Bayside Council won the Keep Australia Beautiful 2025 NSW Sustainable Cities Young Legends Award and was a finalist in several other categories in a program honouring the outstanding environmental achievements of local councils.
Bayside Council won the 2025 NSW Sustainable Cities Young Legends Award for its Green Ripple Effect program at the Mascot Child Care Centre.
The Mascot Child Care Centre created the Green Ripple Effect program to help embed sustainability initiatives across its daily program. The Centre created a new street library, planted vegetable and herb gardens, installed a worm farm, composter, bird box and native beehive to nurture eco-friendly practices while inspiring our next generation of environmental stewards.
Bayside Council was also a finalist in this year's Awards for the following programs:
- Let's Sort it Bayside. This project was launched to support the rollout of multiple major waste service changes, following the end of a 10-year waste contract, and successfully guided our highly diverse community through complex changes with clear, practical and accessible communication.
- Summer Foreshore Program 2025. The 2024/25 program focused on three key priorities that were communicated through strong, positive behaviour-change messages - "Say NO to Single-Use Plastics," "Protect Our Seagrass," and "Report Unsafe Jet Ski Behaviour," all unified under the overarching campaign theme, Love Our Bay.
- Resilient Bayside. This year-round initiative supports residents in preparing for and adapting to climate change while strengthening inclusion, safety, and social connection. The 2024/25 program engaged approximately 1,500 residents, equipping them with practical tools, knowledge, and support to build a more connected, climate-ready, and resilient community.
- Learn. Fix. Ride. This initiative delivered over 100 free bike tune-ups and workshops across Bayside and helped about 80 residents learn practical bike repair skills while fostering everyday cycling as an active, sustainable transport choice.
- Growing the Urban Forest and Wild Things. This program addressed urban heating by planting more trees and setting a 35% tree canopy target on public land by 2040. The Wild Things program promoted community-led conservation on private land by encouraging residents to create native wildlife gardens that support greater urban biodiversity.
The Sustainable Cities Awards program, now in its 31st year, honours the outstanding achievements of councils, community groups, businesses, schools, and individuals who are tackling sustainability challenges through innovation, collaboration, and strong community engagement.
Mayor Edward McDougall said
"Bayside Council works hard to protect our environment for future generations to enjoy. To be a finalist in five categories is testament to our commitment to creating a sustainable future for our community.
"Bayside Council continues to punch well above its weight. I think we can all be proud of our environmental leadership," Mayor Edward McDougall said.
