Seasons Greetings!

The Brimbank Environment team would like to wish you all a safe and wonderful holiday season.
We've put together a list of activities and ideas to help keep you busy (and green!) this summer, and we look forward to seeing you again in person and on screens in 2022.

Make it a green Christmas!

Did you know that the average home's waste generally jumps up by about 50 per cent during the festive season? Wrapping, ribbons, plastic trees and decorations are in abundance in the lead up to Christmas, but often end up in landfill once the fun is over. Here's a few tips to help you reduce waste:

Send e-cards or email vouchers.
Gift experiences such as cinema/sports event tickets, or an annual membership to museums, galleries, or the zoo.
Consider giving edible gifts - even better if homemade!
Serve food with washable utensils, plates, and glasses rather than disposable items.
Check Council's recycling page to make sure you put the right items into your recycling bin.

Don't forget that you can drop off approved items at the Brimbank Resource Recovery Centre at no charge!

Activity idea - Nestboxes and bee hotels

Nestboxes and bee hotels can be made at any time of the year and are a fantastic 'gift' for your local wildlife! Many of our native animals need tree hollows to shelter and raise their young. You can find plans for different types of nest boxes on the Birds in Backyards website here.

Did you know that Australia has over 1,500 native bee species? Bee hotels help to support those native bee populations. Bees are fundamental to help pollinate our flowers, fruits and veggies. Building a bee hotel is a great activity and possibly less tricky than a nestbox for younger kids, with adult supervision.

Find out more through Junior Landcare here:
Nestboxes
Bee hotels

Activity idea - Habitat Garden creation

Learning about the importance of wildlife-friendly gardens is a great activity for the whole family. Habitat gardens can be created almost anywhere - even on a small balcony! Junior Landcare have a fantastic series of learning activities for adults and kids to learn about how to create your very own habitat garden. Don't forget to leave some water out for wildlife during these warmer months too!

Learn about the research phase here.
Learn about the design phase here.

Activity idea - Get to know your local grassland

Brimbank is lucky to have several remnant and re-established grassland sites within the municipality. Did you know that there is less than 1% of grasslands remaining in Victoria?

Why not visit one of our grassland sites this summer and learn how to be a good grassland neighbour here.

Activity idea - Become a Junior Ranger for a day

Discover a bug's world at Brimbank Park with a Parks Victoria Ranger. All Junior Ranger activities are suitable for children aged 6-12 years, who must be accompanied by a parent or guardian who is 18 years or over.

Find out more here.

My Smart Garden Recorded Workshops

Don't forget the My Smart Garden recordings are available 24/7! Save these for a hot day inside...

Check out the library of workshop recordings, including:

Designing a small, productive garden
Organically preventing and treating pesky pets
Making a wicking bed
Building a climate resilient garden

And so much more!

Save the date! Clean Up Australia Day 2022

Clean Up Australia Day is coming up on Sunday 6th March 2022.

It's time to start thinking about how you can be involved. Get a group of friends together, or have a look to see what's already planned for your local area.

Find out more details or register a clean-up site here.

Share the News: If you know of a friend or colleague who would like to subscribe to this newsletter, please forward it on and ask them to subscribe here.

Want to advertise a local online community event here? Send your February events to environment@brimbank.vic.gov.au by 20th of January, 2022.