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Left: Eliza Bartlett visiting the JDRF office in London after walking 100 days on the trail

Linden Park local Eliza Bartlett is 800 km from completing her solo 4000 km walking challenge on a trail in Europe to raise awareness and funds for Type 1 diabetes research. The 27 year old St Peter’s Girls’ School Old Scholar, who was nine years old when she was diagnosed with the condition, is taking the trek with only a pair of sturdy boots, walking sticks, and a backpack.

Eliza’s parents, Jane and David (also of Linden Park), have just returned from a trip to check-in with their daughter. “We have just had a short trip to France to visit Eliza,” says Jane. “It was definitely inspirational, even as her parents. She has so much determination and resilience, never complains or beaten by the challenges.”

Eliza’s 4000 km walk started on 1 April in Brindisi, Italy, and will end in Aberdeen, Scotland at the end of September, encompassing the Via Francigena route - an ancient route from Canterbury to Rome that crosses the Swiss Alps and, in medieval times, pilgrims travelled to see the Holy See and the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul.

The Sturt Cricket Club women’s captain that led her team to a 2019 SACA premiership win, Eliza is currently in Watford with 65 km to travel to Birmingham where she will stop to see the 1^st Ashes test before heading to Scotland.

Along the way Eliza must maintain her condition on a daily basis with regular blood sugar testing and insulin management. There is very little room for much in her backpack with half of it devoted to medical supplies to manage her Type 1 diabetes. More information on the trek and how Eliza is managing can be found on her webpage https://www.elizabartlettjdrfwalk.com/about or on Facebook @ElizaBartlettJDRFWalk.

3200 km along, Jane said Eliza is determined to complete this trek. “I do however still think she is a little crazy but it is something she has been determined to do since completing the Adelaide to Melbourne walk 6 years ago,” says Jane.

“Her final destination is Royal Aberdeen Golf Club because of her passion for golf and to ensure she completes more than 4000 km.”

The City of Burnside's waste and resource management subsidiary, East Waste, will lead the way in the recovery and resurgence of recycling after last year’s China Sword shutdown on imports of recycling; and the crisis currently faced by councils in Victoria with the shutdown of a major recycling collection company.

It is the first long-term recycling contract in South Australia since China Sword triggered a recycling crisis throughout Australia and around the world.

East Waste, which collects more than 20 percent of Adelaide’s 120,000 tonnes of kerbside recycling, has struck a ground-breaking recycling contract with resource recovery processor Northern Adelaide Waste Management Authority (NAWMA).

Under the contract, the recyclables that East Waste collects from homes and commercial premises will be processed at the lowest possible cost and with transparent public reporting on where recycling materials end up.

There also is an assurance that all East Waste recycling will be processed within Australia as a result of NAWMA’s commitment to next year achieve 100 percent onshore resource recovery processing.

This is a significant advance in the circular economy that minimises waste and makes the most of community resources.

East Waste is a subsidiary of the Cities of Burnside, Campbelltown, Mitcham, Norwood, Payneham & St Peters and Prospect, the Town of Walkerville and the Adelaide Hills Council. NAWMA is a subsidiary of the Cities of Playford and Salisbury and the Town of Gawler.

The two subsidiaries have agreed to an unprecedented contractual concept in which the risks and the rewards are shared. If gate prices for recycling rise, the benefit is shared and, if prices are depressed, the impost is also shared.

The agreement also provides transparency on where recycling materials end up - a topic that is difficult for private companies as they will not divulge information for reasons of commercial confidentiality.

With NAWMA, there is no such constraint so the partner councils can confidently and openly report to their communities. This transparency provides reassurance to our community that their recycling efforts are honoured all the way up the chain.

Leabrook resident Shannon Napier is the only South Australian to be selected to go on the United Nations Young Diplomats Tour of Europe later this year. Eighteen-year-old Shannon has always been interested in law, is an avid debater and public speaker.

“I have always been interested in social justice, humanitarian issues and the law,” Shannon says.

Her successful application means she will travel to seven countries in Europe, visiting major political and historical sites including The Hague and Auschwitz.

“I am really honoured to have been chosen,” says Shannon. She went through an extensive selection process with 42 other Australians before being chosen for the final 16.

Shannon has been active in United Nations Youth for three years, having attended one national conference and three state conferences. She has met only one of her fellow candidates and will not meet the rest until she arrives at Sydney Airport.

The UN tour heads off on 30 December and takes in Germany, France, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Belgium and the Netherlands.

As for the future, Shannon is applying to the Australian National University in Canberra to study international affairs or a Bachelor of Languages (she is currently studying Year 12 Japanese and Chinese.)

She carefully considered her preference of university and decided ANU in Canberra was her first choice. “The Australian Parliament is just down the road as well as the Department of Foreign Affairs – it’s perfect!”