Putting a landfill problem ‘to bed’

In partnership with volunteer-run charity West Welcome Wagon, Trinity’s staff have arranged delivery of some 29 mattresses and bed bases from Cowan building to local asylum seekers.

On Monday 23 November, a volunteer team comprised of Trinity staff and members of the public carried mattresses and bed bases out of the Cowan building for loading into trucks.

The coordination efforts required for the initiative involved finding the people to remove the beds from the four-storey building and sourcing transportation. Trucks and logistics were kindly donated by BQS.

According to Trinity staff member Talitha Fraser, who has driven the initiative under the College’s sustainability portfolio, ‘It was great to have the team here today and to know that donating the beds to West Welcome Wagon is not only a sustainable outcome but a great social outcome too’.

Further to the beds in Cowan, an additional 50 beds in a storage unit in Port Melbourne are being processed for possible sale by the Salvation Army.

Says Monica Milne, Large Goods Coordinator at West Welcome Wagon, ‘We are very grateful for the generous donation from Trinity College. The beds will be such welcome pieces of furniture for the people that we assist.’

With sustainability named as one of the College’s flagship programs, this extra effort to re-home the beds where they will do good – not only for the environment but for positive social outcomes – is in alignment with the College’s vision of students, staff and members of the community working together to make sustainability a way of life.

Read more about Trinity Colege's sustainability programs here