Around 1500 locals attended an olive festival last month which aimed to reduce local food waste and its associated greenhouse gases.
The Olives to Oil Westside initiative, run by CERES in collaboration with Hobsons Bay, Maribyrnong and Brimbank councils, turns otherwise unused olives from residents’ trees into freshly-pressed olive oil.
The Yarraville festival produced 1660L of olive oil from 10,738kg of harvested olives.
It translates to an estimated 10.7 tonnes of food waste diverted from landfill.
Locals were able to hand in their harvested olives over two ‘olive drop-off days’ — one located in Sunshine and the other in Newport — in the lead up to the festival.
The oil was then distributed among participants, volunteers, and several community groups on the festival day.
Attendees were also able to participate in educational gardening workshops and view an olive-press demonstration.
The initiative was part of the ‘My Smart Garden’ program, which offers free workshops, articles and resources to teach locals about sustainable living.
