Zero Waste Festival
PRESENTED BY FED SQUARE AND ZERO WASTE VICTORIA
Meet like-minded people, discover practical zero-waste ideas, and learn life skills like repair and mending for more sustainable living.
Get inspired to live more sustainably at the Zero Waste Festival – a free, family-friendly event and highlight of our annual RESET spring festival that brings together community, innovators and changemakers.
The daylong program features an entertaining and thought-provoking line-up of speakers and panel discussions; swap and DIY repair activities to help keep items out of landfill; and a Zero Waste exhibition, where you can meet businesses, community groups, recyclers and innovators championing zero waste and sustainability initiatives.
New this year is the ReWear Runway, showcasing reclaimed materials made into wearable garments.
Food and drink vendors committed to sustainable practices will be onsite to keep you fed, caffeinated or hydrated, as you discover practical solutions for reducing waste and rethinking how we make, use and reuse the things in our everyday lives.
Presented as part of RESET – a free festival for grounding and growing.
Drop into The Edge to hear from a lineup of special guests, leading sustainability innovators and community champions for a day of thought-provoking discussions, innovative ideas, and practical solutions to tackle waste head-on. Arrive early for Australia’s favourite garden gnome, Costa, to celebrate the launch of his new book Costa’s Garden: Fruit. Additional sessions include “Everyday Sustainability”, “Rethinking Plastic”, a zero-waste mystery box cook-off demonstration, and a discussion about the environmental impacts of AI data centres.
Most activities drop-in, all-day | Atrium + The Edge
Bring your broken things and your clothes which need mending for the Repair Café and Mending Circle. Learn how to ‘Stitch it, Don’t Ditch it’. Swap clothes, books, and fabrics, drop off your hard to recycle items and get hands-on with zero waste DIY crafts and activities. Most activities are drop-in; however, bookings are required for the Repair Cafe and Mending Circle.
All day | Atrium
Visit the exhibition in the Atrium at Fed Square to meet local businesses, community groups, recyclers, and changemakers who are driving zero waste and sustainability initiatives. Explore, and stop for a chat to find fresh inspiration to make a positive impact in your everyday life.
6.30pm–7.30pm | The Edge
The ReWear Runway reimagines what fashion can be by celebrating the creativity of transforming reclaimed and upcycled materials into wearable fashion.
As part of the Zero Waste Festival, this inaugural event showcases garments created from reclaimed, repaired, reused, and repurposed materials. Through creativity, reconstruction, and reuse, the ReWear Runway highlights practical and inspiring alternatives to wasteful fashion consumption, demonstrating how fashion can be environmentally conscious and stylish.
