REUSE WITH A COMMUNITY HEART Reuse and repurposing with a community heart – that’s what makes Reviva Toowoomba special.
BY AMANDA HENDERSON
The reuse shop, located at the Greater Toowoomba Waste Management Facility in Wellcamp, is more than just a shop; it is a community hub with a garden and community engagement at its core. Reviva is part of Resource Recovery Australia (RRA), a social enterprise that partners with Toowoomba Regional Council to divert waste from landfill and create stable and meaningful jobs for people experiencing barriers to work. RRA employs 94 people in sites across Australia. This week the Reviva team unveiled an extension to their reuse garden, a community space at the shop’s entry. The garden is a sensory playground of colours and fun repurposing ideas. “We want the garden to be a community space that encourages imagination, fun and reuse,” RRA Deputy General Manager Ally Glendenning explained. “We already had a community herb garden and some fun character planters but this week we added dozens of reimagined items from the store. We want to encourage the whole community, people from all walks of life, to come and explore, to experience reuse in action. You never know what characters you might find.” The team’s passion for reuse and repurposing is strong. “I love giving an item a second life, reimagining what it could be and creating a whole new item with just my imagination and some elbow grease. We have repurposed a cable wheel into a table,
a car bonnet into a chair, and even a fire pole into an oversized fidget spinner. The repurposing possibilities are endless.” Chris Behan, previously a Lifeline volunteer, loves the community aspect of his job at Reviva Toowomba. “It’s good to hear people’s stories and do whatever you can to help them. People may be struggling, you don’t know what they are going through but you can help them out, even if it’s just something to put in their garden or something they can use around the house.” Stephh Worland, Ben Owen and Jeff Prater “We are a real part of the community. Through Facebook we are reaching even more people now. We’ve had morning teas to invite the public in and we tell them all about Reviva and our social goals. We want to be a community-based organisation that people can rely on.” Since opening in December 2018, Reviva Toowoomba has been responsible for diverting 633 tonnes or 40 truckloads of waste from landfill for reuse and repurposing. The operation employed 10 people and served more than 11,000 customers from the local community. Toowoomba Regional Council Water and Waste portfolio leader Cr Nancy Sommerfield said Council was pleased to Chris Behan exploring the new community reuse garden. partner with its lessee Reviva Toowoomba “Residents have helped Council achieve to help spread the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling precious resources, in up to a 70% diversion rate of material For a full list of recyclable items, please from landfill following the opening of line with strategic goals. visit www.tr.qld.gov.au/recycling the GTWMF in December 2015,” Cr Cr Sommerfield said residents could drop Reviva Toowoomba is open to the public Sommerfield said. off materials for the Reviva Re-use Shop Thursday to Sunday 9am – 4pm. The “Reviva’s work highlights the best use at the Resource Recovery Area when store has moved to cashless payments due of resources and shows how the ‘circular visiting the Greater Toowoomba Waste to COVID-19 with social distancing and economy’ places value on materials that are Management Facility (GTWMF) at O’Mara cleaning also in place. recycled for a new purpose.” Road.
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