Working together to deliver more

It’s been quite a week! Last Friday we officially became part of the Franklyn Scholar / Kaplan group in Australia.

We are delighted for all sorts of reasons. For a start, the fit between the two groups is complementary. We offer training expertise that adds another dimension to Franklyn and vice versa. Ultimately this gives us more options, for our business and especially for our clients’ businesses, as the Australian vocational education market continues to evolve at pace.

My colleague, and original founder of academy, Michael Wolf probably said it best, “The synergies between our two firms are significant, and will ultimately deliver a profound return for the development of our students and clients.”

So what does this mean for our clients? At the moment, it’s very much business as usual. You continue to deal with academy, our brand stays the same, our team stays the same, and you get the same tailored training solutions for your business.

In the medium term, I’m sure there will be an evolution in what we offer – as your needs change and as the two companies integrate and explore new strengths.

If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to speak with any of us. For more information about Franklyn Scholar, please see the website.

Finding better ways to deal with waste

academy conducts waste management training – and I am more and more pleased that we do. It’s got to be one of the most important practices (if not the most important!) for our planet.

I’m just floored by how much we all waste.  Food waste is just one example. Did you know that the average Australian wastes 136kg of food a year? Another way of looking at it is that we throw out one in every five of those shopping bags you haul through the door. *

You certainly don’t mean to do this when you buy it, but sometimes the potatoes grow shoots and you cook too much rice or the fruit gets too ripe. These things happen, right?

Except that they shouldn’t happen. Just a bit more thought, and a bit more awareness, and we can save a huge amount of money and reduce our heavy impact on natural resources.

People in the waste management companies that we train; understand that theirs is a world-changing business. (Have a look at my interview with industry veteran Andy Thorp here, who talks about constant innovations in the industry as waste problems are solved.)

However, their clients, regular businesses all over Australia, may not be as waste savvy. If we are unthinkingly wasting that much in our own homes, from our own pockets, what happens in workplaces?

If you are inspired to make changes in the workplace, have a look at this excellent set of resources from the Victorian Government.

In the end, the simple solutions are the most elegant. I come back to OzHarvest. Its founder Ronni Kahn saw waste, realised others could use it, and made it happen. She was interviewed earlier this week on Conversations with Richard Fidler on the ABC (you can download the podcast here) and both her personal story, and the story of how OzHarvest came about, are entertaining and inspiring.

It occurs to me that managing waste (in the home and workplace) is a discipline. Like project management or sales pipelines or running a household, you want to do as much as you can with as few a resources as you can.  That’s something to aspire to.

* The food waste facts come from the OzHarvest website. Have a read of the facts on this page. It’s mind blowing.

With this in mind, today I bring you some tips from the coalface. I spoke with four of our seasoned trainers about what advice they have for getting maximum benefit from a training session or whole course. They each had so many ideas that I’ve just pulled out a few for you, but if you ever want to talk with any of us about the courses we offer or the way we deliver them, we’d be happy to discuss at length!

How should people prepare for a training session?

Margaret Kinvig (MK) – Know why their manager wants them to be there and consider some of the things they may be able to get from the training. It helps them engage with the program and get the most out of it.

Steve McLean (SM) – If someone can be a backup for you while you are at training, then you can reduce you interruptions and focus more on your training.

Rebecca Potter (RP) – Think about the training before you get to the training… think about what you want to take away from the training, where the current gaps are in your skills or ability in relation to the topic being trained, think about what you need to take to the training.

And get to bed early the night before the training! A superb training session can draw upon not only your current knowledge, but may challenge you to look deep inside and make changes on how you do things. This takes mental power and can be draining if you turn up to the session already exhausted from lack of sleep.

Amanda Breen  (AB) – Ensure (where possible) that someone has been organised to attend to any urgent work issues that may arise during the training.

How can they get the most out of the experience?

MK – Participate in discussion, volunteer their experience and ask questions.

RP – Have a plan of what you want to get out of the training. Communicate these outcomes with the trainer/facilitator and work together on getting the most out of the experience.

SM – Decide that you have come as an adult learner, and you will use your initiative to learn as much as you can.

AB – By bringing a positive attitude, being open minded, being willing to step out of the comfort zone and try new things, being prepared to have fun and not think they are too ‘cool’ to participate in training games and activities – and by laughing!

Rebecca Potter

Can you remember anyone coming along who brought something with him or her, either experience or a question or something physical, which really enhanced the learning experience?

AB – Nothing physical, but when people have the courage to share things about themselves or their own experiences relating to where they may have not been very successful and how they have learned from this, it always enhances the learning experience.

Plus any form of baked goods always enhances the session!

What should people leave behind when they enter the room?

SM – Assumptions like ‘I already know everything about this’ or ‘This is too hard for me.’

AB – Negativity and resistance to change.

What can managers do to help their staff members get the most from training?

RP – Take away the burden. Lessen the anxiety levels of the staff member attending training by providing back up, so they won’t be snowed under when they return to work.

SM – Support their training by asking them what they have learnt and how they will apply it in their workplace. Give feedback to the trainer so that the training aligns with the business needs.

MK – Talk about it afterwards – more than once. Give trainees a space to debrief the experience and bounce new ideas around. Give them space and opportunity to put some of the things they have learnt into practice with support and ongoing guidance.

AB – Don’t pull them out of training just before or during the session, follow up with employees about what they learnt from the session and provide support with any difficulties they may be having with assignments. It’s also powerful to acknowledge milestones throughout the course – i.e. successful completions of assignments, high quality and standards of work.

Margaret Kinvig

What can people do to keep their training ‘alive’ long after it has finished?

RP – Implement what they have learnt as soon as they return to the workplace. Get excited about doing things differently or improving on ways that things are currently being done. Have a positive attitude. Make changes and practice, practice, practice. Continue to talk about the training and pass on to others the knowledge taken from the training.

MK – Keep talking about it. I know I’ve delivered an effective training session when I’m sitting outside the room while the students fill in their feedback forms and I can hear them talking and joking while using the language and concepts we have just been discussing.

SM – Write a brief action plan to implement after training ends. Decide to implement your action plan immediately, because you will be hit with a truckload of work when you return to your workplace. If you delay, you might never get around to it.

AB – Put your hand up to coach and mentor new employees, get involved in committees at work and ask for feedback.

Steve McLean

What can companies or managers do after the training to make sure maximum benefit is reached?

RP – Use the same language both in the training room and in day-to-day roles. Discuss the training and content in team meetings and ask questions of the staff about how they have implemented some of the learnings from the course. If they haven’t done so yet, provide them with examples of where it can be done and encourage them to do so.

MK – Ensure participants are there voluntarily (not only for the benefit of the individual, but also the entire group). Debrief it, discuss the behavioural change that should stem from the training, provide feedback on whether that behavioural change is happening and hold the participant accountable for applying their learning.

If they can then formally teach the rest of the team, that can be very powerful too. I learn more every time I teach something – far more than if I was just engaged in the learning side of the desk.

AB – Take on feedback (even if it is uncomfortable or creates additional work) about issues discussed in training sessions that employees may not be happy with in their teams/ other departments/technology/processes/organisation.

Take the time to observe employees in the week after the training session, looking specifically for the content areas covered in training and providing feedback on this – both affirming and adjusting feedback.

What is your ‘golden rule’ of training?

MK – Yeah but/Yeah and (this is the idea that we are very good at responding with “yeah but…” and that is ok with training, but at the same time you have to also challenge yourself to ask “Yeah, and…”. That way you won’t dismiss something that could be valuable to you with just a little stretching in a particular direction.)

AB- If nothing changes, nothing changes – i.e. everyone, no matter who you are can always learn more about themselves and become a better person, manager, employee, partner, friend.

RP – My golden rule has been borrowed and adapted from Zig Ziglar’s book “Over the Top”… Right attitude + specific skills + character = success

SM – You are an adult learner. You will surprise yourself with what you can do.

Time for sales and marketing to work together!

academy provides a lot of sales training and many people we talk with refer to a disconnect between sales and marketing efforts. It’s a common problem across all types of organisations but I suspect more so in B2B selling.

While thinking about this post, I even made the mistake of seeing what was on YouTube on the topic, and it’s all pretty negative stuff… honestly, not much was appropriate to even link to!

So why is this an issue? Why can’t we all just get on?

Some of the misunderstanding may arise from not understanding what marketing is, and does; and what sales is, and does.

One of the most elegant definitions I have heard (and I’d like to be able to attribute it, but I cannot recall where I heard it) is that:

Marketing is all the things you do in order to make the phone ring (or the email arrive, or the contact form filled in, etc); and sales is all the things you do once it rings.

Nice, right?

Another model has marketing responsible for awareness and consideration activities, but handing over to sales for acquisition and loyalty.

The key point here is handover, passing from one function to the other. That, to me, is where the disconnect has to be addressed. Both functions have different roles and different skills and both have an important role in business. But instead of connecting at that one handover point, both functions should be part of a complete marketing and sales process, one that is understood by all and worked on together.

Just one area I think the functions can work on together – and make a huge difference – is in the creation of content. Generally, marketing understands the customer via research and creative gut feel. They also understand the brand positioning. Sales understands that same customer because they talk with them directly. Combine this understanding to create truly useful content and chances of success are immediately increased.

Many sales people waste time trying to find content they can use, or when they do, altering it to suit what they really need. Collaboration in the first instance (with sales and customers!) could save a great deal of time upfront, time that could be spent talking with customers. This doesn’t mean content will not need to be customised… it should. But starting at a point that minimises extra work for sales will make a big difference in the marketing and sales process.

On the flip side, sales teams need to back up great marketing campaigns by actually using them. There is a lot of great work out there that gets dismissed (either actively or by accident) by sales people.

One blog post can’t solve companies’ unique issues here, but think a good, hard look at all the ‘places’ in the process where sales and marketing can collaborate can only help. An internally cohesive message will create an externally cohesive customer experience.

Shelley with a training group, photo courteous of Ralph Biggs Theiss Services QLD

Every now and then we like to have a chat with one of our own academy trainers. After all, they are some of the most knowledgeable and interesting people around!

This week, we speak with Shelley Madden, trainer with academy Green, our waste management arm, and a transport and logistics training specialist. Like many of us, Shelley fell into training. Also like many of us, she completely loves it and feels she has found a career in which she can learn as much as she teaches.

So, how did you get into training Shelley?

Like many trainers, I guess it almost found me.  As I moved through various positions in my company, I kept being asked to train up new people, to communicate aspects of my job to others in similar jobs and to mentor new people. I was a banker, not a trainer… but I soon became one!

How did you make the leap to formally training people?

I moved to Norway.

Wow, that’s quite a leap. How did that come about?

I was offered a job by a shipping company as an international consultant and trainer. This was in the 90s and I was based in Norway but travelling the world training people. I was there for many years and returned to Australia about four years ago. 

Why did you stay so long?

I love the cold. Really, I do! I’m sitting in the cold right now (Ed – on a chilly April morning as we talk). I guess mostly because I loved my job though. I just loved it. I travelled the world and I was paid for it. I was able to meet so many interesting and diverse people.

What do you most enjoy about your job now?

Oh, the transport side of things. I really love training in that industry. I relate to the clients, understand where they are coming from… I find it very engaging.

I used to work as an internal trainer for a transport company too, so it’s really a specialty.

I’ve been with academy for nine months now and I am also enjoying the variety of training across courses, types of organisations and industries. I work with councils… in warehouses, driver training. I really like the driver training, the obstacle courses, the practical element of teaching and practicing driver safety.

There is so much variety as I train mostly on the floor, many of these men and women are not used to a classroom so I try to stay out of it as much as possible and keep the learning environment as practical as possible.

How do you kick off a training session?

I enjoy that initial part, building rapport, getting to know people a little. I find it works well once I start speaking the right language… when people see I know what they work with and how they talk about it; they are generally very open to giving me a go. It’s a good thing I don’t turn up in heels!

Do you learn from participants?

Yes, the huge breadth of the role – and the people I work with – means I am learning from participants all the time. One of my favourite things to do is the site walk-around. It’s there that I learn… but I also get the participants to look at their own site (and perhaps others in their company where they don’t normally work) through new eyes.

Behind the scenes in waste management, transport, all these industries, is so fascinating.

What’s the best tip you’ve picked up from one of the training participants?

Oh I pick up tips all the time, I can’t really think of one. But at the moment, one of the biggest challenges facing many of these industries is the carbon tax and what it really means in a practical sense. So it’s good to discuss that with people.

This is a challenging job. There’s always something!

Happy people = Happy customers

Truly great customer service comes from within

Last week I wrote down this idea:

Exceptional customer service experiences start with providing exceptional employee experiences

I am by no means the first (or even the 50,000^th!) to think this. It was on my mind because many of our clients develop their employees via our customer contact training.

A good number of companies now realise that providing great customer experiences is how they will earn customer loyalty, so they vigorously pursue the service mantra. Commendably, this involves developing the skills and careers of their employees, as well as looking at brand and processes and everything else it takes to rock their customers’ worlds.

Now I know these same companies have employee engagement in their sights, but how do we, really, make sure we have engaged employees?

This week, HR Daily published this article on a new study looking at 900 Australian and New Zealand organisations, their levels of employee engagement and what sort of initiatives make the biggest difference.

The absolute MUST dos were:

• training and development programs (naturally I support this finding(!) and the report also said that organisations that do not invest in training and development were highly unlikely to have employee engagement scores of over 40 per cent);
• recognition programs;
• non-cash rewards and incentives;
• parental leave;
• time off for study; and
• flexible working arrangements.

These are all tangibles.  When all of the above is now an expectation, I think perhaps it is the intangibles that are starting to give companies an edge in terms of employee engagement and creating exceptional employee experiences.

After all, HR initiatives don’t have to be expensive… just a few that make a difference are:

• listening;
• aligning individual goals to the company vision, helping people to feel part of something big;
• when things go well, communicate to people how their role impacted the outcome;
• celebrate milestones and wins;
• consistent messages and constant communication.

There are many more. In some ways these cheaper ‘intangibles’ require a great deal more time and effort than some of the more expensive programs, but I firmly believe this is where great employee experiences are created.

The reluctant customer

Compliance-driven sales

Most sales manuals, sales gurus, sales training courses and sales books talk about the idea of finding what your customer wants.  And then, of course, providing it. I’ve blogged before about finding your customer’s pain and making it go away.

Even if you are in B2B sales, this oft-times holds true. Sure, your customer might be buying your services because it is their job to, but what they personally want may be the recognition that comes with buying the best services, the satisfaction which comes from saving the company money… or even better, making the company money through increasing productivity or whatever the circumstance is. You are helping them succeed and this absolutely speaks to what they personally want.

But what happens when what you are selling is a product or service that no one wants to buy… but that they (sometimes resentfully) need?

I’ll give you an example that crops up a little with some of the people we provide waste management training for. Waste generators (their clients) sometimes resent having to use their services… they don’t want them, they need them in order to comply with environmental controls. (It must be said that most are totally on board… we are talking about a reluctant few.)

This resentment possibly stems from a lack of knowledge or understanding. Actually, this might just represent a huge opportunity to convert reluctant clients to loyal clients.

The key is education.

It may take baby steps, but consider these people a personal challenge. Bit-by-bit show them how you can, not just provide what they need, but help them deliver productivity gains or process efficiency to the company they work for. (Andy Thorp talked about this last week… using a waste management provider as a consultant and partner can find hidden savings.)

If you can move people along from resentment to respect, you will probably find you now have an advocate and fan. Have you ever experienced this? I’d love to hear how you addressed the issue.

Andy Thorp, Plant Manager of Technical Services - Liquid and Hazardous at Transpacific Industries

Challenges, learning and keeping a ‘family feel’ at work

Andy Thorp runs a business unit of Australia’s largest waste management company, Transpacific Industries, but aims to keep things as ‘family’ as possible.

With over twenty years in the industry, he has seen major developments – but knows that the strength of having respected and engaged employees never changes. Many of the plant’s employees have worked together for over a decade and, despite their often hard and dirty work, they thrive as a team. Andy even has his dog, Tippy, along for the ride sometimes, which helps add to the family feel.

We spoke with Andy about his career, the changes he has seen in waste management and how Transpacific Industries looks after the professional development of its people.

Can you tell me a little about your background? How did you choose your career in waste management?

I came into the industry quite cold really, just over twenty years ago. At the time, this was with a family owned and run company called Jennings Liquid Waste.

Things have changed a lot over that time. Jennings morphed through a number of acquisitions and we’ve been Transpacific Industries for about seven years now. I was acquired along with the company!

When I started, it was my first exposure to things like vacuum tankers and so on.

OH&S standards were not even remotely comparable to what they are now, and liquid waste management was a matter of all hands on deck. If there was a de-sludge to be done, we all just got in there and did it.

Now, of course, we have way higher safety standards. Way higher everything. We have become far more corporate… standard operating procedures, written task management, stringent safety standards, risk management and so on.

What exactly does your role entail?

Whatever needs to be done that day. I might do some HR stuff, industrial relations, OH&S, compliance, client liaison, or jump in a truck if needed. The variety is one of the most engaging things about my job.

What do you think are the biggest challenges for waste management at the moment?

There are many, but one of the biggest is compliance with stringent environmental requirements. We need to move to waste minimisation… away from the landfills. These requirements fall back on the industry, rather than the waste generators in many ways. We often have to come up with the solutions.

R&D is constant in the waste management industry. For example, waste packaging, in all its forms, which once would have gone into landfill, now goes back into the recycling program. Another example is the ability to recover heavy metals from liquid waste streams, reprocess them, and sell them back to the manufacturers who in turn re-use them.

The technology needs to be economically viable before it’s introduced. We can now treat waste from oil refineries, which used to just sit there. Our expertise, and what we can offer is growing every day.

Sometimes waste producers see us as a necessary evil… just something they need to deal with to reach compliance. However, when we work with clients who see us as a resource, we can truly help them deal with their issues. We can advise on how to minimise their waste in the first place, suggest better processes, maybe substitute a raw material for another… whatever it takes to minimise waste in an economically sensible way. We are very proactive in helping them be compliant.

Do you think the industry is set up to meet its challenges?

Absolutely. The industry is specialising and diversifying. For example, Transpacific Industries has so many, much-needed, special areas of expertise like medical waste, onsite waste management services at remote mining sites, even crossing over into manufacturing our own compactor trucks. So as the industry meets our clients’ waste challenges, we also become successful. It’s absolutely our business to find new and better ways to reduce waste – and help manage it in every way. We live by the Transpacific mission to recover, recycle and reuse.

What role do your people have in terms of waste management education?

That’s absolutely what they do. They are educators. They need to educate the waste generators in many cases. And it’s not just account managers… it’s the people in the trucks… everyone. The people in the trucks are frequently the first line of contact with many of our clients, so we equip them to help generators understand the process and what their compliance requirements are.

We train people to deal with this… of course they have all the appropriate tickets like dangerous goods licences and so on, also EPA courses on transporting waste; they know the codes of practice. The drivers sometimes assist customers to complete their paperwork correctly, and explain how and why we need to dispose of waste correctly.

What is Transpacific Industries’ approach to learning and development?

It’s given a great deal of importance. We have dedicated training departments both nationally and at the state level and they are very proactive. We are all updated regularly on regulatory issues, dangerous goods training, work safety and they are always promoting OH&S from the top down.

We are encouraged to add to this, to row our own boats, within the business units. There is reward and recognition for important milestones too, things like 2500+ injury free days in multiple yards are shared across the company and celebrated.

How do you encourage the L&D of employees? Do people want to learn?

People are very keen to update skills and keep learning. We have about 30 people in my current business unit, and the lines of communication are always open. We hold regular ‘toolboxes’ – chats about different topics. Everyone gets together and talks about areas of concern, news… everyone has direct input on their own job and their own work environment.

As you engender ownership of their roles in your people, the more involved they want to be. It’s like a big self-fulfilling prophecy. People like coming to work.

We try to assist the team with their aspirations and career development as much as possible. We help out with further education, assistance with pay and time, because our employees will benefit and so will we. If they want to update skills or learn new ones, we will absolutely benefit from their knowledge.  Some of our people are from overseas and are working to localise their skills.

What professional skill would you most like to learn?

I’m happy to witness and participate in such a dynamic changing industry. It just goes from strength to strength. It’s such a professional industry now. Some years ago there may have been a perception of some shonky operators, some cowboys.

Now it’s much more professional and can actually have a positive impact on the world, and I’m delighted to learn from this and participate.

I love contributing to the young people in the industry too, showing them there is a challenging and rewarding career path for them. Any career can be as interesting as you want it to be, but this one has so many possibilities and is so important.

I have learnt a lot from adding extra skills sets to my job. I am a member of the Transpacific Industries’ emergency response team too, so that adds another layer. Any time of the day or night we could be called to assist with anything from a spill to a train derailment or whatever.

Tippy sometimes goes for a ride

And how about recreational? What do you most want to learn outside of work?

Everything.

From maritime history to astronomy. Eclectic probably best covers my interest span.

I’ve always been involved in music, and am  developing my skills in singing and playing. I have an overriding passion for the high country, having grown up in the Snowy Mountains, and get up there whenever possible, whether in a canoe, on skis, or horse back.

I have a great interest in motorsport, and things of a general ‘go faster’ nature!

I’m also really enjoying watching my children become young adults.

Finally, what do you think your greatest strength as a manager is?

My ability to communicate from the shop floor to board level, as well as being genuinely interested in the welfare of those who work for me.

Definitely that I will do whatever needs to be done. I like mucking in, and I think it’s noted that I know what the team members all do, I can do it and I’m prepared to do it. I’m a hands-on working manager… it’s in my nature; I’m a farmer’s son.

Internal communications and leadership challenges of transport and logistics and waste management companies

Human Capital online wrote about an intriguing US workplace survey earlier this week.

As with many surveys, it confirmed a few things that are, arguably, intuitive; in this case that employees are less likely to feel engaged when their boss works remotely. I guess it is as simple as: You don’t see your boss, you’re less sure of what’s going on.

The survey, conducted across more than 11,000 corporate employees, focused on office jobs.  A significant wedge of our corporate training work is for employees in the transport and logistics and waste management industries. Much of their work is on the road (or in the warehouse).

So, wow, what is the effect of managerial separation on these workers and their levels of commitment?

This is an issue that transport, logistics and waste management companies are well aware of. They are also aware that internal communications and the fostering of solid supervisor / employee relationships is a journey that never stops. So, in that spirit, what can these companies do to continually underscore vision and shared goals and outcomes?

• Know their stakeholders… in this case, their employees. Don’t go for a one-size-communications-fits-all approach as transport and logistics and waste management, in particular, have such a diverse range of job roles and therefore employees.
• Understand communication channels… and whom they are suitable for. For example, this brave new digital world has little relevance in terms of workplace communication for your forklift drivers or recycling centre teams. Coming back to the survey, as much ‘line of sight’ communication as possible is important here.
• Setting up managers for communication success… training them in leadership and vision-sharing communication skills. If your managers see their teams for five minutes a day (or a week!) before they hit the road, do they use that time to optimum effect? Is there a way to build in more face-to-face time? Would the impact of that be worth it? (In the medium to long term, I would think yes.)
• Interpreting the business strategy for all… It’s all very well to have a beautifully articulated five-year plan, agreed by the board and understood by senior management – but what does it mean for each and every team and team member in the company? People need to know, broadly, what the company is shooting for, but (arguably, more importantly) also what their contribution should be and how that feeds into the company’s goals.
• Ask, measure, adjust. Keep going back to your employees. Find out what they believe and understand about the company, their managers and their roles. Use your findings to keep doing all of the above, better.

If you are dealing with these issues with remote workers and bosses, in any industry, I’d love to hear how you are rising to the challenge.

Which one? Recycling and resource management can be confusing...

“Daaaaa-ad? Does this go in the recycling or the garbage?”

This from my son this morning, and I must admit I had to think hard about the item in question before I answered.

Hmmm, it’s had food in it, but it’s cardboard. It’s a tin but do I wash it? Is that organic? So much confusion… and we’re just talking about the waste from one household.

While that plays out in homes throughout Australia (indeed many parts of the world!) on a regular basis, many of the organisations we work with are coming up with new ways to engage and educate us all.

academy has a strong offering in waste management training, but we train the people who are actually in the business. In this post, I thought I would celebrate their efforts to train us… the consumers.

I’m going to single out local government here, as they are probably doing more than many of us are aware of – and I encourage you to use their educational resources.  I list just a few, and whether they are from your area or not, they are worth a look:

• Lismore Recycling and Recovery Centre arranges tours, workshops and has a great deal on offer to help educate all sorts of groups in a fun way.

• While this workshop has already been held, I am sure similar learning experiences will come up in different areas… what a great idea it is.  Teaching people how to actually fix things, instead of throwing them away and replacing them. Sponsored by the Metropolitan Waste Management Group of Victoria, this Fix It! Workshop was part of the 2012 Sustainable Living Festival.

• Resource GV is one of Victoria’s Regional Waste Management Groups. They have a responsibility of strategic waste management activities throughout the Goulburn Valley Region. They work in line with EPA Victoria, Department of Sustainability & Environment and Sustainability Victoria’s waste management guidelines, frameworks and strategies, with an eye on improving resource recovery and waste management for their member councils.
  
  
• Sydney’s Leichhardt Council organises Second Hand Saturdays, encouraging the passing on of perfectly usable goods from one person to another.
• And another Sydney council, Sutherland Shire Council, runs some excellent resource and recycling tours. One of our trainers has been on one and highly recommends them as educational and rather fun as well.

Next week, I hope to interview one of the waste educators at Sutherland Shire to learn more about how they are tackling public waste education. Does your council have an initiative you would like to recommend? Please let me know!