We provide these organisations with resources and advice on how they can help educate their members on recycling and the benefits of reducing the amount of waste we produce.

We can visit your organisation or group and discuss with you the aims of the Waste Resource Trust. Contact us to find out how we can help.

Some community organisations have already initiated recycling projects. The Retirement Village is one example - they have set up a community worm farm, that all members of the Village can benefit from.

The Waste Resource Trust are actively involved in community activities. The biggest community event on Waiheke is the Junk to Funk fashion show, where people are encouraged to create garments from recycled materials.

In June 2002 – three months into the  WRT's education programme - the WRT staff were approached by three local mothers who offered themselves as volunteers to promote the waste minimization message by running construction workshops with children at the local schools and early childcare centres to help them create wearable creations from waste. The workshops and construction activity culminates in an evening performance and awards night. 

The Junk to Funk Recycling in Action project was initially seen as a way to involve the schools and the creative elements of the community in a process that would get them 'up close and personal' with stuff we would otherwise discard and is now seen as the coolest way to get people to rethink their attitudes to waste. 

The objectives of the Junk to Funk project have are:

1)  To raise awareness of waste through workshops within the education sector on Waiheke that enable participants to create wearable are which also promotes collaborative work between groups and adults and children.

2)  To engage local businesses in philanthropic and environmental activities and enhance our community’s social capital by endorsing and recognizing their sponsorship relationships with Junk to Funk.

3)  To make the possibilities of waste reduction and recycling palatable, accessible, do-able and fun by showing how through workshops and the catwalk event.

4)  To strengthen the sense of community identity by holding the celebration/catwalk event in such a way and at a venue where all our people feel involved.

5)  To celebrate and reward the efforts of all who participate by 1) offering prizes; 2) giving certificates to all who participated and 3) public thank-yous and certificates to sponsors, donors and judges and participants.

6)  To encourage volunteerism by making participation in the mentoring process and the event management fun and rewarding.

The project has become an annual fixture. Our volunteers - with help from the WRT staff - have run the event for three years in a row and each year the response from the community has been greater than the year before: In 2003 we had 41 entries, 150 children involved in workshops, around 750 people in the audience on the night, a volunteer pool of 15 adults and $4000 cash prizes donated by local businesses. In 2004 that had increased to 360 children involved in workshops, 94 entries, over 1000 people in the audience, $5100 in prizes from local businesses and the volunteer pool increased to 30. 

Last year we added a marquee to the primary school hall (the largest venue on the island) to make it bigger for the audience. There were 101 entries, over 400 children involved in workshops, and $4750 in cash prizes from local businesses, around 1300 people in the audience and our volunteer pool has increased to about 50 adults.

Volunteers are crucial to this project.  Our objectives mention ‘fun’ twice – and we suspect that having fun is essential – not only because it keeps our volunteers engaged – but also because the children (and adults too) are more likely to actively participate.

Our volunteer pool has grown over the three years of the project and this may be because the projects success has made it an attractive option for people to donate their time (and in the case of local businesses their money and goods and services too!) These volunteers contribute not only their time and skills to our cause but have also become walking talking advertisements for the reduce-reuse-recycle message. Their input has meant we are able to try new and wacky things – for example our Christmas parade entries which have included not only last year's Shopping Trolley Marchers but also Wheelie Bin Marchers - promoting recycling - (2003) and parade entries involving Junk to Funk costumes (2002 and 2004).

Junk to Funk itself has now become a ‘brand’ and we have noticed that many people on the island are keen to seek an association with it.  It has become a shorthand message for reducing and reusing waste

Aside from donations for prizes and goods, services and labour the Junk to Funk project is funded by Auckland City Council Creative Communities, Auckland City Council Local Funding and Zero Waste NZ Trust. Every year at the conclusion of the event the Junk to Funk team have conducted a stakeholders analysis and evaluation process. This has informed our subsequent projects and ensured an accurate and truthful accountability process for our funders and our community.

Click here for more information on Junk to Funk.

Happy recycling!