As part of the ‘Future Waste’ team for Fraser Coast Regional Council, Jeanette Harrold, Environmental Services Manager said that the process of consulting with the Fraser Island (K’gari) community had left her questioning her personal waste management decisions. 

Heading over to Fraser Island for a camping trip in the September School Holidays, Jeanette decided to challenge her family to minimise what they took to the island and to bring back all their waste. 

“My motivation was to reduce our footprint out of respect for Butchulla Lore and Fraser Coast Regional Council. I committed to taking home all if our solid municipal waste. I planned our food and drinks so we didn’t have wastage during our 18-night camping trip at Waddy Point Fraser Island. I vacuum packed our main meals so we could reuse the packaging. I removed excess packaging before leaving home. I saved 30% of space in our food boxes by doing this.”

Jeanette Harrold

“We washed and crushed our solid waste so we could store it for the 18 nights. We will take home our eggshells to feed to our chickens.”

Jeanette is already thinking up improvements for next year’s trip.  “We can reduce the amount of waste for next year by removing extra packaging I hadn’t thought about, like soap wrapping, sauce bottle seals, small crisp packets.”

So, the Great Waste Reduction Challenge is on, what other good ideas can you suggest?

Article contributed by Jeanette Harrold, Wide Bay Water