Council is encouraging residents to repair, reuse or re-home their unwanted goods wherever possible before putting items out for hard waste collection, to prevent items going to landfill.
Hard waste collections will begin in mid-January, 2020, running through different areas of the Yarra Ranges on a week-by-week basis until mid-March.
Yarra Ranges Mayor, Richard Higgins, said that while hard waste was an important time to get rid of furniture and appliances, many unwanted items could be repaired or rehomed before going to waste.
"While we try to recycle everything we can that's put into hard waste, the reality is that many items end up going into landfill," Cr Higgins said.
"For some things, that's unavoidable, but it's important to think about how items could take on a new life before putting them in hard waste – many broken items can be easily repaired, and something in good working order could be sold in a garage sale or given away on social media."
Cr Higgins said that residents could run garage sales from inside their private properties, not on nature strips, and make the most of the peak tourism period of the summer holidays.
"We know that residents and visitors alike love to travel out to garage sales – you never know when someone's unwanted item might be something that fits right into your home," he said.
"Having a sale can be a simple and fun way to give the things you no longer need a new life, and avoid items unnecessarily going into landfill.
"We've all got a part to play, both in being responsible for the things we buy and our waste, but also on reducing our impact on the environment.
"At Council, we encourage anyone having a garage sale to make sure they're responsible for any signs they put up to advertise it, taking them down when the sale is finished."
Under Council's Local Laws, garage sale signage must only be placed in locations that don't impact on safe pedestrian and vehicle movements – they cannot be put on trees or protective barriers for pedestrians or vehicles.
What can be put out for hard waste?
During the hard waste collection period, different areas of the Yarra Ranges will have a week-long collection period, where metals, bundled branches and other hard waste is collected from the kerbside.
Residents can place up to three cubic metres of hard waste out for collection, including up to 10 pieces of timber (not fencing), metals and whitegoods (maximum of 50kg / 1.5m length for individual items) and up to 20 bundles of branches tied with non-plastic twine.
Metals and appliances collected during hard waste, including e-waste, will be sorted for recyclable material, with the remainder of material being sent to landfill.
Electrical waste or e-waste is an item with a plug, battery or power cord that is no longer working or wanted. These items contain precious metals and dangerous chemicals and are no longer allowed to be placed in kerbside bins at any time but can be placed out for the Hard Waste collection.
Glass, including shower screens and mirrors must be wrapped and clearly marked as glass.
There are a number of items that cannot be put out for collection, such as renovation or demolition materials, green waste, chemicals (including liquids, paints, oils, fluids and hazardous materials), household garbage (items that can go in kerbside landfill bins), gas cylinders, fuel tanks or asbestos.
Some chemicals can be dropped off at Sustainability Victoria's Detox Your Home events. An event will be held in Lilydale from 16 May, 2020, from 9am-3pm to coincide with the end of the hard waste period.
Visit sustainability.vic.gov.au to register.
Household paint, fluorescent lights and e-waste can be dropped off for free at Coldstream Waste Transfer Station year-round during opening hours.
Visit Council's Hard Waste page to see what can be put out for hard waste collection.
Illegally dumped rubbish can be reported to Council on 1300 368 333 or the Environmental Protection Agency on 1300 372 842 or at epa.vic.gov.au
