Creating eco-friendly waste solutions

Do you ever wonder what to do with all your plastics on recycling day? Is there a bowl of old soy sauce fishes that you hide when the guests come over? You want to be eco-friendly but end up with a carton of milk caps cluttering the kitchen bench. Fortunately, there are always people coming up with new inventive solutions to these problems and that’s where Banish comes in.

Banish is a social enterprise founded by former journalist Lottie Dalziel. It was created to emphasize the importance of taking individual action in order to reduce our environmental impact. According to Lottie, “the main thing we focus on is how to make living sustainably easy through education … five years ago no one was really talking about sustainability.” Their Banish Recycling and Disposal Program (BRAD) demonstrates this mindset.

Recycling with BRAD

The BRAD program is a nationwide effort, where you can send in a package to BRAD for recycling for $15. This covers not only the return shipping cost but includes all processing costs for the recycling. Some products in the Banish storefront are even made from the recycled plastics that people contribute.

Banish has been steadily growing from its inception in 2018, with BRAD receiving 998 parcels of recycling from all over Australia last month. You can recycle more than you might think with BRAD, from mascara bottles (usually replaced every three months) to old pens and highlighters. Now is the time to do a recycling clean up! There is also good news for the coffee fanatics, you can recycle coffee pods with BRAD. Time to start your day with an eco-friendly morning cuppa.

One problem though that continues in the recycling field is what to do with soft plastics. Currently, BRAD have no plans to expand into this field due to the lack of recyclers after REDcycle ended their process in 2022.

Making an eco-friendly impact

When discussing the role manufacturers have in reducing waste Lottie is hopeful there is progress on the horizon.

“I think we’re starting to see a lot of the big players make modifications to their supply chain and packaging already. It makes business sense; consumers want to support brands that are doing more for the planet,” Lottie says.

It illustrates the impact that both individual and collective action can have on protecting our environment. If more people make environmentally conscious decisions when they shop, then large-scale companies will have an incentive to change ways.

Bonus benefits

An added social bonus is that Banish is housed in the new Central Project initiative by TOGA Group, Atlassian and Dexus. During construction at Central Station Sydney, vacant retail space is being given to social enterprises. It allows worthwhile projects such as Banish and BRAD to have a storefront with high foot traffic, increasing awareness for the cause and giving back to the community.

The next step for BRAD is to focus on creating a completely circular model for in-house recycling, meaning nothing is going to waste (no pun intended). In the future Lottie would also like to see BRAD improve accessibility and education across Australia about reducing environmental impact.

See more at: https://banish.com.au/pages/recycling-program