Bundaberg cafe Alowishus Delicious has reduced waste to landfill by an estimated 156 cubic metres a year, saving several thousand dollars.
Proprietor Tracey McPhee says the mantra of “Reduce Reuse Recycle” has saved filling two whole industrial bins per week.
How to Reduce Reuse Recycle
Tracey says:
- We’ve partnered with Splitters Farm to collect our food waste. They have provided us with branded, coloured wheelie bins and collect the scraps daily. Check them out here and follow them on Instagram or visit http://www.splittersfarm.com.au/.
- The team at the Endeavour Foundation are collecting our used coffee grounds for their worm farm and apparently the worms are loving the caffeine!
- JJ Richards recycling collect our cardboard for processing twice a week – and boy! Do we get a lot of cardboard, literally, truck loads of it.
- Our daughter Ally collects all the 10-cent eligible containers that are left at Alowishus (a budding entrepreneur). She did cashflow projections and with compounding interest factored in, she has calculated she can save $20,000 by the time she’s 18. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes!
- We recycle our Honey Pales back to our local supplier, Hummock Honey, and he passes them back onto groups for non-food use.
- All food pales that come in are given away to people who reuse them for various things, from crafts to water bowls for their animals.
- Our egg trays (and there are loads of them), are taken for all sorts of reasons, from people who have chickens, to kindy classes and musicians attempting to sound proof their studios.
- Our 20-litre drums are also given away for repurposing as they are emptied.
- All eligible plastics are placed into a JJ Richards Co-Mingle recycling bin and are processed back through the Bundaberg Regional Council Waste Management Facility. Milk bottles, cans and dressing bottles are among the bin load of plastics recycled on a weekly basis.
“Doing all of this has reduced the number of garbage bags we use from around 500 a month, down to 300, and we are still working on reducing further,” Tracey said.
Bundaberg Regional Council waste and recycling portfolio spokesman, Cr Scott Rowleson, congratulated Alowishus on their initiative.
“The state waste levy will require many businesses to change the way they do things, as they had found it easier just to simply dump it in the past,” he said.
“There is going to be some major re-thinking about how things are done, not only in this area but right across the state. Congratulations to Alowishus for being on the front foot.”
- Alowishus Delicious blog on reduce reuse recycle.
