Campbelltown Environmental Newsletter – March 2015
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What’s on around Campbelltown
Community Produce Swap
In November last year the Campbelltown
Community Produce Swap celebrated its first
anniversary. The Swap was initiated following a
workshop organised by Ann Sharley, Council’s
Community Development Officer, focussed
around edible gardens, community gardens and
food swaps.
Out of that workshop an interested group met to
work out the logistics of starting up a swap in
Campbelltown and Monique Weiher became the
coordinator. The Swap was launched at the same
time as the Zero Waste “Share N Save” website
(www.sharensave.com.au) in November 2013
and has since grown to a very popular monthly
community event.
permanent fixture at future swaps. The
FreeCycle is not strictly a swap (i.e. you don't
swap your 'something' for 'something' else), it's
simply a means to reduce waste and share
unwanted goods with the community. Any goods
not taken will be dropped off to a charity.
The regular produce swap is held on the last
Saturday of every month (excluding December),
at the Rostrevor Baptist Church, on the corner of
Stradbroke and Montacute Rds at Rostrevor.
Tables are set up to drop off your goods from
9.30am, and at 10am, help yourself to what you
need / would like. You can also help yourself to
a cuppa and have a chat with the other swappers.
Please note the next swap will be on the 2nd of
May due to the regular time falling on ANZAC
Day.
In the beginning the swap attracted around a
dozen people each month which has slowly built
to now at least 20 and often close to 30 people
with lots of regulars, including Mayor Simon
Brewer.
The purpose of the produce swap is to provide a
venue where locals can share their extra garden
produce as well as their knowledge and love of
gardening. No cash is exchanged; participants
bring any excess fruits, vegetables, herbs, nuts,
flowers, seeds, seedlings, jams and preserves to
share with the community.
The swaps have since expanded from the
original produce to now including a FreeCycle
table. FreeCycle encourages the re-use of
unwanted items to prevent them going to
landfill. Any items that are no longer needed but
are still in good working condition, such as
kitchen items, books, clean clothing, ornaments,
etc., can become a treasure for a new owner.
This has been such a success it will be a
Waste bus tours
The “Beyond the Kerb” waste bus tours have again
proved extremely popular being booked out even
before they were promoted.
If you would like to go on a wait list to be contacted
when they are organised for next year please contact
Sue Graham on 8366 9208 or at
[email protected].
Hazardous Waste Drop-off Day
Campbelltown Council is partnering with the
Cities of Burnside and Norwood, Payneham &
St Peters to provide FREE household hazardous
waste drop-off days in conjunction with Zero
Waste SA.
The next drop-off day will be on Saturday 2nd
May at the Campbelltown Council Depot from
9am - 3pm.
The depot is at 6 Newton Rd near the corner of
Montacute Road, Campbelltown but access is
via Montacute Rd only.
To find more about this and upcoming drop-off
days, please visit the Zero Waste website at:
www.zerowaste.sa.gov.au/at-home/hazardouswaste/household-hazardous-waste-drop-offtimetables
Recycling Options for Hazardous Waste
Many people bring in oil, paint and batteries to
Hazardous Waste Drop-off days; in fact they make
up about 80% of the volume collected; but there are
other options for their disposal. Along with light
globes and electronics, these items don't need to be
handled by chemical experts because they are of a
less hazardous nature. You can avoid having to line
up for a chemical drop-off day with these options.
Some batteries are made from heavy metals and
harmful elements such as nickel, cadmium, lead and
mercury. Regular alkaline batteries do not contain
these hazardous substances and can be placed in
your blue bin. Campbelltown is now offering
householders a recycling service for the more
hazardous batteries at the Council offices and the
Library. These batteries can also be taken to Battery
World and some of the local recycling facilities like
the Newton Transfer Station, Magill Recycling &
Salvage or Newton Bottle Yard.
For more oil and battery recycling locations, please
visit: www.zerowaste.sa.gov.au/at-home/recycleright
Paint is only hazardous when it is wet. Dry paint is
safe to dispose of in your waste bin. Avoid wasting
paint by carefully calculating the right amount of
paint to buy or giving the paint to someone who can
use it. Harden excess paint by:

Leaving the lid off the can and set it out to
dry.

Pour the paint on cardboard or newspaper in
a thin layer and let it dry.

Mix in equal parts of kitty litter, sand, saw
dust or any other absorbent material and let
dry.

Purchasing a paint hardener from a local
hardware or paint store.
Oil - Householders can drop off used cooking and
motor oils at any time and at no cost at the Newton
Transfer Station, Virginia Road, Newton. This
service is provided FREE to Campbelltown Council
residents in an effort to remove waste oil from the
waste stream and reduce the problems associated
with waste oil in landfills. Once properly collected,
the oil may be refined for re-use. Please bring oil in a
clean, plastic container with a lid. Avoid using paint
cans or other metal containers.
Light Globes - SA householders can drop off end-oflife globes at the checkout counter of any Mitre 10,
Banner or True Value hardware stores for recycling.
Suitable globes include compact fluorescent lamps
and fluorescent tubes, halogen lamps and tubes, and
incandescent globes.
Articles
Get to know your neighbours
Campbelltown Council is working to improve
habitats across our region to better support our
local wildlife.
This time I thought I’d talk about a couple of the
reptiles living in our suburbs and occasionally
visiting our gardens, wood piles and sheds.
Two of the largest and most easily recognised
are the Blue Tongue and the Bearded Dragon.
Blue tongue lizard
One of our most familiar garden visitors is the
Blue-tongue lizard (Tiliqua scincoides
scincoides). Blue-tongues are an asset in the
garden as they keep the numbers of snails,
caterpillars and other pests down.
lizards eat the poisoned snails and die as well.
The snail population will recover, the lizard
population won't. (It's a typical scenario that
replays over and over again wherever people use
chemicals to control pests.) Leave the snail
control to the lizards, they will eventually catch
up. Don't panic if you see a few snails. You need
a few or the blue tongues will go hungry.
The other thing to be careful of is blue tongue
lizards hiding in the grass when you are mowing.
The noise will not scare them away. Rather they
will turn around and threaten the lawn mower
with their blue tongue, which in this case is
somewhat ineffective.
Keep your cat indoors (which you should
anyway), teach your dog to share its food (a
good poke in the ribs whenever it looks in a
lizard's direction has worked well in this
household), and of course, don't run your blue
tongue lizard over on your driveway while it
tries to get warm enough to move.
Blue tongues have a somewhat unusual body
proportions: a big head and long body with very
short legs and small feet. Their evenly tapering
tail is fat and shorter than the body. Male lizards
have a proportionally larger head than females,
but the females are bigger overall. The most
noticeable feature of these lizards is the blue
tongue inside the bright pink mouth.
It's not hard to make your garden blue-tongue
lizard friendly. All they need is plenty of shelter
and food. If you have lots of rocks and logs on
the ground, piles of leaves, mulch, ground covers
and low shrubs, then you are taking care of both
requirements; because beetles, spiders, snails and
other critters will like the many moist and
protected hidey-holes too.
The quickest way to wipe out your blue-tongue
lizard population is to use snail pellets. Blue
tongues love snails and can't go past them. The
Like all reptiles they do not produce any body
heat. Their body temperature depends on the
surrounding temperature and they can be found
sun basking in the mornings or during cooler
days. On cold days they remain inactive in their
shelter. (They need a body temperature of 30 to
35°C to be active.)
Their diet consists of plant matter and small
animals. That can be beetles, caterpillars,
crickets, snails and even other small lizards.
Anything they can get hold of will do. But they
are not very fast, so they usually eat slower
critters. They are very partial to slugs and snails.
Oh, and they steal dog food...
the external ear openings, and running along
both sides of the abdomen.
Blue-tongue lizards have strong jaw muscles to
crush big beetles and snail shells. They may also
bite in defence when they feel threatened.
It ranges from dark grey to almost yellow in
colour and is sometimes reddish-brown,
yellowish-brown, or dark brown. Juveniles are
paler and have patterns that fade as they mature.
The inside of the mouth is generally a bright
yellow colour.
The blue tongue's main defence strategy is bluff:
It faces the threat and opens its mouth. The blue
tongue inside the pink mouth is an unexpected
and vivid sight, designed to frighten off the
attacker. The lizard also hisses loudly and
flattens its body which makes it look wider and
bigger.
If you pick the lizard up now it will bite you.
And it will hurt. Blue tongues have a habit of
latching onto your finger and not letting go,
which leaves you with a nice bruise.
Bearded dragon
Bearded dragons (Pogona barbata) are less
common in the garden but you are quite likely to
see one if you visit Wadmore Park in Athelstone
or go for a walk in Black Hill or Morialta
Conservation Parks.
They are relatively large lizards with adult males
growing to about 60 cm from the snout to the tip
of the tail, while females may reach 50 cm in
length.
Bearded dragons are out and about during the
day. They like to climb and perch on exposed
places such as fence posts, tree branches or logs,
retreating to lower and cooler places when too
hot. The males are territorial and permit only
females and juveniles in their territory.
Dominant males are usually the biggest dragons
and get the highest perches. Females tunnel into
dry earth to lay a clutch of eggs.
When threatened, it inflates its throat and
displays its beard. If further provoked, it opens
its mouth to display the bright yellow colour of
the lining of its mouth.
The bearded dragon feeds on a variety of small
animals, including mice, smaller reptiles, and
insects. In captivity, it also eats leaf vegetables
such as clover and small flowers, fruits, and
berries
When startled Bearded Dragons will often freeze
which makes them susceptible to dog and cat
attack as well as being hit by cars.
I hope this information gives you a little bit more
appreciation for some of our local residents and
maybe think about setting aside some room in
your garden for them.
Their head is large and triangular in shape. The
throat is covered with spiny scales which can be
raised to form an impressive "beard". Several
groups of even longer spiny scales are located at
the back of the head, the corners of the mouth,