A Melbourne shopping centre is celebrating a more sustainable Christmas this year, with decorations made of recycled materials.
Galleria, located in the Melbourne CBD, had an ambience upgrade recently and interior designer Steph Gooden said she decided to use discarded materials from this redesign to create festive displays.
She also repurposed newspapers from the building’s offices, bottles from the centre’s cafes, and cardboard boxes from Cycles Galleria, The North Face and Kathmandu. The result, which includes large present-like boxes hanging from the ceiling, makes for an eye catching display.
“Once we had finalised the design, we outsourced the wrapping of the decorative boxes to Waverley Industries, a not-for-profit organisation that provides employment for intellectually disabled adults,” said Gooden.
Lisa Fleming, Galleria’s regional centre manager, said the recycled initiative is also focused on raising awareness about charities and causes in the local community. Also featured in the Christmas display is Melbourne’s Christmas Story, a giant book featuring tales of goodwill from Foodbank Victoria, the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, Melbourne Animal Rescue and Waverley Industries.
“Australians are producing an increasing amount of waste, and are set to spend a record $48 billion on Christmas this year,” she said. “So we thought of the idea to recycle reusable materials from our retailers for this year’s Christmas decorations.
“We also wanted to invoke the Christmas spirit of goodwill, which is how Melbourne’s Christmas Story eventuated.”
In line with this, shoppers can attend free ‘lunch and learn’ sessions in Galleria’s food court where they will learn unique ways to help those less fortunate and discover how to have a more sustainable Christmas.
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