Residents in Brisbane Gave a Sheet, clearing out their robes to clean up the globe!🌏🌿

“I’m here because I give a sheet,” the elderly gentleman told us as he jumped out of his car, signalling the kick off for Give a sheet® for the Planet’s third and final event in Brisbane.

All up, 6,000kgs of textiles were donated over the 3 events, which in linen terms is the equivalent of 9,000 sheets or 35,000 pillow cases. Just in case you wondered.

Australia’s own Give a sheet® for the Planet events have taken off across the country. By the end of 2023, the BlockTexx team and local councils in Qld, NSW, VIC and SA will have joined together, mobilising rate payer communities and local businesses to reduce landfills.

When we have loved our garments and household linen to death, the options for unwanted textiles and clothing are limited. In Australia, landfill is the most common final destination. Every year around one million tonnes of textiles and clothing end up in local landfill sites. 

Australia’s dirty little secret is tucked away in our linen cupboards. BlockTexx  estimates that the average linen cupboard holds 15kg of bedding and household fabrics. Most of us keep extra sheets for visitors or relatives who might drop in, but they rarely see the light of day. 

The reality is our cupboards are hiding old and probably discoloured bedding. We’ve either forgotten about the piles of sheets or there’s so much shoved away we don’t know what to do with it. Many of us have been waiting for the right recycling solution.

Clean out your robe for the globe

Back at Give a sheet® in Brisbane, more than 250 car loads of donations passed through the gates and are now headed down the resource recovery runway. Donations were gathered up by a small army of volunteers including Brisbane City council staff and fashion students from the Queensland University of Technology.

Most people followed the event guidelines and brought linen, towels, and napkins made from polyester/cotton blends, 100% polyester and 100% cotton. 

But it can be a mixed bag. The donations that don’t meet the criteria and have resale value are re-donated to charities. Items such as wool blankets are donated to pet stores or animal shelters. In our third Brisbane event, the team filled 15 boxes to be redirected.

Give a Sheet® for the Planet volunteers and Brisbane city council team.

Laughter, effort and enthusiasm 

It’s a fun event (they all are), laughter is heard throughout the day alongside plenty of questions. 

Everyone has a story to tell; how they found out about the event, who they told, what they have to donate and sometimes the story or history of the linen. One member of the community told us the linen belonged to her mother – given to her on her wedding day and never used.

Most people donating had a common tale – a blend of new and old, excess purchases combined with a lifetime collection of linen. 

One ratepayer turned his family sedan into a mobile linen cupboard. This storage king crammed 25 years’ worth of hoarded homewares into the backseat, the boot and his passenger seat. Nineteen bags of sheets and towels packed and stacked. 

Some people returned several times during the day, hoovering up their family and neighbours’ linen cupboards on a quest for linen gifts.

Distance proved not to be a barrier with one woman driving 140km from Noosa to Brisbane. She missed the Give a sheet® Noosa event earlier in the year, so planned a visit to friends and family for the same weekend as the final Brisbane event.  

Another couple loaded up full backpacks and set off on a journey that included three buses, a train and foot power to reach the Give a sheet collection point, determined to minimise their carbon emissions alongside their spring cleaning.

Schools and neighbourhoods combined their collections to deliver worthwhile volumes along with a strong sense of community.

Local Council benefits 

Providing activities that support council infrastructure and deliver value back to the local community is a high priority for councils. Enthusiasm for the event showed on the day with people telling collectors they’ve been waiting for an opportunity such as Give a sheet® and wanting to know when there would be another. 

Across Australia, councils have helped divert 29,000 kg of textiles going into landfill. BlockTexx estimates that offsets approximately 870,000 kg of Co2 equivalents. 

We thank Brisbane City Council for their enthusiasm and commitment to co-host three events across the city. 

Congratulations Brisbane ratepayers, your community enthusiasm has diverted textiles weighing the equivalent of five family sedans from local landfill. 

And a special mention to the ratepayers who simply followed the directions of their partner.  As one community member said, “My wife gave me the box and told me where to go!” At the very least, he Gave a sheet!

BlockTexx joined forces with two Queensland councils to celebrate World Environment Week.  🌏🌿

Noosa Shire Council and the Sunshine Coast council created an Australian first; by collaborating to bring our Give a Sheet® for the planet event to all their residents in the region.

Our Give a Sheet® for the Planet events ran concurrently across two locations on Sunday 11th June. Reaching over 170,000 households. 

We returned to Noosa for a second year holding the event at Tewantin state school The residents got involved and filled their cars with Towels, sheets and pillowcases. It was a great response diverting the equivalent of 3,300 pillow cases diverted from landfill.

For the first time, Sunshine Coast residents stayed local with their own Give a Sheet® event held at chancellor state college.

The Give a Sheet® for the planet events brought the communities together across the region, everyone had seized the opportunity to clean out their  cupboards and robes. Several donations were a result of people downsizing and moving house. One family managing three car loads of donations!

A special mention for the communities in both states who rallied together to drive their own linen collections ahead of the events.

“Clean out your robe to clean up the globe”

The Hunter’s Hill residents “Gave a Sheet” and got involved!

 Hunter’s Hill council hosted our Give a Sheet® for the planet event on saturday 27th May at the stunning Clarkes point reserve, with the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the city skyline as our backdrop.

The local community got involved and piled into hundreds of cars to complete the quest of “cleaning up their robe to clean up the globe”.  Residents had taken the opportunity to have an early 2023 spring clean and unearthed heaps of used and unloved linen in garages, under beds and even hidden in the roof! 

Many had discovered very old, worn items that were stored for decades, some now considered vintage at 40-50 years old. Not one resident wanted to dispose of them in their garbage bins, storage was the only environmentally responsible option on offer. 

Our GIVE A SHEET® team took the opportunity to answer questions and even an interview or two about BlockTexx, the remanufactured materials we produce and how they are then used by Australian industries. 

 Everyone was impressed by our smart, fun solution for the skeletons in their closets!

Our Give a Sheet® for the planet volunteers – sorting piles of linen on the day

Hundreds of cars showed up on the day full of old, worn out linen discovered in cupboards and under beds.

Another good GIVE A SHEET® for the planet day!

We had our second very successful GIVE A SHEET® for the planet event on Saturday 6th March at the St Ives Showgrounds in North Sydney suppoting Ku-ring-gai council and their community. Vinnies were there to take any good quality Linen items and all the clothing donations.on the day”

It was the perfect start to Autumn, the sun shone and the residents got involved, clearing out their linen cupboards and robes.

The event saw over 600 cars drop off and we received donations from all ages within the community. Many of the residents had been storing their old used linen for years not wanting to dispose of them in their garbage bins or too old and worn for a second life via the charities.

They loved our fun and innovative solution for their household linen.

“I had been collecting and storing my families worn out sheets, towels and pillowcases for years hoping i would find a use for them but there is a limit to how many rags for cleaning the car you can get away with. There is no disposal route for these other than landfill and I could’nt bring myself to put them in the bin. I am so excited to finally have space in my cupboards. Thank you Give a Sheet!”
Simone Barrs Ku-ring-gai resident

There was a steady stream of cars all day and by 3.00pm 2 trucks had been filled with the help of our great GIVE A SHEET® crew of volunteers.

The Ku-ring-gai residents donations allowed us to divert 6000 kgs of old and unwanted linen, sheets, towels and pillowcases from landfill. Thats the equivalent of 8’800 double bed sheets!

All of the collected Cotton and Polyester linen will be sent to our facility in Queensland to be broken down and converted into high-grade raw materials of PolyTexx®, rPET pellets and CellTexx®, cellulosic clay to be used by other Australian industries for new products.

Thanks to everyone that donated and contributed to make it another good Give a Sheet day!