Meet the recycling hero fighting for disability awareness and inclusion

Meet the recycling hero fighting for disability awareness and inclusion

    By Jennifer McMillan  February 1st, 2023

    Josh is a 25-year-old man who was born with cerebral palsy. He is on a mission to inspire his 12,000 Twitter followers to play their part in recycling.

    Share

    Living with a disability Josh uses numerous medical consumables every day. Items include latex gloves, foam dressings, baby wipes, steel tins and other medical items. Of all the consumables, only the steel tins are recyclable and the rest end up in landfill. 

    Frustrated by the high number of unavoidable medical consumables he saw going to landfill, Josh was inspired to keep recyclable materials in circulation for as long as possible. With the help of his carer Ben and mother Neeva, he started his recycling journey to inspire others through positive environmental actions.  

    Last year, Josh started ‘Josh’s Jobs’, a service where he visits local businesses in his hometown of Perth to collect a variety of recyclable items to dispose them correctly. Items include printer cartridges, polystyrene, bottles and cans. Josh also shreds unwanted and classified paper documents donating them to animal shelters.  

    Josh’s carer Ben says, “Recycling Near You has been a one stop shop to find out what can go where”.

    This year, Josh plans to expand his operations to offer recycling for clothing through H&M, batteries and cartridges through Officeworks as well as cans and bottles with Containers for Change (Western Australia's container deposit scheme).  

    Josh is hoping to inspire his large Twitter following to play their part in recycling and show that anyone can be a catalyst for change. 

    Find out more about product stewardship schemes and become a changemaker in your community, just like Josh.  

    Share

    Positive Actions

    Jennifer McMillan

    Jen worked as a vet nurse while studying environmental science and completing her master's degree in Journalism. She loves bushwalking, storytelling, caring for baby animals, Australian birds and river red gums. Jen works on the National Tree Day campaign and Planet Ark's Seedling Bank.

    Stay up to date

    Whether you're looking for positive inspiration at home, at work or in the community you’ll find something in our suite of e-newsletters.