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Archive for the ‘Waste Management’ Category
Tuesday, March 15th, 2011 by Admin
It’s hard to think about blogging when the city is still in limbo and people are still taking daily steps to get their businesses (if they still exist) and lives back on track. Eclipsed by the Japanese disaster the changes that have occured in our city are still awfully sad and depressing – it has been three weeks and there is still a very long way to go.
SIFT is still moving forward though with current projects and new ones coming through the pipeline – hopefully some we can talk about soon for some positivity.
We are still on the look out for anything interesting that we can add to this blog and this morning I came across this awesome piece of new packaging from American green cleaning company Seventh Generation (read more of the article here on Re-Nest (links through to their source USA Today)).
The container is made from recycled cardboard and newspaper (the lid is still plastic) but this is a fantastic leap forward away from using plastic and something that could be done here in NZ. A type of packaging that we need more of across all plastic packaging lines – if it can be done with laundry liquid it can be done with all other cleaners, pet food and even cosmetics. And depending on what is inside the packaging maybe it could be compostable/biodegradable as well.
This is great!
 Seventh Generation Laundry Liquid via ReNest via USA Today Read more on the great specs of this new packaging.
Tags: blogging, cardboard, christchurch, Earthquake, packaging, Recycled, renest, Seventh Generation
Posted in Business & Sustainability, Waste Management | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011 by Admin
Spotted this news story on TV3 the other night from Jessica Rowe (who interviewed me for the Agpac Plasback story in the new year (but I didn’t make it on screen!)). The amount of perishable goods in stores in the buildings that still have not been or can not be accessed are probably long past their expiry date and without power to keep them cool they will be long past their smelling okay date too. There is a lot of mixed waste going to landfill that just can’t be separated – demolition waste mixed with organics and general rubbish mixed with householder organics. It is just another step on the road to recovery for Christchurch.
The story does have a rat focus (which in itself is interesting) but it does highlight the probably amount of rubbish that is sitting in the middle of the CBD and has been since the earthquake.
Fears rats could take over CBD text
Video Link
Information & Links from Canterburyearthquake.org.nz
Tags: christchurch, collection, Earthquake, rats, refuse, rubbish, TV3
Posted in Waste Management | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011 by Admin
Thousands of tonnes of silt were brought to the surface of the land in Christchurch during a process called liquefaction. This has seen many residents with helpers and City Care crew sholving the silt into the roads. It was then picked up by the council (with the aim of clearing the streets of it by Friday) and taken to a site in Burwood. They have cleared 120,000 tonnes (and its a heavy tonne say those who have shovelled!) and expect to clear another 60,000. You can read more here in the story from The Press (by Shane Cowlishaw).
Just one of the many “wastes” that we now have from the earthquake. I guess the building rubble will be next.
 Silt Mountain at Burwood Source: The Press
Tags: christchurch, Earthquake, mountain, Silt, waste
Posted in Waste Management | No Comments »
Monday, February 7th, 2011 by Admin
 New SIFT Trustee Darren Patterson Darren Patterson starts as a new trustee for SIFT this month. He has a wealth of experience within the waste industry, with 10 years working at ECan looking after various aspects of the Waste Portfolio – the Pollution Prevention Programme, managing and implementing the Canterbury Hazardous Waste Management Strategy and general advice and guidance for the council on waste management. Darren now runs his own consultancy PattersonEnvironmental. He is also an active board member of WasteMinz. We look forward to working with him more to help support our charity’s goals and endeavours.
Welcome to the team Darren.
Read more on Darren here and check out the Green Collar Jobs Q&A he did for us last year here.
Posted in Green Collar Jobs Q&A, SIFT, Waste Management | No Comments »
Friday, January 7th, 2011 by Admin
Yesterday TV3 interviewed me for a story on the Agpac Plasback Product Stewardship Scheme. Unfortunately, my bit and a mention of SIFT was not used in the story. But, it is still a good story from Jessica Rowe and great promotion for the Plasback Product Stewardship Scheme.
Story text.
Video.
Tags: agpac, farm plastics, Plasback, recycling, rural, SIFT, TV3
Posted in Business & Sustainability, SIFT Projects, Waste Management | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 5th, 2011 by Admin
We’re back and ready to go! Hope you had a great holiday and a happy new year.
Lots of plans at SIFT for 2011 but mostly we will keep on doing what we did last year: providing vital financial assistance to projects that reduce waste to landfill for Canterbury. Hopefully though there will be an increased awareness of the need to reduce consumption first and foremost (and secondly to demand more environmentally healthy package i.e. less plastic). This, by far, is the quickest and easiest way to reduce the amount of waste that is produced.
Here is a quick look back at our favourite/most interesting blog posts from 2010:
Phew – what a year! Looking forward to seeing what 2011 will hold for us both locally, nationally and globally. Don’t forget to check out all the great links from the regular Friday Favourites and the Green Collar Job Q&A’s from earlier in the year.
Tags: 2011, Blog posts, happy new year, our favourites, plastic, reduce, SIFT, Sustainable Initiatives Fund Trust, waste
Posted in Pratical Action, SIFT, Sustainability Resources, Waste Management | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010 by Admin
Back in November there was a TedX on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the US organised by the Plastic Pollution Coalition. Beth Terry from Fake Plastic Fish was a speaker at that TedX conference and she has now posted the list of speakers with links to the videos including her own which is great. We have watched a few and so far our favourites are:
And these are only a handful. There are still many we have yet to watch. But, just these further the desire to create a life with less plastic. Less plastic being produced, less plastic being wasted, less plastic pollution. It is no longer right or ethical to pollute the earth and harm other species and ecosystems and waste resources as we do.
And with only a few days of Christmas it’s time to think and say “We have enough!”.
Tags: David de Rothschild, Dianna Cohen, environment, Fake Plastic Fish, justice, plastic, pollution, TedX Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Van Jones
Posted in Other Sustainable Initiatives, Pratical Action, Sustainability Resources, Waste Management | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010 by Admin
 Love your coast Tomorrow, Wednesday 8th December 2010, is Christchurch’s turn to take part in Love Your Coast day – an ongoing movement to clean up our coastlines. A lot of waste (lots of plastic) washes up on our shores each year endangering the local flora, fauna and wildlife. This is an opportunity for all to get involved and give our beautiful coast a clean-up. The Heathcote and Avon Rivers, the Estuary and New Brighton are the focus. Join the masses and help keep our coasts clean. The events are supported by Keep NZ Beautiful, Sustainable Coastlines, Te Wai Pounamu Foundation and The Sir Peter Blake Trust.
More information here.
Posted in Events, News on Sustainability, Pratical Action, Sustainability in Action, Waste Management | No Comments »
Monday, December 6th, 2010 by Admin
 SIFT 2010 Christmas Tree The 100% Recyclable and Compostable Christmas Tree
Here at the Sustainable Initiatives Fund office we enjoy getting in the Christmas spirit while implementing our core values of sustainability and minimisation of wastestreams. For these reasons, it was fitting for our office Christmas tree to be one which embodies the three R’s, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
The ‘tree’ is made from bamboo shoots and assembled with unbleached twine. We created our own decorations by using outdated business flyers: creating stars, Christmas chain and even a little angel. The decorations were held together and hung with cotton and we added small torn calico bows and finished the look off with a tree-topping star made from old office file dividers. Through creativity we have made a 100% recyclable and compostable* Christmas tree. The finishing product was so good that it will be the face of SIFT’s 2010 Christmas card!
Let us know how you are reducing your waste this Christmas.
Tags: Christmas, Christmas Tree, consumption, recycle, reduce, SIFT, sustainable initiatives, sustainable living, waste
Posted in Business & Sustainability, Pratical Action, SIFT Projects, Sustainability in Action, Waste Management | No Comments »
Monday, November 22nd, 2010 by Admin
Spotted this great poster on the Good USA site – The Self-Repair Manifesto from ifixit.com. Definitely truths to live by in order to reduce our waste to landfill.
It reads:
We hold these truths to be self-evident
Self- Repair Manifesto:
Repair is Better than Recycling – Making our things last longer is both more efficient and more cost effective than mining them for raw materials.
Repair saves the planet. Earth has limited resources and we can’t run a linear manufacturing process forever. The best way to be efficient is to reuse what we already have!
Repair saves you money. Fixing things is often free, and usually cheaper than replacing them, doing the repair yourself saves serious dough.
Repair teaches engineering. The best way to find out how something works is to take it apart!
If you can’t fix it, you don’t own it! Repair connects people and devices, creating bonds that transcend consumption. Self repair is sustainable.
Repair connects you with your things. Repair empowers and emboldens individuals. Repair transforms consumers into contributors. Repair inspires pride in ownership. Repair injects soul and makes things unique. Repair is independence. Repair requires creativity. Repair is green. Repair is joyful. Repair is necessary for understanding our things. Repair saves money and resources.
We Have The Right: To open and repair our things without voiding the warranty to devices that can be opened, to error codes and wiring diagrams, to troubleshooting instructions and flowcharts, to repair documentation for everything, to choose our own repair technician, to remove ‘Do not remove’ stickers, to repair things in the privacy of our own homes, to replace any and all consumables ourselves, to hardware that doesn’t require proprietary tools to repair, to available, reasonable priced service parts.
There is another equally great Repair Manifesto here by Dutch Design collaborative Platform 21.
Put either one of these in your kitchen junk drawer and garage and remember that to repair something you own stops waste going to landfill and creat that bond that transcends consumption.
Tags: diy, Good USA, landfill, reduce, Self Repair Manifesto, waste
Posted in Other Sustainable Initiatives, Pratical Action, Sustainability in Action, Waste Management | No Comments »
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