How to cut down on plastic use

WITH Plastic Free July on the horizon, next week’s offering in the Smart Living Ballarat free workshop series will be aimed at showing people how to cut down on using the material.

The event is hosted by Ellen Burns who said the workshop will be all about alternatives to plastic.

“We’ll be hearing from Adam Slater from Zero Plastics Australia where they make a whole range of products out of milk bottle lids and other single-use plastic that can’t be recycled,” she said.

“Adam’s range of products includes everything from USB drives to pens to clipboards. He makes earrings, toys, coasters. He basically chips up plastic and stamps them into sheets to make different things out of.”

Each in-person attendee will be given a free keyring made from recycled bottle lids as an example of Mr Slater’s work.

The third annual Plastic Free Festival will take place on Thursday, the day after the workshop from 10am to 1pm at the Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council in Ballarat East.

Ms Burns said the topic for this month’s Smart Living Ballarat series, as well as the free festival, ties in with the beginning of Plastic Free July.

“It started in Australia but it’s now a global movement where they’re trying to inspire people to either cut out single-use plastics altogether or make commitments to cut down on it,” she said.

“I want to get people fired up about making the commitment to lower their plastics use and give people a use for theirs without putting them in the bin.”

Ms Burns’ We Bar None zero-waste food business will feature in the festival as well as Zero Plastics Australia.

The workshop will take place on Wednesday 28 June from 12.30pm to 1.30pm in the BRMC’S Welcome Room and will be livestreamed to the Smart Living Ballarat Facebook page.

For free tickets, visit bit.ly/43KR32c and live stream link can be accessed via bit.ly/434211T.