The Sustainability Hive RESOURCES

Sustainability & Environmental Education for School & Community

• AdaptNSW Teacher Resources on Climate Change

• AdaptNSW Educator Wellbeing Resources: Big climate feelings? Help students navigate them  

• Be The Future Interactive sustainability experiences for a better future

• Become a citizen scientist using Apps such as iNaturalist, ebird, FrogID or joining citizen scientist activities like at Australian Microplastic Assessment Project (AUSMAP) 

• Climate Friendly Schools Swaps 2025 from Parents for Climate, a guide to help support schools swap activities

• Creative Acts for Climate Feelings  from Parents for Climate, a guide to help address climate anxiety experiecned by children

• Environmental Education NSW AAEE 

• Keep Australia Beautiful NSW School Activities & Waste Audits 

• OzHarvest FEAST curriculum Students learn about cooking & food waste

• Parents for Climate Change: Climate Emotions in the Classroom Teacher Tips 

• Pitch for Purpose Rotary 9685 An innovation challenge for Sydney schools, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Rotary's focus on Protecting the Environment. Students use design thinking to tackle environmental problems, then showcase their solutions to a panel of judges.

• Planet Ark School Recycling Guides  Waste-free lunch; School Recycling Game & Worksheets

• Planting Seeds works to protect and enhance the natural environment by engaging people in urban and peri-urban settings to plant and augment native vegetation, supporting biodiversity, endangered plants and pollinators, cooling our urban spaces.

• Sustainable Schools NSW 

• The Regen Learning Hub Films to inspire students

• Willoughby Council School Environmental & Sustainability Education Contact: Environmental Educators env.schools@willoughby.nsw.gov.au

• Willoughby City Council Environment & Sustainability Advice & Programs 

Climate/Eco Anxiety Support

• Climate Council Climate Anxiety tool kit 

• From Eco-anxiety to Climate Hope Cool.org

• ECOMIND Resources Sustainable minds, sustainable planet

If you in need of urgent support:

• Lifeline or BeyondBlue 

•  Kids HelpLine or headspace if you are aged 25 or under.

• 13YARN if you are an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person.  

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TAKE ACTION: Reduce, ReUse, Repair, RePurpose, Rent, ReSell,.....Recycle)

In Schools:

• Planet Ark School Recycling Guides 

• School Fundraising & Awareness Guide: Return & Earn by Bettina Otterbeck   

🤓 Directories & Research

• A-Z Recycling Website Willoughby City Council A great place to start! (every council in Australia has one)

• REcheck – Sydney-based directory for reuse, repair, rent, repurpose & recycle; REcheck is your go-to directory for all the REs: REuse, REpair, REnt, REpurpose, REcycle (and more). - find sustainable, local solutions to keep your items in use, and out of landfill. ie. what to take where, in which council, opening times etc.

• Recyclemate – Waste and recycling directory

• PlanetArk Recycling Near You 

Buy Better, Buy Less

• Australian op shops (Vinnies, Salvos, Red Cross, Lifeline)

• School second-hand uniform shops

• Facebook Marketplace  

🌱 Organics & COMPOSTING

• Food Organics Collections - Food Organics in Green Organics (FOGO) and Food Organics bins (FO) coming soon to many Councils!

• Home composting / worm farms / bokashi - always a good idea! Look for workshops on our calendar to support your efforts!

• Compost Revolution offers subsidies on some products in some Councils (Willoughby City Council does! )

• Home Composting Support at Willoughby City Council 

• Dog-waste composting (in-ground bucket systems)

• 👀 Look for composting workshops on our calendar!

🔨🔩 REUSE, REPAIR, REPURPOSE

•  Artarmon Repair Cafe – opening on 31 October 2026 at 139 Artarmon Road, Artarmon NSW

•  The Bower ReUse and Repair Centres – A great database!

• The Bower Reuse Database Search here for where an item can be dropped off, and for some Council partnerships, items can be collected (even furniture).

• The Reconnect Project (Sydney) – refurbishes devices for social good

• Reverse Garbage – creative reuse centre

• Repair Cafe Sydney North Lane Cove Lane Cove Repair Cafe Sydney North – 2-4pm every first and second Sunday of each month.

• REUSE your containers: coffee cups, shopping bags, glass containers for food and so much more!

😁SHARE, RENT (or borrow)

• Sydney Library of Things - Waverton, Lane Cove, Cromer

• Clothing swaps (local councils, community groups)

• Joy of Giving (NSW) - preloved toys and sustainability education for children

• Toy Libraries Australia

• GlamCorner – clothing rental

• Turo – operates in Australia, including EVs

♻️ RECYCLE Beyond the Kerbside (Keep it our of landfill!)

• Council A–Z recycling guides (every council in Australia has one)

• HomeCycle – reuse/repair-focused collections, Council dependent collections (NSW)

• Homecycle Pickups from Willoughby City Council residences Free service for residents 

• Homecycle Pickups from Lane Cove Council residences Free service for residents 

• Homecycle Pickups from City of Sydney Council residences Free service for residents 

• Homecycle pickups from InnerWest Council residences  Free service for residents
  
  

• ReSmart (formerly RecycleSmart) – soft plastics, e-waste, toys, textiles etc.

• ReSmart pickups from North Sydney Council residences Free service for residents

• ReSmart doorstep recycling pickup from ANY residences For a small Fee, you'll be amazed the diver ranges of items that can be collected.
  
  

• Mattress Collections Willoughby City Council Collected for Free, Recycled by Soft Landing
  
  

• SheRecycles - "Find the next best use for batteries, e-waste and clean-tech products eg. solar panels, car batteries etc.SheRecycles connects people to reuse, repair, donate, resell, trade-in and recycling pathways while helping partners understand how recovery systems are actually used.

• UPPAREL – Australian textile recycling

🛑 AVOIDING Plastic – it's never easy.... but every little bit helps to protect you, your family and your environment!

• Reduce your use of plastic in packaging, storage and in your food and your personal care products! (see some helpful Apps below 👇 )

• Soft Plastics collection – as part of the Woolworths Soft Plastics Collections as part of the Soft Plastic Stewardship Australia Program – 👀 You might have to look hard to find the collections in some stores!

• Soft plastics collections – with HomeCycle or ReSmart (formerly RecycleSmart)

• Reduce your microplastic exposure CHECKLIST – a helpful checklist produced by I'm Plastic Free from Queensland and also check out Beyond Plastic Resources 

• Become a microplastic citizen scientist with the Australian Microplastic Assessment Project (AUSMAP) 

🤔 Did you know? 

Stuff you could consider avoiding in the products you use.....many of these compounds act as Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) that interfere with hormones, raising the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, reproductive issues like infertility, and hormone-related cancers. This compounds to avoid include plastics, plastic associated chemicals (16,000 of them!), and other synthetic compounds:
Fragrances (synthetic) which include Phthalates
Formaldehyde
Parabens (estrogen mimicking)
Palm oil
Phthalates BPA DRP DBP DEHP have associated endocrine issues
Phosphates
PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances)
Flame Retardants (e.g., PBDEs)
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS, used to make things fluffy)
Sunscreen chemicals can be harmful for us and marine systems
Synthetic colour: Toluene (methylbenzene)
Triclosan

🛑 Avoid extra-harmful plastics 3,6,7 While all plastic is harmful, products with recycling codes 3, 6, and 7 are even more damaging than others, and are known for containing Plastoic Associated Chemicals (PACs) such as phthalates, styrene, and bisphenols respectively; Plastics 3 and 7 are also much harder to recycle.

🛑 Synthetic perfumes are fragrance ingredients created in a lab, often from byproducts of petroleum and natural gas. Though not all synthetic fragrance ingredients are 'bad', we mostly avoid using them due to their petrochemical origins and potential to contain chemicals of concern.

✅   PlasticFreeFuture App scans for plastics in everyday cosmetics and personal care products

✅    Yuka App deciphers product labels and analyzes the health impact of food products and cosmetics.

✅  Check out the NSW Plastics Plan 2.0 2026 According to Plan, we can look forward to the phasing out of: plastic confectionery sticks  (starting 2026); plastics containing pro-degradant additives, such as oxo-, photo- and landfill-degradable plastics (2027); rinse off cleaning products containing plastic microbeads (2027); any plastic bag with handles, regardless of thickness, with exemptions for reusable bags (2027); plastic umbrella bags (2027); plastic pizza savers (starting 2027); plastic tags used to seal food bags (staring 2027); plastic ballon sticks & ties (starting 2027); non-compostable fruit and vegetable stickers (2030); plastic balloon sticks & ties (2027); loose-fill, void-fill, and moulded or cut packaging made from expanded or foamed plastic,  (2027/28); food supply and service items, such as food trays, made from expanded or foamed plastic (2027).