Sustainability partnerships, 2022-23
Raising awareness and changing behaviours in response to the NSW single-use plastics bans.
Did you know we generate over 800,000 tonnes of plastic waste in NSW every year? But just 12% of this plastic is recycled.
Obviously, this situation is creating massive waste, litter and pollution problems, not just for us but for our environment as well. But NSW has some pretty ambitious goals to deal with it.
Through our 17 partners, we shared messages. We talked about the upcoming bans and sustainable alternatives, we showed how businesses could offload excess stock, and we told local success stories.
And we reached almost 1,000,000 individuals directly.
By partnering with these organisations, they could develop customised programs specially for their communities and networks, such as podcasts for busy students on the move, or sharing postcards about the bans with meal deliveries for elderly clients. We could work with our partners by shaping content, sharing key messages, and providing subject matter experts to help educate communities.
Summary
The 2022 Sustainability Partnerships have been vital to help shape the future of how partnerships are carried out at the NSW EPA. Partnering with such a wide array of organisations, which already have an engaged audience, extends the reach of the overall message.
The people and organisations that were part of these activities had a genuine interest in caring for our environment. This ensured that there was an additional incentive besides just carrying out a project deliverable. Special care was placed into every aspect of the partners projects, from its design, implementation and monitoring, the results were high quality and fit for purpose outcomes that the EPA would not have been able to achieve on its own.
We hope these results are the foundation of how we work with the wider community and together help shape the transition to the circular economy for NSW and improve the state’s natural environment. We are proud to share the stories of our partners, highlighting the importance of the work by community-led environmental projects across NSW, and share the collective learnings with everyone.
See the case studies for more information.
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NSW Environmental and Zoological Education Centres - EZEC
By working with schools, we engaged more than 2,500 students to take ownership of their schools waste.
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Girl Guides
A global movement, with ambitious sustainability goals, taking local actions to reduce their footprint.
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Green Action Program
Eight leading organisations in the music industry have taken action in response to climate change, including reducing their reliance on single-use plastics.
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Great Plastic Rescue
By offering a solution for businesses to dispose of their excess plastic stock responsible, Great Plastic Rescue diverted tonnes of plastic from landfill.
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Addison Road and TAFE
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Green Connect
Green Connect harnessed the power of sewing to create new alternatives to single-use plastic and start new conversations.
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Green Music
Green Music used the bans to share messages and build sustainability practices within the music sector.
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OzGREEN
OzGREEN had hundreds of conversations to spread awareness of the bans and encouraged local events and festivals to minimise their waste.
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Men's Shed
‘Going Green at the Shed’ was an awareness campaign deployed across all NSW Men Sheds to ensure the message was delivered to the community through channels that were suitable for them.
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Meals on Wheels
Reducing plastic waste by acts of kindness, delivering meals to the elderly helped raise awareness of the bans by leading by example.
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Surfing NSW
Surfing NSW spread awareness of the plastic bans through their international World Surf League webcast.
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University of Wollongong
The University of Wollongong introduced reusable plates, bowls and cutlery to help make their campus more environmentally friendly.
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University of New England
Through a series of podcast episodes, The University of New England raised awareness on the Single Use plastics bans while covering other environmental issues.
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Plastic Free July
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Southern Cross University
University students have started innovative solutions to replace problematic plastics and reduce waste.
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KU Children's Services
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Take 3 for the Sea
Take 3 for the Sea used social media to inspire young people to make more positive, sustainable choices.