Waste champion to teach workshop at Canberra's 2022 Zero Waste Festival

The Pearce mother of three is on a mission to produce as little waste as possible, with hopes to beat last year's effort of filling up the red bin once in 40 weeks.

With 20-year-old twins and a teenager whose interest in waste reduction doesn't always extend to excluding takeaway Maccas, she said composting has been their greatest success.

"They do different things to reduce waste but they're all good composters," she said.

"If you compost all of your food scraps, and as much organic material as you can, you can reduce about 40 per cent of your waste right there."

The de Bourgh family have stations in their laundry and garage where waste items are separated and stored for recycling. Soft plastics, milk bottle lids, pens, batteries and toothbrushes all have a place outside landfill.

Through an app called ShareWaste, they have connected with four people in the neighbourhood who bring them food scraps to compost for their garden.

While not as practised a minimalist, Ms de Bourgh said she was a fan of celebrity tidier Marie Kondo and having less stuff meant a more organised household.

"Thinking about what you buy, whether you really need this thing and how you're going to dispose of it leads you to purchase less," she said.

Ms de Bourgh said waste reduction was not only buying less but also thinking about how purchases came from the shop.

"Buying things secondhand is a really good way because it doesn't come with all the packaging," she said.

"You'll notice there's more and more secondhand clothing stores in Canberra popping up everywhere. I'm a big shopper at the Green Shed in the city, lots of great things there."

She said Facebook's buy nothing groups were a great way to get rid of things without passing on the waste problem to opportunity shops.

"I think it's rethinking buying habits," Ms de Bourgh said.

The waste champion will provide more tips during a workshop at Canberra's 2022 Zero Waste Festival, held on April 30 at Kambri, the Australian National University.

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The festival will include panels, stalls, workshops, a giant clothes swap and children's activities, under a theme, One person, a world of difference.

An initiative of community group Zero Waste Revolution, festival organisers will aim to inspire the Canberra community to live with zero waste.

Mia Swainson, chair of the Zero Waste Revolution, said the discussions, stalls and workshops will provide tips for taking the first step towards waste reduction.

They include a workshop from Yvette McKay, who works for ACT government on programs designed to reduce Canberra's waste.

"It will feature savvy ways to shop, cook and recycle your food waste," Ms Swainston said.

Ms de Bourgh will run the second workshop with steps to dramatically reduce household waste.

"It doesn't have to be radical changes," Ms de Bourgh said.

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