Rising property prices across Queensland are leading many parents to wonder if their kids will ever be able to afford to buy a home, so one young man is taking matters into his own hands – at the ripe old age of eight.
Cooper Riri, local resident of AVID Property Group’s (AVID) Brentwood Forest community, has set himself an ambitious goal to save enough money for a house deposit before he finishes high school.
While he’s too young to get a job, Cooper has been doing rubbish runs with his father, Karl Riri, since mid-2018 to trade in his neighbours’ rubbish for cash.
“Cooper and I regularly go around our community and local businesses to collect items which can be recycled, reused and resold,” Mr Riri said
“This includes materials like scrap metal, furniture and most recycling bottles for the Containers for Change scheme.
“The response from the community has been wonderful, Cooper now has about 11 regular customers he collects recyclable rubbish from.”
Since starting his recycling project Cooper has been able to save more than $1,500 towards his first home deposit – a significant achievement for the young man.
As well as saving for his goal, Cooper’s activities are having a positive impact on the environment.
“Collecting recyclable rubbish helps me to get closer to my goal as well as help our environment,” Cooper said.
“By recycling as much as we can it means less stuff will end up in land fill, and the more we can do to help the environment the better off our country and world will be when I am an adult.”
AVID Development Manager Queensland Peter MacLeod said AVID wanted to be able to bring awareness to Cooper’s project.
“When AVID heard about Cooper and his recycling project, we wanted to support him by raising awareness in and around our Brentwood Forest community,” Mr MacLeod said.
“It is truly inspiring to see one of our youngest residents doing their part in protecting our community from plastic and rubbish pollution.”
To follow Cooper on his recycling journey, visit www.facebook.com/number1recyclingkid
