Keen to do more recycling at home, while helping kids in need? 

The Link at Ginninderry provides a collection point for Lids 4 Kids, a volunteer-run organisation that turns plastic lids from bottles into things like mobility aids for vulnerable kids. 

In 2019, passionate Canberra recycler and full-time dad Tim Miller asked the ACT Government where he could drop off the thousands of plastic bottle lids he and his three boys had collected. They replied that any piece of plastic smaller than a credit card couldn’t be recycled and eventually would end up in landfill. 

Like the team at Ginninderry, Tim is passionate about the environment, leading him to connect with Victorian-based not-for-profit Envision, which uses the plastic lids collected through the program to create mobility aids for children. 

Lids 4 Kids was born. 

Ginninderry’s Head of Sustainability and Community Development Jessica Stewart says the program is a great way for residents to recycle pieces of rubbish that can’t normally be recycled at home. 

“The program means you can bring in all kinds of things like alfoil, batteries, corks, blister packs from tablets or medicines and obviously plastic lids and bottle tops – even the lids from kid’s yogurt pouches,” Jessica says. 

“We have a bunch of people who come regularly and drop off their Lids 4 Kids at The Link building. We then take those down to Fyshwick where they’re sorted by a wonderful group of volunteers.”

Keen to donate? Jess says it’s helpful to ensure your lids are clean and dry to save the volunteers time on the other end.

Lids 4 Kids is just one of the many ways Ginninderry is helping residents to reduce everyday waste. Bottles and cans can be donated at The Link – with the proceeds donated to the Ginninderry Conservation Trust. Caffeine fiends can also bring in their Nespresso pods from their coffee machine at home to recycle.