Looking for a last minute gift for Mother’s Day? 👀💐 You’ll find plenty of beautiful, sustainable and socially-conscious gift options when you shop locally in Yarra! Spoil the mothers and the mother-figures in your life with flowers from @the.beautifulbunch, a social enterprise florist providing paid training and work opportunities to young women from refugee backgrounds. Thanks to Yarra’s Annual Grants funding, The Beautiful Bunch was able to upgrade their workspace and start hosting workshops for their funders and corporate partners, creating an additional revenue stream for the business and additional work for trainees. 💰 Do you need funding for a local community project? Our 2024 Annual Grants applications open on 13 June 2023. Learn more at the link in our bio.

Stay warmer this winter with our Draughtproofing for Renters workshop. 🔥 Come along to see a hands-on demonstration on how to better draughtproof your place, as well as hear the latest information on your rights as a tenant to make energy efficiency improvements for a comfortable home. You’ll also take home a free DIY draughtproofing kit to get you started! 📅 Thursday 18 May 7pm to 8:30pm North Carlton Railway Neighbourhood House Register now via the link in our bio. If you’re a homeowner head to the Take Climate Action page on our website to learn ways to upgrade your home’s energy efficiency. #TakeClimateAction

Reducing food waste is good for the wallet and our environment! 🍌♻️ Learn handy ways to reduce avoidable food waste at home by joining our free 12-week online food waste challenge! Learn how to: ⭐ turn food waste into plant food ⭐ storage hacks to extend the shelf life ⭐ how to shop smart and much, much more. Sign up and go into the draw to win 1 of 10 Swag starter packs (!!!) to keep your refrigerated vegetable and fruit fresh for longer. This promo is for Yarra residents only. Join now through the link in our bio.

Do you have a local olive tree? Now is the season to turn local olives into oil! 😋 Join us in celebrating the cultural history and tasty treats our olive trees provide at the @ceresbrunswick Olives to Oil community festival for a day of fun and learning. It’s a free annual event in which Yarra is proud to participate. 📌Sunday 21 May 2023 11am to 4pm CERES Community Environment Park Corner Roberts Street and Stewart Street, Brunswick East There’ll be food, music, face painting, pruning workshops and olive pressing demonstrations, too. Find out more via the link in our bio.

As we near the end of the draft Budget consultation period, we want to make sure you have plenty of chances to have your say! Let us know your thoughts on the draft Budget 2023/24 and the separation of waste service charges from general rates. Head down to our next pop-up event to ask your questions, provide your feedback and learn more from our friendly team. 📅 Thursday 11 May 10am to 12 noon Collingwood Leisure Centre, 2-28 Turnbull St, Clifton Hill VIC 3068 You can also check out the full list of in-person opportunities via the link in our bio.

Come along this Friday to our next Meet the Mayor session! This is another opportunity to chat with Mayor Claudia Nguyen and discuss the topics that are important to you. 📌 Friday 12 May 12 noon to 1pm Smith Reserve, Fitzroy (Alexandra Parade and Cecil Street) Find out more about out Councillor Engagement Program and more upcoming sessions via the link in our bio.

Zoom zoom! 🛴 The Victorian Government’s e-scooter trial has been extended for another 6 months in Yarra! Over the last 12 months there have been over half a million trips (!!!) in Yarra alone. Not only are the e-scooters an eco-friendly and cost-effective way to get around, they’re lots of fun! It’s important though to be mindful of the rules to follow and to respect your fellow road users and our broader community. Be sure to: 👉 wear a helmet 👉 only ride on the roads and bike paths 👉 park properly and avoid blocking the footpath. If you ever need to report an issue, please reach out to the operators, Lime and Neuron directly. Visit our website to learn more about this trial and contact the operators.

Are you passionate about fashion, community welfare and the environment? ♻️🧵 We’re looking for customer service volunteers to help run the @Thread_Together store, which saves unsold clothing from going to landfill and redistributes it to people doing it tough. This is an exciting new program at the Learning Bank community space in Victoria Street North Richmond, a partnership between Yarra City Council and the Victorian Government. Apply online by clicking the link in our bio. Applications close Sunday 21 May 2023.

How is Yarra processing the soft plastics that we collect at the Recycling Centre, like wrappers and pasta packaging? ♻️ APR Plastics, our local recycling partner, has Australia’s first technology to process soft plastics into new plastic products. Soft plastics are a notoriously difficult material to recycle locally due to the barrier that protects the food inside. Unlike existing recycling technology, this new technology breaks down the packaging into oil for plastic remanufacture. 🙌🙌🙌 This is just one of the ways Yarra is working to address our plastic pollution problem and build a circular economy! To see the full process, check out the extended video via the link in our bio.

Happy Friday! If you’re out and about in Yarra this weekend don’t forget to tag #YarraLife.

Next week is Compost Awareness Week! 🐛🍎 Food makes up 33% of our waste going to landfill! Composting and worm farming can be used to transform your food waste into food for your garden. To help get you started on household composting you can: ♻️ receive up to 70% off composts and worm farm products thanks to our partner @TheCompostRevolution. You can order on our website. ♻️ head to @YarraLibraries' Collingwood Library next Tuesday 9 May to learn the basics of composting from renowned gardener Kat Lavers. ♻️ visit our Zero Waste Map on our website for locations to drop off your food scraps at community compost hubs in Yarra. Click the link in our bio to visit our website for more info.

You can now put milk and juice cartons in your yellow-lid recycling bin! ♻️🟡 Our recycling partner can now process liquid paperboard and Tetra Paks. This means we can accept things like long-life milk, juice boxes and soup, cream, stock and custard cartons to repurpose into new products. Don’t forget to remove any plastic caps or straws from your cartons before you put them in the recycling bin.