Festival Activities

We have a great lineup of activities for this year’s festival:

9am Mini Spring Clean Your City

11:30 am Kids Clothes Swap

1:30pm Adults Clothes Swap

All day Trash Puppets

All day Repair Cafe

All day Mending Circle

Mending Circle – Stitch It Don’t Ditch It

This year we will be holding a Mending Circle showing how mending items is a great activity to undertake.  The theme will be ’Stitch It, Don’t Ditch It’ following the success of events around the globe.

We will have menders repairing their own items who are also happy to discuss mending with attendees and, if you bring items, to help show how to mend them.  

We aim to show people how easy mending is to do yourself rather than just mending things for you. So come along to our circle and to sit down and join in for either a chat or mend.

Hosted by Tamara Russell of Karhina Textiles.

Repair Cafe

Bring your things to be fixed – for FREE. Yes that’s right the St Kilda and Brunswick Repair Cafes, repair stuff for free!

They do this to stop things going to landfill and to educate the public about how to avoid waste from
unnecessary purchasing of new products.

Bring to the festival, anything you can carry that needs repair and their experienced volunteers will do their best to keep it alive. Items such as: electronics, electrical, wood, metal, sewing, jewellery, bikes, toys, in fact just about anything you can think of.

Clothes swap 

To participate book your tickets – $5.00 for the Kids Swap, $10.00 for the Adult Swap for up to 10 items to swap and refresh your kids and your own wardrobe. Or come as a family for $25.00 with 30 items.

10:00 am Drop off begins: drop your clothes off, so we can sort into sizes

11:30 am Childrens clothes swap begins

1:30 pm Adults clothes swap

Please note: you can drop off clothes anytime until the swap begins. So drop off kids clothes by 11:30am and adult clothes by 1pm

Rules for Donated Clothing

To ensure that the clothes swap is successful and so we don’t end up with a ridiculous amount of donations to the charity bin we’ve made some rules around the swaps:

1. A maximum of 10 good quality items per person

2. Items should be of good quality with a long potential lifespan and free of faults

3. No rips, holes or stains

4. Items should be clean, folded or pressed

5. Preferably no fast fashion – think about those items that you absolutely loved and don’t wear or have grown out of – it’s all about giving them to someone who can give them the love they deserve!

6. Items should be likely to be valued by others – ie. would you be happy to give or receive these items as a gift

7. Items must be dropped before the swap begins

8. You should be emotionally detached from them!

We do not accept anything pilled, pongy, marked or too far from perfect. We do not exchange undergarments or swimwear for hygiene reasons.

Trash Puppets is on a mission to save the world…. one puppet at a time.

Trash Puppets empowers people of all ages to get creative using recycled and reused materials. We believe that the key to sustainable living is in finding creative solutions to problems. Our playful puppetry workshops are a hands-on, technology-free way for children and families to get creative together. Get messy with our Trash Puppet Leaders and learn how to make your very own Trash Puppet!  Instagram – @TrashPuppetsAus and Facebook – TrashPuppetsAus

With thanks to Stonnington Council’s Waste Education for the sponsorship of Trash Puppets.

Mini Spring Clean the City 9:00am – 11:00am

Get involved in this Mini Spring Clean the City with community clean up group Beach Patrol to collect litter along the Yarra River.

Join the team as they pick up litter, sort, and document what is found for their app Litter Stopper (https://www.litterstopper.com/). Learn first hand how the data collected during litter clean ups supports advocacy organisations that influence government policy and local initiatives for community education to help reduce litter at the source.

The free morning clean-up activity starts at 9am sharp on The Terrace (behind NGV entrance), Fed Square. Activity info:
– Arrive 8:30am at the meeting point for a 9.00am start
– The clean will go for approx one hour
– The clean up will happen along the Yarra River
– Once you’re finished, return your litter to the meeting point at The Terrace, Fed Square
– Bring sturdy gloves, litter collection tools and bags for collection
– Bring a reusable drink bottle
– This is a family-friendly event, everyone is welcome

Fed Square’s hidden secrets tour

10.30am-11.30am & 11:45am-12:45pm

Flinders Street entrance to the Atrium

Go on an intimate behind-the-scenes tour of Fed Square, unearthing hidden locations not normally accessible to the public.

Explore hidden corridors and engineering miracles including the subterranean maze of concrete tunnels known as the labyrinth.

You’ll learn about the history and construction of the site and have a rare inside look at the state-of-the-art design and use of green technologies.

Tickets can be booked at: Hidden Secrets Tour

Visit the clothing swap where you’ll be able to drop off worn and beyond repair shoes at the Tread Lightly shoe recycling box. We ask you to double check accepted shoes on their website prior to the festival

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The Zero Waste Festival 2022 is brought to you by Zero Waste Victoria and event partner FedSquare. Supporting sponsors are Burwood Brickworks, Stonnington Council Waste Education Team, and Ecyo


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