Media releases

The results are in for the Shire of Augusta Margaret River’s new three-bin kerbside collection service, showing a halving in the amount of waste residents are sending to landfill.

Shire Waste Education Officer Jackie Dickson said the results are very encouraging and show the local community’s commitment to managing household waste responsibly.

“Before the three-bin service, we were seeing an average of 471 tonnes of waste from the kerbside collection going to landfill each month.

“The introduction of the green FOGO bin and increased recycling services has dropped that number down by half, to 229 tonnes of waste each month which is a great result for such a new service.

“Halving the amount of waste we are sending to landfill from the kerbside collection in just three months is a huge win for our community and will help extend the lifespan of our landfill,” she said.

From 1 July to 30 September, Augusta Margaret River Shire residents diverted 57% of waste in the kerbside bins from landfill. This is a huge improvement on the 20% of waste that was diverted in the same period last year under the two-bin system.

Ms Dickson said there was further good news with the findings of an audit report showing a very low contamination rate in our FOGO bins.

“The Bunbury Harvey Regional Council, who composts the contents of the Shire’s organics from FOGO bins at their organics processing facility, released a report detailing a 3% contamination rate in organic waste from the Shire.

“This is excellent for such a new service and shows that the community is doing a great job of using their bins correctly,” Ms Dickson said.

“The main forms of contamination are food being left in plastic wrapping and plastic bags, so the Shire would like to remind everyone that only 100% compostable products should be put in the FOGO bin.

“We would like to thank the community for their support of the new service and for taking the extra time to sort their waste correctly.”

Stay up to date with waste and resource recovery service in the Shire by following us on Facebook @thebestweveeverbin

Margaret River Library’s Cocoon Gallery is hosting an exhibition titled ‘The Through’ by emerging artist Natalia Ford from 5 October to 30 November 2019.
The works, which vary in mediums to include ceramics, drawing and photography, all represent humanity living in harmony.
Natalia defines herself as a conceptual artist, and says her views that art expression has a very wide spectrum sees her combining methods for her pieces.
“I started studying academic drawing when I was 17 years old and it absorbed my interest instantly,” she said.
“Later in art school, I studied oil painting, life drawings, art history, philosophy, sculpture, art installations and digital media for robotics.”
Eventually her attention moved on to the field of arts and sciences, developing a strong interest in social sciences, which motivated her to work in journalism.
Now she is developing a multimedia art project under the name Plain O Studio, a creative space designed to be at the service of anyone interested in artistic expression.
The studio selectively conducts art workshops, art events and offers consultation within the art spectrum.
To contact the artist please phone 0422 014 717 or email plainOstudio@gmail.com

The Margaret River Library is hosting a free community lunch to celebrate Get Online Week at 12pm on Thursday 17 October 2019.

The lunch is aimed at residents aged over 50 years old, and provides an opportunity for participants to view demonstrations of online resources, and to hear about the Libraries’ digital literacy program.

Library Technician Jodie Porter said the lunch will be a fun, social and interactive event.

“The internet is such an important tool for staying informed, aware and engaged,” she said.

“It’s a means of keeping up to date with friends, family, news and events and for accessing essential information and services.

“Participating online as we age helps us to stay connected, engaged, independent and self-sufficient.”

Ms Porter said the lunch event will include demonstrations of how to access digital resources, and all booked attendees will be given a take-home gift of a USB storage device, pre-loaded with helpful links to encourage people to get online.

Places at the free event are limited and bookings are essential. Gluten-free and vegan dishes will be available.

To book a place, RSVP to amrlibrary@amrshire.wa.gov.au with your name and phone number, or call 9780 5600, or drop into your local library branch.

The lunch is supported by a grant from the Federal Government Be Connected, as administered by the Good Things Foundation.

Mosquito season is again upon the Shire of Augusta Margaret River, and residents are reminded to adopt precautions against bites to avoid the risk of contract viruses borne by the insects.
Simple strategies advised by Department of Health’s ‘Fight the Bite’ include:

Cover up: wear long, loose-fitting, light coloured clothing, covering as much of the body as you can. Mosquitoes can bite through tight clothes like jeans. Make sure children are also appropriately covered up

Repel: Use insect repellent containing DEET (diethyltoluamide) or picardin and always follow instructions on the label

Clean up: stop mosquitoes breeding in water pooling around your home or holiday accommodation by emptying water from containers

Shire Environmental Health Officer Jacinta McKinlay said the Shire is a relative low-risk area for mosquito-borne viruses but there are pockets around the region where mosquito activity are relatively high.
“The Shire participates in mosquito monitoring program which aims to identify major breeding sites, and potential virus risk areas,” she said.
“Program activities includes investigating public reports of mosquitoes, trapping of adult mosquitoes, dipping for mosquito larvae, and identification of mosquito species.
“To date we have high numbers of mosquitoes at some sites around Augusta, with East Augusta recording the highest number of adults and larvae of all of the monitoring sites.
“The dominant species trapped here was Aedes camptorhynchus, which is commonly found it coastal areas as well as tidal salt marshes, and is a significant vector of Ross River Virus in the south west.
“Higher numbers were also recorded near Molloy Island and parts of Augusta.”
Ms McKinlay said despite the high mosquito activity in these locations, official notifications for mosquito-borne viruses via health system processes remain very low.
“We think the explanation for this at present is there is adequate distance from the bigger breeding sites to built-up residential areas,” she said.
Ms McKinlay further reports low numbers of a nuisance species (not related to virus activity) have been found in Cowaramup and low numbers of a container breeder species was found around Margaret River.   
“We are learning more and more about the activities of mosquitoes in our Shire with the more data we collect with particular interest given to the effects of climate change on mosquito breeding is of interest to the Shire,” she said.
Mosquito season is generally known to run from October to March, depending on weather patterns.
“Now is a timely reminder for all residents to be vigilant and avoid being bitten and avoid providing contributing to breeding sites around the home,” Ms McKinlay said.
For more information refer to https://healthywa.wa.gov.au/Healthy-living/Prevent-mosquito-bites
 
 

Honey lovers will be able to learn everything they need to know about beekeeping from local bee enthusiastic Luke Fulton when he presents on the topic at the Margaret River Library on Tuesday 1 October 2019.

The free evening event will be the fourth of six sessions that make up the Low Impact Living series, which aims to encourage the community to reduce their footprint on the environment.

Volunteer Sustainability Workshops Organiser Susan Elton said the beekeeping session promised to be interactive and engaging, with opportunity to ask questions about a range of bee-rated matters.

“The session will cover topics such as keeping it lawful, the different types of hives available, how to purchase bees, the role of different bees within the colony, advice on how to harvest your honey, plus an interactive demonstration showing how to set up a hive,” she said.

“It’s a great opportunity for environmentally-aware community members to take a further step to live more lightly on this earth.”

Ms Elton said last year’s Low Impact Living beekeeping session was the most popular workshops to date.

“We had such an enthusiastic response to the first beekeeping session that we had to bring it back to accommodate community demand,” she said.

“Bees are fascinating creatives and so important to our ecosystem that they make for a very immersive and interesting event session topic.”

Community members are required to reserve their place to attend the session at: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/low-impact-living-session-4-an-introduction-to-beekeeping-tickets-72903623701

More information on beekeeping in the Shire of Augusta Margaret River can be found online at:

www.amrshire.wa.gov.au/services/environmental-health/poultry-bees-and-health-local-laws