In a sunlit office at the City of Kwinana, Emily Tomsett is reimagining the way communities think about waste.

“If people are the problem, then they can also be the solution,” she said.

As the council’s Circularity Lead, her job is part educator, part systems designer, and part community builder. But her journey began in a high school classroom, where art and biology sparked a lifelong curiosity about how the world works.

“Circularity is about creativity, designing systems differently, and learning from nature,” Emily said.

“Looking back, art and biology were my early ways of exploring that.”

That exploration deepened at Murdoch University, where she first enrolled in Marine Science. But the path wasn’t linear.

“I left, went travelling, and ended up giving tours of advanced waste facilities at the Southern Metropolitan Regional Council,” she recalled.

That was the turning point – I absolutely fell in love with waste.

That might sound unusual, but in her eyes, waste is a window into human behaviour and system design.

She returned to Murdoch to study Sustainability alongside Social and Developmental Psychology – a combination that allowed her to tackle the “wicked problem” of waste from both technical and human angles.

This led her to a career in local government, first at the City of Rockingham and then at the City of Kwinana where she’s been since 2021. From community clothes swaps to circular education programs, Emily’s work is focused on creating systems that are not only sustainable but also deeply human.

“We know there are enough clothes already in circulation to clothe the next six generations,” she said.

“So, we run and encourage free community clothes swaps. These not only tackle the textile waste crisis but also create opportunities for people to connect.”

The award-winning Street-by-Street program at the City of Kwinana is another community waste initiative that demonstrates her approach. Here, Emily has reimagined the humble wheelie bin as a touchpoint for connection, transforming waste education into conversations that build community at the street level.

Now, more than a decade into her career, Emily is back at Murdoch again – this time studying Design Thinking.

“Design is the most important part of the waste hierarchy,” she explained.

If we get the design part right at the very beginning, we don’t have to spend so much energy fixing the downstream mess.

She believes this connection is the antidote to waste – and many other challenges that communities face.

“Waste is really just a symptom of an unhealthy ecosystem,” she said.

“The remedy is human connection and shared responsibility. When communities share resources, make things go further, and come together – even just sitting down for a meal – it creates connection.”

Emily doesn’t just advocate for creating authentic connections as a form of advocacy in words – she lives it, through mentoring the next generation of waste educators.

“I have an engagement officer working with me now, also a Murdoch graduate,” she said.

“Watching her get excited about waste and grow into an emerging leader in the industry is the thing that makes me most proud.”

As she continues her studies, Emily’s conviction and vision is clear – inspiration spreads faster than information, she says, and creating meaningful change begins with valuing what truly matters.

“For me, it all comes down to connection over consumption, and inspiration over information,” she said.

“We need more meaningful moments that nourish our souls, not more stuff and processed, packaged food that harms our health and the planet.”

Emily’s message to those who want to make a difference is simple: start with small connections and start now.

“The path to a circular future isn’t more stuff, it’s small acts of connection that add value to our lives, our communities, and our planet.”