Waste minimisation officer Sally Fraser at a recent presentation about food waste. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Thirteen organisations will share $52,030 from the Waipā Waste Minimisation Community fund for projects as diverse as embedding worm farms into berms to establishing a reusable party supplies hire kit.
Waste minimisation officer Sally Fraser told the Service Delivery committee this week the fund comes from the Ministry for the Environment waste levy to support projects which rethink, redesign and reduce waste in the district.
The fund was oversubscribed.
Fraser said the team engaged with the community twice as much in the financial year ended June 30 than the previous year.
New initiatives included the Slow Fashion Op Shop bus tours which took place again this year in partnership with Matamata-Piako District Council. A full 50-seater bus went to Morrinsville from Waipā and promoted sustainable shopping.
Another new initiative is Zero Waste Periods.
“The waste minimisation team is going to do a multi-year approach to increasing the use of zero waste period products in Waipā, using the waste minimisation funding to give products to women who are willing to try them, alongside education,” said Fraser.
The project started with a workshop in schools where students heard about the period products available and then offered a choice of a washable pad, period underwear or a cup. Zero waste products were left at schools and one deputy principal will keep some for students who are absent when they have their periods.
“(We) will develop a project working with community organisations which we are already connected with, and trusted by, younger women in our community, to provide them with zero waste period products to give to those women they are working with who are interested and keen to try,” said Fraser.
Waste fund applications granted:
- Berm Garden Project: embedding worm farms into new berm gardens on a high pedestrian traffic street and promoting community composting into the worm farms
- ConneXu: developing resources and education programme for people with disabilities to minimise household waste
- Para Kore: helping Kōhanga Reo to transition to reusable nappies
- Paterangi School: upgraded compost bins and chipper for mulching green waste
- Pirongia Community Association: establishing a reusable party supplies hire kit.
- Pollin8: scoping project to develop technology to reduce contamination of household recycling bins
- Roto-o-Rangi School: developing their composting education
- Maungatautari Sanctuary Mountain: replacing tracking cards with trail cameras
- TechLeap: reusing surplus recycled smartphones within a purpose-designed high school technology curriculum
- The Recreators: workshops to divert construction and demolition waste and repurpose deconstructed wood into new products
- Emma’s Farm to Fork: low waste cooking demonstration and workshop
- Love Grow Eat: preserving workshops to minimise food waste
- Heart: a feasibility study for a commercial resource recovery centre.
- A further project of $14,000 was allocated from programme funding to Impact Hub Waikato to deliver wrap-around waste reduction support to two hospitality businesses in Cambridge.
