As part of the My Smart Garden program, CERES Olives to Oil Westside helps turn locally harvested olives into olive oil with a series of fun and family friendly festival events. “Wonderful event! Love the spirit of it, people seemed so happy collecting their oil. So well organised bravo!”
Many community members struggle to make use of bountiful olive trees in the backyards or nature strips, with one participant saying ‘“We moved into a rental that has a massive olive tree. It seems such a waste to do nothing with them!”
CERES Olives to Oil provides an easy way to locals to turn their olives into fresh olive oil, at the same time as reducing local food waste and its associated greenhouse gas emissions.
Residents dropped off locally harvested olives at one of two Olive Drop-Off Days located in Newport and Sunshine, which featured children’s activities and live music from local musicians.
In early June, participants picked-up their fresh olive oil at a vibrant Festival Day held in Yarraville. This festival featured short educational gardening workshops, an olive-press demonstration, live music, food trucks, community group stalls, council stalls and fun children’s activities.
An estimated 1500 people attended and a total of 10,738kg of olives were harvested, producing 1660L of fresh olive oil which was distributed amongst participants, volunteers, and several community groups. That’s an estimated 10.7 tonnes of food waste diverted from landfill which avoided 21.4 tonnes of carbon emissions (the equivalent of burning 9400L of petrol).
My Smart Garden is a free educational gardening program that offers workshops, articles and a monthly newsletter that teaches people how to grow food, shelter their home from the sun and wind, create homes for native plants and animals, and use water wisely in their garden.
“The event is FABULOUS, there is always such a terrible mess from the olive trees in my neighbourhood, I was overjoyed to reduce this mess, reduce waste and save money. The oil is delicious and I use it everyday. I met many neighbors that I had not previously known and now feel much more connected to my neighbourhood than I did before.”
This program was delivered in partnership between CERES and Brimbank, Hobsons Bay and Maribyrnong Councils.
