Zoom meeting attendees during Tim’s presentation
On Thursday, 14 March, we had the privilege of hearing from Tim Miller on Zoom. He spoke about his charity, Lids4Kids, which fulfils two of his passions: raising money to help disabled children and caring for the environment.
Tim has raised money for children with disabilities through bush bash races and collecting drink containers from clubs and pubs and redeeming the 10-cent deposit on each. On the environmental side, while on a six-year road trip with his family, they noticed that there were not many large items of rubbish, but a lot of small items discarded: lids, cigarette butts, ring pulls, etc.
The ACT Container Deposit Scheme asks that lids are removed from containers before being taken to have the deposit refunded. Tim collected bins full of lids and took them to an ACT recycling centre only to be told they were not recyclable in the ACT and would be put into landfill if he left them there. He looked around for someone who could use them, and found Envision, a Victorian based not-for-profit who were turning plastic bottle lids into mobility aids for children, and decided to create Lids4Kids in 2019 to help collect more lids. After ABC News posted a story about the plastic lid collection, it went viral on social media with over 800,000 views and collection centres sprang up all over Australia.
Covid-19 temporarily disrupted operations, as collection centres were closed. It also meant more environmental damage as there was a huge increase in single-use plastics. At the end of the pandemic, there were ten garages full of lids, including 10 tonnes at his home. Now that the Fyshwick premises (141 Canberra Ave) is open, all materials go there. It’s open from 10 am to 2 pm each day, and visitors are welcome.
Rotary has been part of Tim and Lids4Kids’ journey: when he contacted Envision, he found that Rotary was involved with them. And when he was looking at expanding collection of lids, he found that a local Rotaract Club was also collecting lids (and he agreed to take their collection to pass on to users).
Tim highlighted some barriers to greater recycling during his presentation:
- ignorance: people don’t know items can be recycled, so throw them out (to landfill) or put non-recyclables in recycling causing contamination and increased costs;
- supply exceeds demand: commenting on the collapse of the Red Cycle soft plastics scheme, Tim noted that over 50 companies in Australia could use soft plastics as input, but that the placing of bins at supermarkets had led to far more bags being returned than could currently be used; and
- cost: the need to separate out different types of plastics meant that the cost of recycled plastic often exceeded the cost of virgin plastic by a significant margin, making it uncompetitive.
To encourage recycling, Lids4Kids accepts items that it does not use itself but can pass on to other recycling facilities. This saves people from going to different places to recycle different items.
Tim conducts tours of the Lids4Kids facility and the Club is looking at a suitable date to visit.
A recent
CSIRO report found that reused and recycled materials make up only 4% of Australia’s material use, half of the global average (8%). We can do better, and with Lids4Kids’ help, we will!
Stephen McMillan
Next meeting
Our next Club meeting will be held on Thursday, 21 March 2024, at the Commonwealth Club. We’ll hear from Dr Michael De Percy of the University of Canberra, on the economics of light rail – costs, benefits, and alternatives. Please RSVP to Ross asap if you have not already done so.
Advance Notice: Tesla Showroom visit on 28 March
On Thursday, 28 March our social meeting will start at 5.15pm in the Tesla Showroom, 114 Bunda Street, Civic (opposite the Canberra Centre – parking at Canberra Centre is most convenient).
Bring your friends and hear from Tesla technicians about the future of electric cars.
Nibbles and drinks will be provided. As usual, an invitation will be sent out in due course. Please respond and come along!
Bill Andrews
Duty Roster
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Date
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21 March
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28 March
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4 April
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11 April
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Door
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Ross and Eric
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Social Meeting
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Ross and Eric
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Zoom
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Open meeting; introduce President; and Toast to Rotary
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Astrida Upitis
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Social Meeting
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George Wilson
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Faye Powell
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Thank speaker and write up for Bulletin
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Liz Scrivener
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Social Meeting
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Bill Andrews
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Russell Dew
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If you are not able to perform your allocated duty on 21 March, please arrange a replacement and advise acting President Stephen. Please advise Stephen of any planned absences to avoid being rostered on while away.
Rotary elsewhere
Here’s a photo of Rotary in action in Cooma. Taken by Stephen, who’d be delighted to hear from other members who have seen Rotary at work during their travels.
