Reduce your environmental impact

Listen

Victorians are great recyclers and we don't want that to change. Here are a few ideas on how you can help reduce your carbon footprint.

Reduce

Discourage unnecessary packaging on a product.

Choose a product with less waste.
Give feedback to retailers or producers asking them to reduce their waste.
Shop smart – only buy products you need.
Choose items that are packaging-free or have minimal packaging that can be recycled or reused.

Reuse

Reuse what you can.

Use reusable nappies, even some of the time.
Glass jars make great storage.
Donate items that are in good condition.
Buy second-hand.
Buy products made from recycled materials.
Borrow where you can.
Try reusable period and continence products. Find out about rebates for Knox residents.
Repair, restore or upcycle your possessions.

Recycle

Confused about what goes in your kerbside recycling? As a general guide:

Yes: Paper, cardboard, aluminium, glass or plastic bottles and containers.
No: Polystyrene, soft plastics (like shopping bags), food, clothing, large metal items, batteries, electronic goods, nappies.

Check our A to Z rubbish and recycling guide to find out what can go in each bin.

Recycle whitegoods

Search for your suburb on the Planet Ark Recycling Near You website to find where you can recycle your old fridge and whitegoods.

Recycle computers

Some local options include:

TechCollect – recycles TVs, laptops, computers, printers, tablets and most electronics
Knox Transfer Station – accepts televisions and computers for recycling
B2C Community IT Recyclers – Moorabbin.

Donate or sell

You can:

host a garage sale
post your items for sale or for free using social media and online platforms
give items away to friends or family
donate furniture in reasonable condition to charities such as Brotherhood of St Laurence and St Vincent de Paul Society
donate small items such electronics, crockery or metal tools to your local charity store
donate clothing to Diabetes Australia who collects clothing items in reasonable condition within Victoria.

We also encourage donations to local charity organisations. Please contact the charities before donating items.

Repair

Repairing items can not only save you money but stops us sending more items to landfill.

We have 4 volunteer Knox Repair Cafes where you can bring items to be repair or mended:

Ferntree Gully, Coonara House
Rowville Men's Shed
Boronia Library
Boronia, Millers Homestead.

If you’re keen to try fixing your own damaged products, find free step-by-step repair guides for thousands of products on the iFixit: The Free Repair Manual website.

Need help?

Or call our Customer Service team on 9298 8000.