By ANNA USHER

North Sydney Council wants your empty milk and laundry bottles this August, ready to transform 100 kilograms of recycled plastic into 10 giant North Sydney Christmas beetles for a summer art trail in Ted Mack Civic Park.

Sydney artist Amy Claire Mills and fabricators Defy Design will build the beetles and hide them through the park from December, the centrepiece of the Council’s Big Beetle Summer project running into the new year.

Residents can drop their plastics all through August at the Council Chambers customer service desk on Miller Street and the North Sydney Community Centre at 220 Miller Street, both marked with special Christmas Beetle bins.

It is a ready-made plastic drive for the area’s cafes and restaurants too, which empty crates of milk bottles every week and can put their rigid HDPE 2 containers to good use in the same bins.

Which plastics count

The beetles need rigid HDPE 2 plastic only, the hard, sturdy stuff that will not scrunch or bend, such as milk bottles and laundry liquid bottles. Check the base of the item for the number 2, because anything without a recycling code cannot be accepted.

Bottle lids are welcome, but sort them separately, as they are often a different plastic marked HDPE 2 or PP 5.

Before dropping them off:

• Peel off any labels or stickers
• Give them a simple soapy wash
• Dry them completely
• Bring them to a Christmas Beetle bin at either collection point

Art meets science

Mills said the project will pair sculptures with real citizen science, teaming up with Invertebrates Australia’s Christmas Beetle Count so locals can log beetle sightings on the iNaturalist app. Once the installation comes down, the plastic will be returned to its original state and reused, a working example of the circular economy the Council is pushing.

“Christmas Beetles are such strange, beautiful little creatures. They’re iridescent, shimmering and just a little bit clumsy,” Mills said.

“Through art, community and science, we can help researchers better understand where Christmas Beetles are still thriving and protect their habitats.”

Workshops all summer

Free Beetle Hub workshops will run right through summer, kicking off with a launch event on 5 December in Ted Mack Civic Park. They will feature Mills, Wiradjuri artist Bria McCarthy, Christmas beetle scientist Tanya Latty and sustainability team Defy Design.

Big Beetle Summer beat a competitive field for festive public art that gets the community involved and reflects North Sydney’s character. Workshop dates and registrations go up on the Council website and the project page at amyclairemills.com/bigbeetlesummer.