Waste
Waste is everything that we do not use and that we throw away. The WRT vision is a waste free world, because to us, waste is a resource that communities should be getting as much value out of as possible.
Think about an ecological system – for instance, our native bush. There, what isn’t needed in one part of the system gets used by another. Unfortunately, in NZ many of the everyday items, such as product packaging, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps, newspapers, appliances, paint, batteries and anything else we decide we don’t want any more end up in a big hole in the ground called a landfill. As a country we put out around 3.2 million tonnes of rubbish every year. That’s over a tonne of rubbish per household each!
Disposing of waste at landfills is a sign that we’re not using our resources efficiently, and are contributing directly to pollution.
To improve the environmental future and change our wasteful ways, we need to start taking responsibility for the waste we produce. The WRT encourages practices that reduce the amount of waste needing to be disposed of, by finding effective and efficient ways to reduce, reuse, recycle or reprocess it.
waste hierachy
The waste hierarchy is a well-known framework for establishing the order of preference for different waste management options. It is based on the cradle-to-grave principle - where the product is followed from its production to its 'grave' or final disposal.
Increasingly the cradle-to-grave model is seen as insufficient alone to create significant change towards a sustainable future. This model is generally product centered, but as concerns about sustainability become broader a whole systems model is emerging. This new ‘cradle-to-cradle’ approach requires things such as transport, occupational health and safety, working conditions and fair trade to be considered as well.
Source reduction, or waste prevention, is designing products to reduce the amount of waste that will later need to be thrown away and also to make the resulting waste less toxic. It is also choosing items that you know can be dismantled and used completely, or will not need to replaced.
The WRT has a long history working in waste minimisation and continues to offer a range of services that can help you cut down your waste.
junk to funk
Junk to Funk
Our recycled art extravaganza is famous on Waiheke. Since 2002 the Waiheke Resources trust has run this community art event where local people create art using recycled materials. It aims to reframe how we think of our resources and considers waste as an opportunity.
Junk to Funk includes a series of construction workshops, a showcase event, and an exhibition of the winning entries.
In the construction clubs local artists and craftspeople tutor participants in using different materials and in designing entries for the showcase.
In the showcase the participants exhibit their entries to an audience consistently numbering in the hundreds. Local performers including dancers, musicians and visual artists are invited to take part in the showcase, alongside the catwalk event and video presentation of the non-wearable entries.
Battery Bins
Your normal household batteries are hazardous waste and if they end up in the landfill leach all sorts of toxic material.
Dispose of your unwanted household batteries by dropping them in the bins located at the WRT office at Artworks in Oneroa, the Hazardous Waste bins at the transfer station in Ostend, Gulf Sound and Vision in Belgium Street, Ostend, and Placemakers in Ostend beside the supermarket.
Composting
On Waiheke, where the soils are often clayey and therefore poor for growing, composting is a useful way of making valuable soil resources. The WRT staff offer advice on how to establish a variety of different composting methods and we have a working worm farm and bokashi system that demonstrate these methods at the Waiheke Resources Centre.