Published on 24 November 2023

Go green with new sustainability rebates

Onkaparinga residents can now apply for a range of rebates for sustainability products and services—helping you to go green for less.

The City of Onkaparinga’s 2023–24 Sustainability Rebates program is an extension of an inaugural trial program in April, which was launched to encourage residents to reduce the amount of waste they were sending to landfill and to tackle street litter. The inaugural trial included reusable cloth nappies, sanitary items, food scrap caddies and bin latches.

Back by popular demand, the latest program includes some of these items again, as well as eight additional rebate categories, including rainwater tanks, EV charging stations, indigenous plants and switching gas appliances to electric.

Applications are now open in the following categories, with eligible applications assessed on a first-come, first-served basis until the funding pool for each category is fully expended, or when the year has concluded (*denotes new rebate categories for 2023–24):

• Reusable cloth nappies (50 per cent up to a maximum $100)
• Reusable sanitary (and incontinence) items (50 per cent up to a maximum $100)
• Switch from dark to light roof (50per cent up to $150)*
• Housing insulation (50 per cent up to $150)*
• Rainwater tank purchase (50 per cent up to $150)*
• Indigenous plants (50 per cent up to $50)*
• EV charging station (50 per cent up to $200)*
• Switching gas appliances to electric (50 per cent up to $200)*
• Energy monitoring (50 per cent up to $100)*
• Home energy assessments (50 per cent up to $100)*

The council will also continue to offer composting at home subsidies (i.e. 50 per cent of composting systems bins, worm farms and bokashi) and the subsidised purchase of bin latches for 50 per cent of the recommended retail price.

Visit the Sustainability Rebates webpage to read the terms and conditions and find out more before applying.

City of Onkaparinga Environmental Sustainability Officer Tracy Fulton said the new rebate categories and program extension were about further incentivising Onkaparinga residents to reduce their impact on the environment.

“With the cost of living continuing to put pressure on Onkaparinga’s households and the ever-present need to be climate-ready, our Sustainable Onkaparinga Facebook posts and workshops program help encourage and educate residents on how to be energy and water-smart,” she said.

“These initiatives also help residents consider making changes at home that could save them money in the long term to reduce their bills. But the gap we’ve had until now has been how to help them take the next steps.

“The extended Sustainability Rebates program is aimed at bridging that gap, with our elected members having approved the trial’s extension following the Council’s declaration of a climate emergency in January.”