Gardening waste - the problem with pots

In each article, we'll be examining ways to minimise waste from the garden with tips from members of the Geelong West Community Garden.

If you look in the sheds and greenhouses of most gardeners, chances are somewhere you will turn up a stack of black plastic plant pots.

This is a dilemma that Geelong West Community Garden member, Rosemary Nugent can readily identify with:

I always have too many pots and I think: What do I do with these?

While black plastic pots are made of rigid plastic and are ubiquitous in plant nurseries, they cannot be recycled as optical sorting machines are unable to detect the colour black.

Equally, they should never go in your green-lidded garden waste bin as they will contaminate the compost we produce.

Here are some tips to help you shrink the tower of pots in your garden.

Reduce what you buy

The number one tip Geelong West Community Garden members suggest to minimise your pots is to raise your plants from seeds or cuttings wherever possible.

Michael Ostojic, who has been a member of the garden since it opened in 1985, saves seeds from his vegetable garden each year to raise either as seedlings, or plant out directly.

This way of planting the garden has added benefits as he can choose seeds from plants that suit his plot, improving the chance of a successful harvest next year.

He can also properly space the seeds in seedling trays to minimise root damage when he transplants, and he always has plenty of plants to share with other garden members.

I like to share.

Brian Voysey, also a garden member, reuses small brown pots to raise his own seedlings indoors while he waits for the weather to warm up. Once they're a certain size, he transfers them to the onsite greenhouse before planting them out in his garden plot.

And then I take the pots home and reuse them next time.

If you don't have pots or seedling trays, choose cardboard pots that can be directly planted in the garden, or reuse egg cartons, toilet rolls or newspaper in the same way.

Return your pots to point of sale

A new scheme called PP5 has started setting up collection points for both plastic plant pots and plant labels at the nurseries that sell them.

Bunnings also now offers plant pot and label recycling at many stores. Find your closest participating store.

Share with others and reuse what's left

Some pots, like ceramic decorative pots can't be placed in your recycling bin or returned to store for recycling. Before throwing out these pots, offer them to friends, family, neighbours, schools or community groups. You could also try posting them on Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree. And if you pick up someone else's free pots, keep in mind they really need to be properly cleaned before you use them again.

If you've exhausted all other avenues, take them to your closest resource recovery centre or, as a very last option, put them in your landfill bin.