotic materials that otherwise wouldn’t be encountered in daily life. The materials collected by REmida are not sold, instead once a school, daycare, artist or family signs up as a member they are given unlimited access to the materials and are able to collect as often they need to, for free. The membership program is designed to encourage regular usage of REmida materials, providing a sustainable environmental solution to a school’s ongoing and often financially exhausting material needs.
REmida currently collects from around 70 businesses and last year diverted over 250 cubic metres of material from landfill. REmida aims to educate businesses on the value of reuse before recycle. Spread the word about REmida and tell local industry to give their business a green tick by donating their discards, off-cuts, scraps, old stock and stuff that’s just too good to waste. All materials collected by REmida WA are redistributed to schools, child care centres and the community for creative reuse.
EDUCATIONWhen a school books a workshop with REmida many areas of the community are involved. From the industrial sector where REmida personally collects materials, to the volunteers who are involved with and dedicated to the REmida project, to the talented community artists who work with REmida and facilitate REmida workshops, to even local councils with whom REmida works to better achieve its resonant aims. By booking a REmida workshop, a school is in fact supporting the community project to educate across a large cross section of the community
REmida is not only educating schools through workshops and material membership, they aim to educate the whole community on valuing discarded materials and how to use them creatively and within educational settings.
REmida WA: uniquely fusing art & education for a more sustainable future
REmida WA is a not-for-profit organisation that has been collecting the offcuts, discards & remnants of local factories since 2005 to provide unique sustainable materials for education and the arts and fuel an exciting array of creative workshops. Finding beauty and value in the unexpected, REmida WA strives to foster a cultural shift towards the revaluing of waste materials and educate for a more sustainable future.
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In 2012 REmida reached over 700 children in school workshops. REmida’s excursion and incursion workshops introduce sustainable art practices and concepts to children in a creative environment. Children learn the value of waste by transforming materials into inspiring and practical creative projects. REmida’s programs have been developed with the ACARA curriculum and WA curriculum and cover a range of subjects.
REmida’s Professional Development workshops reached over 300 educators and student teachers in 2012. The PD programs are an introduction to the benefits of using reuse materials in learning environments and support teachers in the transition from catalogue materials to unique and exciting resources found at REmida and beyond. One of the key points of REmida’s Professional development programs is to enable educators and teachers to replace their catalogue materials with REmida industry materials and thus create a more sustainable classroom, both environmentally and economically. Many participants leave the PD’s inspired to make changes in their workplace.
In 2012, REmida was involved in two AIRGRANT projects where facilitators went out to schools and introduced reuse materials to children through creative projects. Belmay Primary school explored music and sound as part of Calvin Chee’s residency and 70 children were involved in making instruments using REmida materials as part of the residency. Harmony Primary School explored ocean scenes as part of Paula Harts residency. REmida was invited in to help with the creation of a sea monster made of REmida materials and recycled plastic bottles.
Sustainability Training in Artistic Reuse Techniques (START for Teachers) is a new professional development program that REmida is launching with local council support in 2013. The program provides a free professional development workshop and ongoing support for primary school teachers within the local district to develop this important practice and aid its integration into their classrooms. REmida is proud to announce City of Joondalup and City of Vincent as the first councils to support the program, creating a fantastic opportunity for their local schools. If you would like to know more about the “START for Teachers” program please email Josie at [email protected].
REMIDA ART & EVENTSArts projects and community events are held to further inspire people on the infinite possibilities of creative reuse and allow its “valuing waste” message to reach a broader audience. REmida has been involved with many local council events, at community festivals and through its own
initiatives. REmida attended over 20 community festivals in 2012, including Perth Writer’s Festival, AWESOME International Arts Festival, and Summerset Arts Festival. During these open-ended workshops and installations over 5,000 people participated in the activities, helping to build community awareness towards sustainable art practices.
A group of dedicated facilitators and community artists contribute their passion to REmida’s cause. This stands out in REmida’s workshops and festival events. REmida facilitators are trained in the unique way of using REmida materials, with an alternative range of joining techniques to be used in place of glue and sticky-tape. This unique aspect of the workshops is to show participants how many more options are available to them and help them break through the box of habit to real, raw creativity!
REmida Artist in Residence Day Studio supports the development and practice of new sustainable art forms in Western Australia in both the Arts and Education. Using REmida materials in both exhibition outcomes and installations helps the community engage in practices that support reuse concepts and introduce practices that all the community can be involved in.
This year Ismaidi, Kieran Stewart and Rachel Riggs are REmida’s Artists in Residence. The contribution these artists offer enhance community perspectives towards reuse materials as the artists present REmida materials in highly professional and unique outcomes. Through performance, exhibition, textiles, and educational play spaces these artists are inspiring the community on creative reuse and showing how the arts can play an integral role in providing solutions to environmental problems.
REmida Day is an annual event held in May by independent branches of the international REmida network that extends from Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Canada to Australia. The WA branch celebrated in 2013 with “Metamorph-This!” a dynamic event for all the family held in Forrest Place, Perth. The day involved a diverse range of activities all using the same 6 materials, industrial discards collected by REmida. Activities on the day included Live Sculptural Installations by local artists, a public sculpture workshop, and the REmida Play Experience: a unique playground for younger children. The day aimed to inspire the community and widen the square of possibilities on what can be done with just a few materials.
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What is Collaborative Consumption?Collaborative Consumption refers to a growing movement around the globe of people are finding innovative ways to share their stuff. Everyday people can sell their items for a fee on sites like Ebay, Craigslist. Give things away via Freecycle, ReUse Moose, or Yoink or simply loan them out through sharing networks such as Zipcar and Open Shed. Collaborative consumption refers to anything shared be it tools, cars, accommodation, services, skills.
How does it work? People who have something they want to share list it on a website. Potential borrowers can then search the site for item’s they need to borrow. When a borrower loans and item from someone and returns on time and in good condition they get a positive feedback rating on their profile. Pretty straightforward.
Why are so many people sharing?A number of conditions have occurred which gave rise to the sharing movement. Firstly, the global financial crisis created a situation in which people had be more scrupulous with their spending. Secondly, the digital age means that connecting with others has never been easier before. Users of car-share networks can logon to a mobile app, find a car within their local neighbourhood to borrow, have the key in the ignition and the car started within a matter of minutes. And thirdly, the same information age has fostered more awareness of growing environmental issues.
But haven’t people always shared?Yes but not like this. What’s different about this movement as opposed to people simply borrowing a cup of sugar from you neighbor is that critical mass whereby the right products can be matched with the needs of potential borrowers. It is largely enabled by digital technology to link sharers with borrowers. For this reason, it also requires a high level of trust because people are lending out their things to strangers.
Opportunities for CRE’sOne would assume that if people share stuff instead of throwing it away would mean less resources for Community Recycling Enterprises. However waste statistics would show that there is certainly more than enough to go around. The question is how can Community Recycling Enterprises Opportunities leverage opportunities in sharing economy? Here are a few ideas:
• Tap into collaborative consumption networks to promote and market your services• Start a ‘Lending Shed’ as a side to your enterprise• Sourcing unwanted materials through collaborative consumption networks• Business to business sharing• Share your enterprises space or equipment for extra income
Can you think of anymore? We bet you can. For more information take a look at www.collaborativeconsumption.com
BIG WORDS IN WASTE: Collaborative Consumption
Collaborative Consumption. It’s the trendy new buzzword in waste. In their book the ‘What’s Mine is Yours: the Rise of Collaborative Consumption’ Rachel Botsmon and Roo Rogers, describe a growing trend of people that are opting out of conventional consumerism and finding more innovative ways of meeting their needs. ‘Collaborative Consumption’, ‘Peer to Peer sharing’ or ‘The Sharing Economy’ as it has also become to be known is playing a substantial role in terms of waste diversion from landfill. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, in 2013, the sharing economy was estimated to be worth $350 billion in revenue.
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From the CRN ConvenorWe are now well into the New Year with CRN having held its first monthly teleconference taking up issues that directly relate to enterprises around Australia.
The website is having hundreds of visitors weekly which provides a lot of resources for start-ups and existing enterprises. Visitors are reading “Operating a Sustainable Community Recycling Enterprise”, past bulletins and articles on the Resources page. There is also a members page for sharing important policies and procedures.
The product stewardship on E-Waste is presenting problems as some enterprises are experiencing a lack of supply of materials to dismantle and a sustainable solution to CRT processing. I am interested to hear from enterprises who are experiencing difficulty so your comments can be added to the representations CRN Australia is making to the federal government.
For those of you considering diversification away from Product Stewardship, CRN Aus Marc Sims provided many insights from his business Entekcom at the forum in November. You can read more under Resources on the website.
Our links with CRN NZ are being strengthened via visits and exchange of ideas - see website.
Consider being a financial member of CRN - strength is in numbers and your stories.
Regards,
Miles Lochhead
In 2009, China launched ‘Operation Goddess of the Earth’ an initiative to curb the smuggling of hazardous wastes into the country. Phase 2 of the operation, known as ‘Operation Greenfence’, was rolled out in February 2013 and saw over 337 cases illegal smuggling and 800,000 tonnes of waste seized.
Last December phase 3 of Operation Goddess of the Earth commenced. According to an article published by the Bureau of International Recycling over 43 customs organisations throughout the US, Europe and Asia Pacific have now signed up to the program to have more stringent oversight of exports to China.
Apart from hazardous waste China is also cracking down on the contamination rates of materials imported. According to customs legislation shipments must contain no more than 1% unrelated materials.
The initiative for many recyclers has made cost of doing business more expensive - there are more inspections and more stringent controls. An article in Environmental Expert said however, that whilst the new legislation had made business more difficult some enterprises were finding there were positives to the new legislation. “Recyclers who invest in cleaner technologies and are able to produce a more quality product may benefit as dirtier competitors are forced out of the market”. China’s crackdown of the recycling industry means that quality is paramount in today’s recycling business if you want to export and attract top dollars.
Recycling businesses should also be aware that the customs authorities enforce legislation that exists in China around the importing of waste and remember that is up to you to ensure your enterprise complies with appropriate legislation.
Operation Green Fence
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Congratulations to Axis Worx and Bright Sparks on receiving the Victorian Government funded Waste and Recycling places in The Crunch Round 4.
The Victorian Government has funded two positions in The Crunch as part of the Social Enterprises in Waste and Recycling program, providing Bright Sparks and Axis Worx with the mentoring, support and business planning they need to get off the ground.
The government’s support aims to help these organisations to address problem waste streams, while providing valuable community services. The Crunch is Social Traders’ highly successful fast-track business planning and mentoring
L-R: Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald, Bright Sparks; Stan Krpan, Sustainability Victoria; Colin Barnett, Com-munity Axis Enterprises Inc.; Katie Wyatt, Social Traders; Bill Schmidt, Axis Worx; David Brookes, Social Traders.
The Crunch Round 4 Winners
Announced!
initiative for early stage social enterprises.
Bright Sparks aims to establish a shop in inner-city Melbourne, offering an affordable and convenient repair service for common household items like toasters, kettles and lamps. It will help people who want to do the right thing and reuse broken appliances.
Axis Worx, a not-for-profit Australian Disability Enterprise, plans to establish a new social enterprise to run a materials recovery facility in Horsham. It aims to deliver ongoing disability employment, while recovering traditionally difficult to recycle items such as mattresses and e-waste.
For more information on starting or growing a social enterprise, or The
Crunch Round 5, please visit Social Traders’ website:
http://www.socialtraders.com.au/
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• 3 days per week• 9 month appointment• Tuncurry, Sydney or Melbourne
Resource Recovery Australia is a national coaching and consultancy service established in 2013. RRA work with local government and community to broker, establish and scale up social enterprises that sustainably manage waste and generate local employment opportunities for those experiencing disadvantage.
With a breakdown of approx. 80% management, and 20% consulting inputs and support, you will utilise high-level business planning and project management skills, as well as resource recovery and/or social enterprise knowledge.
Essential Criteria:Project Management Skills
Desirable Criteria:Waste ManagementEnvironmental ScienceSocial Enterprise
This is an exciting opportunity working with a skilled team of consultants and support staff in a growing social business, liaising closely with clients, industry and peak bodies. Renumeration package up to $60,000p.a dependant on experience.
Please email [email protected] for an information pack, or call 0416 179 416 for queries about the role.
Applications close 7th March 2014.
A business of Great Lakes Community Resources Inc.
The Awards recognise outstanding social enterprises operating in Australia. With over 20,000 social enterprises operating across every industry in the Australian economy, there are many worthy champions.
The Awards are a great opportunity to promote the contribution of social enterprises to communities everywhere and that impact will be recognised through the exposure enterprises gain through participation in the Awards.
The number of categories has been increased in 2014 to not only recognise the breadth of talent working in the sector but pay tribute to the best institutional buyer and the best investor deal in the Australian social enterprise sector.
The 2014 Social Enterprise Awards categories are:
• Australian Social Enterprise of the Year – Small• Australian Social Enterprise of the Year – Large• One to Watch • Social Investment • Social Innovation and• ‘Buy Social’
Award winners will receive prizes ranging from tickets to an overseas conference, cash prizes and, of course, increased industry recognition for their work.
For more on the Awards and category criteria, visitwww.socialenterpriseawards.com.au
OPPORTUNITIES
ManagerMaternity leave position
THE 2014 SOCIAL ENTERPRISE AWARDS NOW OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS
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In the new year we will be shifting to an exciting new E-bulletin format. If you have any idea’s or feedback on the bulletin and/or any stories you would like to contribute we would love to hear from you.
Please send any suggestions or stories to: [email protected]
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www.socialtraders.com.au
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Resource Recovery Australia has recently released an exciting new video. Click the image to the left to watch the new video on vimeo.
Re(cycling) Social Enterprise
Take a look at this fantastic article about a bicycle recycling enterprise which was featured in the January Edition of Pro Bono Australia news.
Resource Recovery Australia Launches New Video
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