Vinnies Victoria is one of the most well-recognised and highly regarded charitable organisations in Australia and in Victoria. Vinnie has over 100 opportunity shops in Victoria offering a wide range of pre-loved clothing, household items, furniture and bric-a-brac and now, electrical items. By using profits from the sale of goods, they’re able to provide crucial material and financial support to people in need.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), e-waste is considered one of the fastest-growing types of waste. Vinnies Victoria has 111 shops across the state, relying on donations for the charitable opportunity shops. With the high volume of donations typically received, not all of their shops were equipped to accept and re-sell electrical donations due to a lack of trained staff to safely test & tag.

Vinnies Victoria saw e-waste as a priority and opportunity while understanding that if they are able to expand the practice of test & tagging, there will be immense benefits to the community, environment and shop revenue. Vinnies Victoria is always seeking new initiatives to help reduce its environmental footprint. Vinnies Victoria’s new leading marketing campaign, ‘Green Sparks, ’ establishes the organisation as the largest reseller of pre-loved quality electrical items in Australia.

Education was one key element for the measurable success of Green Sparks, supported by an 18-month rolling marketing plan to increase recruitment of volunteers, promoting the type of electrical items able to be donated and sold pre-loved electrical, aiding the rising cost of living. It has effectively informed the public on the impact of e-waste and the best ways to dispose of broken or unsaleable items safely and in an environmentally sensitive and legal manner.

Since introducing Green Spark, in the last year, Vinnies has committed to ensuring all shops have trained, certified test & tag volunteers, accepting and re-selling electrical items. Previously, Vinnies Victoria diverted 60,000 electrical items per year from landfill. Now, with the roll-out of the Green Sparks Campaign will be diverting 120,000 units from landfill. Hence, Green Sparks has reduced waste generation and non-organic material going into landfill.

For information about Vinnies Victoria, visit svdp-vic.org.au