Skip to content
3 Dec 2018

Five ways we reduce, reuse and recycle in the Parklands

Once viewed as a ‘swampy wasteland’, Centennial Parklands has experienced changing attitudes towards the natural environment since its inception over 130 years ago. It is our mission to protect remnant vegetation, conserve the Victorian period character and provide Sydneysiders with an urban sanctuary. Ahead of the New Year, we look back on our top five reduce, reuse and recycle initiatives from the last year. 

Recycling rain

The ponds of Centennial Park are linked through a series of pipes and outlet weirs to capture stormwater from not just the park, but also the surrounding suburbs of Randwick, Bondi Junction, Waverley and Paddington and other local areas.

This stormwater is repurposed and recycled for the Park’s irrigation and reduces our overall need for additional potable water. The stormwater also maintains water levels in the ponds, providing habitat for a variety of native birds, turtles and eels.

rain in centennial park
Rain is recycled in Centennial Park.

Introducing solar panels to the Park

The Parklands has installed 92.5 kw of solar across five locations and last year these systems generated 125,000 KWh of electricity, saving 100 tonnes of CO2 emissions!
 
By using solar power, we can effectively reduce the energy needs of the Parklands to operate street lighting, sports field lighting, offices, worksheds, restaurants, cafes, pumping stations and irrigation systems.

Flower power

The Parklands aims to purchase products that require less packaging to help limit the waste we are producing. Our Horticulture team arranged for our spring flowering annuals to be contract grown in biodegradable jiffy pots, resulting in 3,872 less plastic pots in the environment.

rose garden centennial park
The Rose Garden is in full bloom.

Let there be light

Centennial Parklands operates lighting and operations have been put in place to do our best to reduce electricity use through energy efficient lighting. Many of the main lit areas have had their existing lighting upgraded with LED lighting such as Kippax Field, Showground Field and Driver Avenue.

A beautiful space

With more than 30 million annual visitors, we have implemented a number of waste management protocols to keep the this a safe and beautiful space for wildlife and visitors. We encourage all visitors to make an effort to correctly dispose of their waste by looking for the yellow-coloured recycling bins to dispose of cardboard, paper, cans, glass bottles and plastic containers. 
 
In addition to these measures, we also collect green waste for recycling and reuse to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills. These are just a handful of things that we implemented to help conserve enhance the beauty of the Parklands.

We are looking forward to 2019 and introducing new initiatives to reduce, reususe and recycle!

rainbow lorikeet centennial park
The Parklands are a beautiful space for visitors and wildlife to enjoy.
If you are a journalist and have a media enquiry about this story, please click here for contact details and more information.