Environment Matters Autumn/Winter 2023

How to

at home

Bellbird Park resident Jody has new waste habits after being part of council’s FOGO trial.

Jody had always wanted a green bin. Doing garden clean-ups in Spring would fill up her red lid bin and not have much room for household waste. Her home was one of the 1,000 in Bellbird Park and Raceview that was part of a Queensland-first FOGO trial in 2021–2022. “I was excited to get a free bin [with the trial] and also do something to help the environment,” she said. Jody now has a FOGO caddy on her kitchen bench where she puts her vegetable peelings and food scraps. Every few days she empties that into her 240-litre FOGO bin, where she also puts garden waste.

“When I was doing weeding and we were having all that rain it was great,” she said. Having a FOGO bin means that her household is diverting valuable organic material away from landfill and turning it into compost.

“It took a bit of training myself to know what to put in there. The website was really informative,” Jody said. “It makes you more mindful of what you put in the bin, things that you normally never think about. “It does take a little trial and error, but doing something is better than doing nothing.” Find out more about FOGO at Ipswich.qld.gov.au/fogo

homes received a free weekly service 1,000 30% contamination rate in FOGO bins

34,000 42% FOGO bin collections (weekly) reduction of organic material in red lid bins

Quick facts: Bellbird Park and Raceview FOGO trial

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tonnes of organic material diverted from landfill

5