STARS innovation to raise funds and reduce waste

Mick Collins and Niel Verrall with the new Containers for Change bin at STARS.

The public areas at STARS have seen the roll-out of several custom-designed Containers for Change bins, encouraging everyone to donate their 10c drink containers for a good cause.

Coordinator Waste Management Niel Verrall is excited about expanding the Containers for Change initiative at STARS.

“For the past 18 months, STARS have been collecting 10c drink containers from all the staff rooms, with over $620 already being donated to the RBWH Foundation,” he said.

“I wanted to be able to expand the initiative to the public-facing sections of STARS. However, to avoid waste contamination the bins needed to look noticeably different from our normal waste bins.

“I came up with a design that would modify our existing bins to look like a drinking container with a straw. The design was an important identifier to make it clear to the average person that this bin is for 10c containers.

“There were no existing bins on the market that fitted our needs so instead we worked with the STARS Rehabilitation Engineering Team and RBWH Building Engineering and Maintenance Sign Room to come up with something suitable.”

Mick Collins from STARS Rehabilitation Engineering Team helped bring the design to life.

“The STARS Rehab Engineering team have a strong focus on sustainability and so were more than happy to use our skills to support a recycling initiative. Fundraising for such a good cause is an added bonus,” he said.

Special thanks also to the RBWH Sign Room for printing and applying the custom stickers for the bins.

It is hoped that the success of the new design will see bins liked this rolled out more widely across Metro North, further increasing our donation and recycling rates.