How to earn a green thumbs-up by using your green bin correctly

Don’t undo all your good green work by putting contaminates in your green waste bin.

That’s the reminder from Redland City Council as the city heads into peak season for garden organics disposal.

Council reports that more than 7000 tonne of green waste is collected from nearly 25,000 green waste bins across the city’s mainland every year.

February through March is a peak time for green waste, with around 1400 to 1500 tonne collected in those two months alone.

It has been a hot, wet summer so that may well increase the load with people getting on top of fast-growing grass and cleaning-up from the storms and heavy rain.

But please remember, only place organic waste from your garden in the green bin or you will undo all your good work.

Organic waste includes grass clippings, palm fronds, small sticks, hedge clippings, weeds, leaves and loose bark, shrubs and sawdust.

Other types of ‘garden’ waste, such as hoses, plastic pots, rocks or seedling trays, cannot be disposed of in your green bin and it’s critical that household rubbish and building material are also kept out.

Green waste collected from households is sent to a licenced organics processing contractor located in Swanbank and turned back into valuable garden products such as mulch, compost and soil conditioners.

Green waste bins are available to mainland residents only. To order, call 3829 8999 or order online.

There is no establishment fee and costs only $70 per year or $6 a month (2023/24 financial year). If you downsize your general 240L waste bin and get a green waste bin the annual costs are offset.

To find out more about what happens to your green waste, visit redland.qld.gov.au/greenwaste