Project Pair Up
Every Sunday morning at Alphington Farmers Market in Melbourne, Amelia sets up the Project Pair Up table next to where visitors return their reusable plates and cups.
The Project Pair Up table features:
A bucket to donate your lids and containers that have lost it’s other half
A bucket of free to take home reassembled containers
Buckets of lids and containers that need to be paired up
"Ella Jean, in Darebin, began the idea a few years ago and then Janice Mochrie (who is part of the Darebin Hard Rubbish Heroes group) and I took it over and rebranded it into Project Pair Up. The idea really resonated with me because it was all about reusing what already exists in the world but doing it collectively.”
We feel compelled to buy the latest on-trend eco-friendly item, but many people have found their journey to sustainability being about much more than what it looks like.
“"We have a couple of drop off locations: Span Community House in Thornbury, The City of Yarra Recycling Depot (for Yarra residents) and the Alphington Farmers Market and we are always looking for more drop off locations.”
“Miranda from Melbourne Farmer's Market also really liked the idea so we decided to try it out at the Alphington Farmer's market each week. We match up and give away about 30 containers each week just from our local council area. I love seeing kids get excited about matching up containers and lids. I love the conversations I have with people about waste reduction in general.”
You don’t have to donate a container in order to receive a completed container. Project Pair Up is all about sharing what we already have.
We give away all the containers so that makes people happy. Some people are surprised that it's free. I think people are really happy that waste reduction is on the agenda and it's a fun way of starting the conversation.
Not only is Project Pair Up about sharing containers, it’s also about sharing the initiative in other communities.
“We have had schools and kinders participate and also other markets are interested. I hope that the idea catches on and people start to run Project Pair Up in their own communities. We are happy for anyone to do it and they are welcome to contact me for help.”
Check out Project Pair Up on Facebook or @projectpairup on Instagram
Do you have a community initiative about sustainability you would like people to know about? Get in touch with Katie at katie@recyclesmart.com
