Small grants at work

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Waverley’s small grants program enables Council to provide support for a wide variety of community initiatives. Roughly $100,000 is allocated each year to small grants, with applications sought in two rounds in March and September. Click below to see some of the community projects that have come to life through the support of this program.

RePlated

Recipient: RePlated

Amount received: $3500

About the project

RePlated, with the support of Plastic free Bronte conducted a trial program to demonstrate the feasibility of a reusable takeaway system to reduce the use of use plastic takeaway containers.

Seven takeaway restaurants in the Bronte and Charing Cross area, joined the trial and received a starter kit of special RePlated reusable containers.

The RePlated meal containers are similar to a regular take away box in size, but are made from ‘certified ocean bound plastic’, so they are recycled and are also recyclable. They are Australian designed and made in Sydney. Participants bought their own containers, then took them along to the participating restaurants and swapped the empty container for the one containing their food order.

Approximately 30 meals per week were served in RePlated containers between June 2021 to May 2022, equating to 1,560 single-use containers being diverted from use.

It is estimated that this reduced waste by 44kg and saved 285kg of CO2.

Despite the challenges of running this project during covid, the customer feedback about the project was overwhelmingly positive. Customers reported very high levels of satisfaction with the ‘swap and wash’ container system and it was seen to increase customer loyalty.

Head to the RePlated website for a full list of participating restaurants

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Community & Cultural: Bondi Surf Life Saving Club

Recipient: Bondi Surf Life Saving Club (Bondi SLSC)

Amount received: $3,050

About the project: With an aim to preserve the rich local history of their club beginning in 1907, Bondi SLSC received a grant to help store, catalogue and digitise their archival records including images, annual reports and minutes of meetings, objects such as a bronze emergency bell, hand-made wooden surf craft, and fragile textiles.

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Community & Cultural: Pound Paws

Recipient: Brittany Bloomer, founder of Pound Paws

Amount received:

About the project: Pound Paws is a celebration of furry four-legged friends in need of forever homes. In addition to a rescue dog adoption parade, the event is an opportunity for the community (both human and canine) to come together and share tips on responsible pet ownership.

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Environmental: Bondi Public School

Recipient: Bondi Public School

Amount received: $5,000

About the project: Bondi Public School installed water saving wicking garden beds for their flourishing kitchen garden. The project saw them replace their old garden beds, which is used to grow vegetables, and replace them with 35 wicking beds. The original beds were watered by an irrigation system four times a week which used an enormous amount of water, roughly 55984 litres every six months. The new beds aim to reduce the amount of water needed and only need to be filled up every few months. Over a six-month period a total of 12128 litres of water has been used which is a 70% reduction in water saving.

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