A small but growing volunteer network is spreading the recycling message across NSW as locals work independently in their own communities on a collective recycling mission.

Started by Orange resident Jenny West, about 40 volunteers across the state are collecting small items like ring-pulls, milk bottle lids and bread tags that would otherwise be destined for landfill.

Volunteers in Cobar and Tottenham are part of the push - but more help is needed.

Their efforts support registered charities including ACT-based Lids 4 Kids, which works with Victorian-based Envision to help turn plastic bottle lids into mobility aids and ‘buddy benches’ for children.

Another charity benefiting from the group’s efforts is Aussie Bread Tags For Wheelchairs, which recycles the tiny pieces of hard plastic from our everyday bread to raise funds to buy wheelchairs for disadvantaged people in Africa.

Able to harness the energy of volunteers in many small towns, Ms West is currently looking to extend her network into the central and far west of the state.

With volunteers already based in Cobar, Tottenham, Dubbo, Parkes and Wellington, Ms West is off to a good start.

“I’ve got a good network throughout the central west. There are a lot of small towns and I’ve usually got a volunteer in each town who collects the lids and tags on my behalf and sends them through to me in Orange,” she said.

“We’ve saved a massive amount of lids from landfill – at least a couple of million. Australia-wide, collectively it’s probably a couple of billion. But it takes a lot of volunteers to do it.

“I’m limited to where I can reach to because I’ve got to find [volunteers] to help me [in different communities,” she said.

Ms West has been able to find volunteers in small communities as word of her charity work spreads.

How they manage to connect isn’t really that important. What is important is the environmental impact that they achieve together.

Ms West started her recycling efforts 20 years ago with ring-pulls from aluminium cans. When she moved to Orange 13 years ago, she extended her collections to other items destined for landfill.

ABOVE: A boxful of lids that a volunteer has sent on to Jenny in Orange for recycling.

“Basically I’ve always been interested in helping charities. I started off helping a homeless charity in Sydney, and then branched out into more physical things that have an end recycling purpose and are environmental,” she said.

Ms West coordinates her charity collections full-time around her work as a contract cleaner several nights each week.

“There’s a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes to get all of this to happen.”

Ms West said she gets a deep sense of personal satisfaction in helping others and to be able to see her team of volunteers achieve so much collectively in support of their chosen charities. She feels strongly that her project helps volunteers gain a sense of purpose as they help to sort, pack and send the items away for recycling.

One of Ms West’s central west volunteers is “Renee” from Cobar, who began her recycling journey while living in Temora, near Wagga Wagga, in 2017. A colleague from her bingo group encouraged Renee and other Temora locals to start collecting milk bottle lids for recycling.

“When I moved home to Cobar in January 2020, I just kept doing it out of habit. It took me a little bit to actually find Jenny,” Renee said, indicating that social media helped them connect.

ABOVE: All of these boxes contain recyclable items saved from landfill through the support of community-minded volunteers across NSW.

Renee said that the pandemic restrictions did not really impact her recycling efforts in Cobar. At the time she was working in the local AJ’s Café and was able to continue to collect the lids without issue.

“Because the café was classed as ‘essential’ I was able to collect all the milk bottle lids from there, and I got a fair bit.”

Supportive of Renee’s efforts, the café’s owners asked the staff to put aside all milk bottle lids for her to collect.

Renee has been encouraged to continue her recycling efforts knowing that the items are being repurposed for very good causes.

“When I started the items were being used in prosthetics. Now they are being used to make [mobility aids and] ‘buddy benches’ in schools to promote friendship. I think that’s really cool,” she said.

Lids 4 Kids volunteers with some of the raw materials and final products. IMAGE: facebook

Ms West says people in rural, regional and remote communities can volunteer to help the group in different ways. Apart from collecting and sorting the items, the group needs help to move boxes of collected items between communities and ultimately back to her base in Orange for onward distribution.

“If people are coming from Cobar to Orange for sport or whatever might be happening, or even if they can go to the next town in the link, I’m happy if they could take a box or half a box [of recyclable items] with them. Every little bit helps,” she said.

****

If anyone in the central west or other parts of western or northern NSW reading this story would like to join or start recycling ring-pulls, lids and bread tags, they can connect with Jenny West on social media via her group Jenny West Charitable Collects.