Reverse garbage, Mudgee style

Published 3 April 2015. One man's trash is another man's treasure, the old adage goes and now residents of the Mudgee district can use social media to re-home their unwanted things...

One man's trash is another man's treasure, the old adage goes and now residents of the Mudgee district can use social media to re-home their unwanted things.

The Reverse Garbage Mudgee District initiative was started by Susan Gowthorn and Craig Denis of Morrigan Farm. It uses Facebook to connect consumers to keep usable items out of our bins.

The group promotes environmental sustainability and resource reuse by keeping as much as possible out of our local landfills.

“The main objective is to get people thinking and talking about their waste.” said Craig Denis, creator of the Reverse Garbage Mudgee District group.

“Think about what you're throwing out, can someone else use it? All it takes is a quick Facebook post to keep it from going to landfill.” he continued.

Australians dump approximately 35,000 cubic metres or 100 football fields worth of rubbish per year, much of it re-usable.

Reuse prolongs the life of a resource; it saves energy and materials needed to produce brand new materials; prevents otherwise useful resources going to landfill; creates less air and water pollution than if it were recycled; and reduces money spent on new items and costs to dispose.

So before you dump it see if you can pass it on and keep as much as possible out of our local landfills.

The Reverse Garbage Mudgee District group has only been going for a fortnight and already has over 300 members.

The idea sprang up from similar groups that organise networks aiming to divert reusable goods from landfill.

“Recycle or Freecycle groups have been around for years but Mudgee doesn't as yet have one. This provides another avenue for people to re-home their unwanted things.” said Craig.

“Often when we go to our local tip we see so much usable stuff in the bins that you just don't have an immediate use for yourself. ” he continued.

So if you have any packaging, craft supplies, old furniture, plants or other thing you no longer have a use for, why not try to re-home it?

“Think before you dump and lets make a difference to our local tip and transfer stations which are full of reusable stuff.” said Craig.

You are also welcome to post if you are looking for something, someone may just have exactly what you're after.

And it's all free, just type 'Reverse Garbage Mudgee District' into the Facebook search bar.