A race to recycle

The Laura Races and Rodeo are held in June each year and attract hundreds of visitors who camp at The Laura racetrack for three days, making the most of the events that are held across the weekend. However, in previous years the race has generated vast amounts of container rubbish which had to be disposed of into landfill.

The introduction of the Containers for Change scheme transformed the event. In 2019 when Auswaste, the container refund point operator, took a team to the event to accept eligible containers for refunds. Their presence had children checking bins and scouring campsites for containers, resulting in 35,000 containers being returned and diverted from landfill over the three days. Long-time attendee, and Chair of the Cape York Natural Resource Management, Emma Jackson said she had never seen the grounds so clean after the popular event.

“To see our children spending the weekend collecting what was previously perceived as rubbish was the highlight of my weekend away,” Ms Jackson said.

“We need to keep on encouraging our children to understand the value in recycling and reusing ‘rubbish’ and continue to explain to them the impacts one small action can have on the health and wealth of this planet.”