Let's Talk Rubbish!

Rubbish? I love to talk about Rubbish!! Some may say rubbish has no value. Not me — I see so much value in dormant products and feel insatiable passion to give these precious resources new life.

Hosted by QUT at the Foundry, come along to the Women in Economics Network (WEN) end of year event, Let’s Talk Rubbish, to hear myself and Tony Roberts talk about ways we can deal with dormant goods and waste!

As the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!

I will be talking all things #CircularEconomy and how the World’s Biggest Garage Sale is bringing new life to products that otherwise could end up in landfill — a growth industry for Queensland and Australia. (or #Qleensland as our Chief Entrepreneur Leanne Kemp likes to call it)

With 50 million tonnes of waste per year in Australia and 500 Billion USD lost annually lost globally (annually) due to underutilisation and lack of recycling, the world needs better solutions for waste and we are innovating to provide these.

Becoming inventive with waste and approaching production and consumption in a different way is also better for the climate. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation

45% of emissions comes from producing the cars, clothes, food, and other products we use every day. These cannot be overlooked. The circular economy can contribute to completing the picture of emissions reduction by transforming the way we make and use products.

And that’s our whole philosophy at World’s Biggest Garage Sale. Executing on our big vision of activating dormant goods for good and impact, minimising waste and creating purposeful profit, we have been getting our hands dirty, successfully executing on multiple projects that are bringing the circular economy into retail mainstream. 

We’ve successfully executed on large-scale garage sales activating dormant products and mobilising the community around sustainable consumption. 

Next we’ve seen that consumers are ready for the circular economy in mainstream retail, with Brisbane’s first circular economy popup shop at the Wintergarden, that’s brought together luxury quality shoes at accessible prices with sustainable principles. With high growth projected in the resale apparel market, innovative and agile solutions such as circular economy popups placed within traditional retail settings can help reduce waste, accelerate our transition to a circular economy and change consumer mindsets regarding sustainable shopping options.

Finally we’re working with a major retailer in Australia to help them deliver a more sustainable outcome for their shareholders, focusing on landfill diversion. The circular economy opportunities in Australia are endless!!

I’m also looking forward to hearing and learning from Tony Roberts, who is the Deputy Director-General, Environmental Policy, and Programs, Department of Environment and Science. He has spearheaded the policy reforms around waste. In particular, he led the development of the container deposit framework and legislation as part of the Queensland Waste Management and Resource Recovery Strategy, and, more recently, the Plastic Pollution Reduction Plan.

Join us and Let’s Talk Rubbish — it definitely won’t be a waste of your time!