recycling-and-waste-management

What are the risks of reusing plastic food containers

Movements such as Plastic Free July and ABC TV's War On Waste encourage people to make better use of their home-brought containers.

But should you be worried about food cross-contamination?

Tom Ross, an associate professor in food microbiology at the University of Tasmania, said if good food-handling practices were observed, the risk was small.

Tasmanian artisan creating paper from poo

The artisan paper maker in north-west Tasmania has made a business out of using animal scats, cotton from rags and old bedsheets, and by-product from agricultural endeavours, such as fruit juice and hemp crops.

He works out of Burnie, a coastal city that originally sprung up around a paper mill that, at its peak, employed thousands of people.

Darren learned to make paper as a teenager through an unemployment support program.

Years later, he is still churning it out of a small workshop in Burnie.

War on waste: Recycling denim into paper

Paperworks is a not-for-profit social enterprise that uses the art of papermaking to engage marginalised people and those with special needs.

"We were using cardboard and recycled paper in the first few sessions but it was unforgiving and had lacklustre results," chief executive Susanna Pieterse said.

"We started looking into using textiles and became aware of the great need to recycle textiles — more than 80 per cent of denim actually ends up in landfill.

"We found the longer fibres of textiles helped the paper hold together better.

Rise of clothes swapping helps make a small dent in the war on fashion waste

Instead, she plans to only buy pre-loved or recycled wear by joining in the increasingly popular and frequent clothes-swapping events popping up around Sydney and around the country.

"I've got an amazing wardrobe already, I don't really need anything else and I'm trying to back away from the fast fashion, buying news — there's no need," Ms Child said.

Weaving wonders to recycle single-use coffee cups

"I just thought we should have a very simple system to teach people how to weave," she said.

One billion single-use coffee cups are thrown out in Australia each year, equalling more than 60,000 kilograms in waste.

By taking a discarded cup and cutting lines from the lips to the base, the cup makes the perfect frame to weave weeds into a bowl.

"It's a quick way of making a little vessel or basket using a coffee cup and a few natural materials," Ms Cantrill said.