Description
While we are committed to improving our environmental conservation procedures and will cover the cost of this, we appreciate any donations to help us continue with our recycling dreams!
As for wetsuits, due to the cost of sending these for recycling, we are asking for a $5 donation to drop off your old suit at Jetty Dive Centre to be sent to be recycled.
When we have sent off our recycling, your first name and surname initial (ie. John S.) will be included in the blog post/social media post as a thank you, so you can ensure your donation is being used how it should be.
For a few years Tara has been brainstorming some solutions to waste problems we have come across at Jetty Dive. There are two major waste issues we have identified:
- Single use coffee-cups disposed of by our customers
- Old neoprene wetsuits that are no longer usable.
After much thought and research, we have come across two companies to help support us in recycling these items.
Banish – To recycle single-use Coffee Cups
Through the BRAD recycling program, Banish accepts a variety of household items to be sent for recycling, Single use coffee cups being one of them.
To send a box of recyling to Banish, it costs $15 per box. For my first box, I sent away 108 coffee cups for this cost. This was just over 3 months worth.
Upparel – To recycle old wetsuits
Dedicated to textile repurpose and recycling, Upparel acceps neoprene!
The send a box of textiles it costs $25. The suggested box size measurements for this are 46cmx41cmx42cm. As you can imagine, this does not fit many wetsuits. Our trials showed it fitting approximately 4 or 5 wetsuits, depending on thickness and stiffness (as neoprene ages it stiffens. We have tested this on our rental 5mm suits which is why we are unsure). Because of the high cost of this recycling, we are kindly asking if you wish to drop off a wetsuit to be sent to recycling that you donate $5 to cover the postage.
Why?
Mainly, because we hate waste. We want to prevent it from being sent to landfil as much as possible. Single-use coffee cups do not have an accurate figure of the quantities in landfil, but it’s estimated approximately 1 billion are sent to landfil in Australia per year. That’s heaps. My estimated 300 per year doesn’t feel like much difference, but small green steps all add up, and I feel like I’m making a small difference where I can.
As for the wetsuits, they add into the massive problem that is textile waste. Direct from Upparell’s website: “Every 10 minutes, 6,000kg of textile waste is discarded into Australian landfills. On average, Australians purchase 27kg of new textiles and discard 23kg annually. About 7% of these items get recycled and the rest is left to decompose in landfills over hundreds of years. For every 1kg of textiles that avoids landfill, you’ll prevent an average 3-4kg of greenhouse gases from polluting the atmosphere”. This is again a small difference that adds up to a big one. Upparel has a page that updates weekly listing the impact they have made so far, which is truly inspiring. You can contribute to that inspiring impact!
