Bag a piece of Sydney’s history

11 August 2008

Have you ever wondered what happens to the banners flown on Sydney's streets for major events and festivals once they're taken down?

A City of Sydney and Reverse Garbage partnership is finding a new use for the pre-loved banners by transforming them into carry bags.

And better still, you can pick up your own unique free bag by visiting the City's Live Green festival in Victoria Park, Camperdown on Sunday 17 August.

City of Sydney Acting CEO Garry Harding said the reuse concept was developed by the City's waste education team to turn the City's banners into practical and usable items as part of an educational campaign - Zero Waste.

"Banners play an important part in creating a vibrant and energetic city centre and promoting major events and initiatives such as Chinese New Year, Live Green, New Year's Eve and Sustainable Sydney 2030," Mr Harding said.

"The Zero Waste campaign is about avoiding unnecessary waste, reusing items before they go in the bin, recycling as much material as possible and disposing of non-recyclable materials properly.

"We want people to think about the link between what they purchase, how they use, recycle and dispose of their purchases and what effect that has on our environment.

"This new partnership with Reverse Garbage means we now have an innovative way of reusing our old banners - further demonstrating our commitment to the environment," Mr Harding said.

The first batch of bags is being made from the City's old 2030 banners which were flown around the CBD earlier this year. Each bag features a tag declaring "I used to be a City of Sydney banner" with a vintage date.

The City has 1600 banner poles in the CBD and village centres, including Glebe, Oxford Street, Redfern and Kings Cross. The banners are 4.5m x 1.5m in size and are being cut to produce shoulder bags with straps.

The City has reused its banners in previous years where possible and is currently working with design students on other innovative reuse options for the banners.

All bags are hand-sewn at the Reverse Garbage centre in Marrickville.

For more information and an interactive quiz to test your recycling knowledge visit www.zerowaste.org.au

For more information about Live Green visit www.livegreensydney.com.au

Media Contact: Josh MacKenzie 9265-9082 or 0402 351 459

Related Resources