E-Waste Concerns

In September 2012, digital television will be rolled out across the country.  On Monday night, TV3 News looked at what the changeover will mean for the current hundreds of thousands of televisions not compatible with the impending network.  While some televisions can gain compatibility through the connection of a Free View box, many people will opt for a TV upgrade and throw out their old sets posing issues on how, and where to properly dispose of them. Watch the Video.

Jon Thornhill of RCN, stated that while there are current collection points where televisions can be disposed of correctly, there is a fee for doing so. The fee, Russell Norman from the Green party stated, is reflective of current sole responsibility on the consumer, suggesting that in order to have effective sustainable e-waste disposal, producer responsibility must be enforced.

Something that SIFT whole heartedly agrees with.

SIFT Photo

What is it? Hazardous waste is any waste that presents an immediate or future, physical, chemical or biological threat to humans and/or the environment. In New Zealand, hazardous waste is the product of households, as well as commercial activities, industries and healthcare. The types of hazardous waste vary; they can be waste material that may contaminate or release into the atmosphere through combustion e.g, dioxins.

How is it managed in New Zealand? Hazardous waste can be treated in several ways:
•    Chemically: Waste can be neutralised, undergo oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis and precipitation
•    Physically: Waste can be encapsulated and/or separated
•    Biologically: Through the use of microorganisms
•    Thermally: Waste can be treated through controlled incineration

New Zealand manages the treatment and disposal of hazardous waste through a mix of legislation and regulation, strategy and guideline policies and non-regulatory methods (such as best practice guidelines and public awareness). Though the Resource Management Act 1991 does not directly address hazardous waste management, it is the RMA that grants resource consents and the conditions on the types of hazardous waste that can go to landfill and the designs of the landfill itself to minimise risk.

Information sources:

http://www.oag.govt.nz/central-govt/2005-06/part11

http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/waste/national-definition-tech-paper-oct99.pdf

http://nzic.org.nz/ChemProcesses/environment/14B.pdf

Press article from last Friday tells us that the rubble from the Christchurch earthquake (and there is a lot – 4.25 million tonnes of rubble and 325,000 tonnes of silt) will go to a special Resource Recovery Park in Bottle Lake Forest Park, Burwood in Christchurch where it will be dumped and then sorted – some for reuse. This will help reduce the amount of reusable rubble going to Kate Valley Landfill. No doubt in the months to come there will be millions of more tonnes from buildings that might be structurally sound but the ground isn’t so they will have to come down as well to shore up the foundations. Update – this is being managed by Transpacific Industries Ltd.

Only some of the Bottle Lake Forest Park will be used as a Resource Recovery Centre – the rest will continue to be a great site for bikers and walkers.

More here.

List of accreditated places to take demolition material

The list of buildings that face demolition

Reverse Garbage Image via Re-Nest

Found out about Reverse Garbage (via Re-Nest) and it looks like a great idea that we could use here. It is available in only Brisbane and Sydney at the moment and is run by a non-profit that takes industrial “waste” destined for landfill and sells the items to local communities at discounted (really discounted) prices. There is a long list of the items that they have here and it shows just how many resources could be resused before ending up in landfill. The Super Shed, Waste Exchanges (by council) and Creative Junk are similar.

Watch Reverse Garbage Sydney Commercials.

Sail Christmas Stockings via ReNest

Here are our favourites for this Friday. Happy reading.

All things Christmas:
o    Some words to keep you environmentally friendly where possible this Christmas from Zen Habits
o    Eco-friendly Christmas stockings.
o    Inspirational ideas on how to create recycled gift bows and wreaths

National:
o    Something to know about if you’re planning a trip to the local landfill!
o    Exciting prospects for use of New Zealand landfill gas emissions
o    Engaging consumers on sustainability, proving difficult for businesses from Celsias

International:
o    2.6 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation. Some innovative MIT students have designed a programme which, if successful, will process sanitary waste in the slums of Kenya into energy! Follow their journey
o   The piling of rubbish in Naples.

Have a great waste free weekend.

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.

Source: NY City Department of Parks & Recreation

Source: CETCO Landfill Liners and Caps

Source: NY Mag - Proposed Park Land for Fresh Kills

Just finished the chapter from You Are Here – Exposing the Vital Link Between What We Do and What That Does to Our Planet about Fresh Kills. The largest rubbish dump on land – 2,200 acres with views of the Manhattan skyline. Waste was barged from around New York state to the landfill and at it’s peak it was taking 650 tonnes per day and was 25 metres taller than the Statue of Liberty (source: wiki). It has been closed for nearly a decade but the waste still needs to be processed.  It will be turned into park land over the next thirty years.

2 million tonnes of debris from the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York City were barged to Fresh Kills for sorting and some of this included human remains of which 300 people were identified.

The word “kills” stems from the dutch word “kille” says Thoman M. Kostigen in his book You Are Here. It means “riverbed or water channel” which is much nicer than what I originally thought the name meant.

More here from Wikipedia.

And there is great video here on the history, layers and future of Fresh Kills.

This little green sign was sitting under the matagauri underneath the bronze dog statue at Lake Tekapo. Quietly letting locals and touristsknow that the beautiful area of Lake Tekapo is to kept clean and waste free.

Gina Dempster, Wanaka Wastebusters

As with last week’s Green Collar Job Q&A with Simon from Wanaka Wastebusters we have not actually met Gina Dempster (also from Wanaka Wastebusters) but know that she is doing good green work. Gina looks after the communications for Wanaka Wastebusters, “pretty much anything that needs to be written is my responsibility” she says. That includes advertising, press releases, newsletters, leaflets and the website. “I work two days a week, and love the dynamic, unpredictable and energetic workplace here.”  Before working at Wanaka Wastebusters, Gina was part of the media team for the Green Party in Parliament.

Here are her answers to our Green Collar Job Questions:

1.    What do you do to live more sustainably (with a low impact) in your life?
I try not to throw too much out by recycling, composting, re-using things and fixing them up (although sewing is not my strong point so I have a whole basket of clothes waiting for mending day which never comes). I get satisfaction from finding the perfect second-hand object: old telephone poles to hold our deck up or a pair of nearly new ski pants for my sister. I grow most of our summer veggies and fruit, support local producers and avoid food packaging.

2.    How do you live more sustainably at work?
At Wanaka Wastebusters our work is all about recycling, re-use and challenging people to think about what they really need. Our Green Christmas has been very popular over the last two years, encouraging people to give one-off gifts from our re-use shop. We have just insulated our office which means we get to take off our down jackets in the winter.

3.    What do you think is the biggest environmental issue we need to deal with in Christchurch/New Zealand?
The current mode of thinking that resources are limitless.

4.    What makes you smile?
Watching my four-year-old on his first ever powder run (he crashed all the way down).

5.    What is your biggest pet peeve?
People who think they can’t make a difference, so it’s not worth trying.

6.    What is your favourite colour and why?
Blue – because it’s the colour of the sky and the sea.

7.    Do you have a favourite place in the world? Describe why?
Wanaka . I love seeing the mountains every day, especially against a clear sky at dusk.

8.    What’s your connection to Sift?
Sift and Wanaka Wastebusters are working to minimise waste.

9.    Do you remember your favourite teacher and why they were your favourite?
I think her name was Ms Gore, and she was my teacher in Std 2. I remember we studied medieval history and had a jousting tournament with newspaper swords. I got to be a knight and ride on two of my friends who were the horse – maybe they don’t remember that day so fondly.

10.    What do you want to leave behind?
Happy kids (hopefully grown up by then).  A world that values the earth.

11.    What do you think the future will bring?
Sometimes I think chaos and darkness, but mostly I think communal strength and wiser ways of living.

12.    Who is someone you really admire and why?
Barbara Kingsolver. For writing about things that matter.

13.    What is happening outside your window right now?
It’s nearly dusk and the grey sky shows it’s that time when the temperature plummets. Time to go home and light the fire.

14.    What is your favourite breakfast?
At the moment it’s scrambled eggs and gluten-free toast, or maybe some almonds and fruit.

15.    What is the best piece of advice you can give us?
Once the wave forms, change happens quickly.

Lovely answers – thanks Gina. You can find more about Wanaka Wastebusters and the good work they are doing to reduce waste to landfill here.

Last week I posted about reducing waste to landfill through better work waste management systems and asked our readers to send in their new/innovative/creative waste management systems in their offices. My sister-in law happened across the blog post (cos’ she follows us on Twitter here too) and sent in the above photos and the following comment:

“At my workplace we have recently implemented a strategy which Crown Research Institutes have been doing for a while. In your office you get a large cardboard tray for recycling and a tiny wee box for rubbish. Then you have to empty these yourselves at one of the depots. Unfortunately we don’t currently have a strategy for organics, so the depots only have landfill, glass/plastic, and paper/cardboard. The cleaners no longer empty bins in our offices and only empty these larger communal bins.”

Thanks Nicola. This is a great example of in-office waste managment.