Plastic Free July

Welcome to Plastic Free July compost comrades! It’s pretty hard to avoid all plastic, but this month, why not start taking your own reusable containers to the butcher or takeaway shop, mesh bags to the greengrocer, or linen bag to the bakery? One way you can show your support is to get onboard the #SayNoToFruitStickers campaign. Read more about the problem of fruit stickers in the food system and what you can do to show your contempt for these pesky pieces of plastic on LOCCAL’s website It’s time to #SayNoToFruitStickers – LOCCAL.

Meet Jess & Nat, co-founders of Seed the Ground 

We don’t mean to startle you before your morning coffee… but what if we told you the Gold Coast sends around 14 tonnes of used coffee grinds to landfill every single week? That’s a whole latte waste. Thankfully, two local legends – Jess and Nat – are doing something about it.

Seed the Ground is a homegrown, female-founded not-for-profit that’s taking composting to the community – one bucket of old broccoli and cold brew grounds at a time. They’ve teamed up with more than 20 Southern GC businesses to turn food waste into nutrient-rich compost and keep it out of our already crammed landfills. And they’ve already diverted a whopping 110 tonnes. Yes, tonnes!

Read more about the movement here Meet Jess & Nat, cofounders of Seed the Ground | Inside Gold Coast.

Scholarships offered to tackle food waste and soil loss 

Ten young people will have the chance to study regenerative agriculture for free, with scholarships now open through Northern Rivers organisation Green For You.

The pilot diploma-level program, valued at $5038, is open to 18 to 30-year-olds and aims to equip local youth with skills to help build a more resilient food future.

Green For You founder Daniel Souza says “The course would suit anyone interested in growing food,” in this article https://timesnewsgroup.com.au/byroncoasttimes/news/scholarships-offered-to-tackle-food-waste-and-soil-loss.

Scholarship applications close on July 14. For more information or to apply, visit https://www.greenforyou.com.au/green-for-youth-project

LOCCAL Attended AORA 2025

The Australian Organics Recycling Association’s Annual Conference is the principal conference in Australia for the recycled organics industry. Each conference is a forum for education, discussion and networking related to Organics Recycling. It is also an opportunity to celebrate outstanding achievements in the industry. This year it was held in Newcastle, NSW and LOCCAL committee member Ernie Harbott was fortunate enough to attend.

The hot topics this year at the AORA Conference were FOGO and PFAS. Kathy Kellogg Johson from the USA declared “Compost is the Swiss Army Knife of environmental solutions” in her keynote address. Lisa Rawlinson Managing Director of Loop Organics was named AORA Legend of the Year. Outstanding presentations were given by Dr Brook Clinton founder of Capital Scraps, Dr Emily Bryson lecturer at Central Queensland University and Cate McQuillen creator of “dirtgirl”. Yes, there was a strong female presence at the event!

Read more about AORA 2025,

30 Day Compost Content Challenge met in May

For the second year running, Ernie Harbott completed a month of posting compost related content to her Facebook Group Soil Sisters Singleton. Posts included practical tips and tricks, podcast, song, film and resource recommendations, compost science, quotes and comics, opinion pieces and compost comrades sharing their piles and stories. Why not try running a compost awareness campaign next May for International Composting Awareness Week? Or start a monthly Coffee & Compost gathering in your neighbourhood?

Read more about the Crazy Content Challenge here.

Upcoming Dates in July

• 1 -31 July – Plastic Free July
• 6 -13 July – NAIDOC Week
• 11 July – World Population Day
• 25 July – School Tree Day
• 26 July – International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystems
• 27 July – National Tree Day
• 28 July – World Nature Conservation Day