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Posts Tagged ‘recycle’
Thursday, February 25th, 2010 by Admin
It’s a beautiful sunny end-of-summer day here in Christchurch (New Zealand). Back to blog posts now after concentrating on the new website. If you haven’t already go for a spin and check out what SIFT is all about. Lots of great projects that are making a difference to reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill. We also have a few projects in the pipeline we are really excited about.
The deadline for the government’s Waste Minimisation Fund is 5pm on Monday. If you miss out and have a project focussed on Canterbury try applying to SIFT.
In the meantime here are the favourite links we have found from around the world:
That should keep you all going for a while. Have a great weekend.
 Suitcase Chairs via The Violet Hours via Apartment Therapy
Tags: community, consumption, diverting waste from landfill, environment, environmental sustainability, landfill, plastics, recycle, recycling, SIFT, sustainability, sustainable living, waste, Waste Management
Posted in Friday favourites, Sustainability Resources, Sustainability in Action, Waste Management | No Comments »
Thursday, February 4th, 2010 by Admin
An often blogged about business that is taking a lead on selling products with little or no packaging is London’s Unpackaged store. Set up in 2006 to provide a better way to sell food you can only purchase items if you bring your own refillable storage containers with you. There are some items in cans and glass that can be recycled for purcahse and we love the wooden crates and super large paper bags that contain a range of fruit and vege. They only stock products that are good for the environment. As they say on their website recycling will not be enough to reduce the amount of packaging waste that goes to landfill so we need to consume items with little or no packaging first – again it’s about reducing our consumption to reduce our waste.
 Source: Unpackaged  Source: Unpackaged  Source: Unpackaged  Source: Unpackaged For those living in Christchurch Piko (and Lyttle Piko in Lyttleton) is probably the closest wholefoods store that we have that also has a policy of bring your own refillable containers. Last year they celebrated their 30th birthday and are now a favourite of many who live sustainably. As well as great bulk produce (some organic) they have a great range of seeds (for growing your own produce – no packaging), fair trade goodies and organic goods. There is some packaging but most can be recycled. If you need to use a bag they have brown paper bags which can go straight in the compost.
Keep a look out for other ways to shop with less packaging – visit farmer’s markets, fruit and vege stores that package in old cardboard boxes, grow/make your own, reusable bags for the supermarket (especially reuse those plastic bulk bin bags) and recycle what packaging you do get. And for businesses – start looking at the amount of packaging you produce for your product (or service) and think of ways to reduce or provide packaging that can be recycled (or returned to you for recycling as part of a Product Stewardship scheme) or better yet – can you do without packaging?
Reduce First, Reuse Second, Recycle Third and then only landfill if you really have to.
Tags: community, landfill, packaging waste, Piko, recycle, reduce, reuse, sustainable, sustainable living, unpackaged, waste
Posted in Sustainability in Action, Waste Management | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 by Admin
 Catherine Gibson - SIFT's bookeeper This weeks Green Collar Job Q&A is with Catherine Gibson who assists SIFT in what it does by keeping the books and accounts in order. Thanks Catherine!
1. What do you do to live more sustainably (with a low impact) in your life?
Recycle, recycle, recycle! Walk when I can and have a vegetable garden.
2. How do you live more sustainably at work?
Recycle and bring lunch from home.
3. What do you think is the biggest environmental issue we need to deal with in Christchurch/New Zealand?
Pollution, waste and hazardous substances.
4. What makes you smile?
Puppies and babies.
5. What is your biggest pet peeve?
Arrogant drivers.
6. What is your favourite colour and why?
Purple – it’s rich, royal and wise.
7. Do you have a favourite place in the world? Describe why?
South Bay, Kaikoura – my sanctuary.
8. What’s your connection to Sift?
I’m the keeper of the books.
9. Do you remember your favourite teacher and why they were your favourite?
Miss Thompson – she was pretty, kind & smart!
10. What do you want to leave behind?
Four awesome adult children impacting their world!
11. What do you think the future will bring?
Too much to put into a sentence.
12. Who is someone you really admire and why?
Nelson Mandela – he had the faith to believe when it seemed hope was lost.
13. What is happening outside your window right now?
The moon is rising.
14. What is your favourite breakfast?
Muesli, fruit and yoghurt.
15. What is the best piece of advice you can give us?
Always be true to what you believe and know to be right.
Tags: accounting, garden, Green Collar Jobs, recycle, waste
Posted in Green Collar Jobs Q&A, SIFT | No Comments »
Thursday, December 24th, 2009 by Admin
 RecycleNow.org Cardboard Christmas Tree Merry Christmas to all who have been reading our blog posts for the past few months. Have a wonderful Christmas break what ever you end up doing and don’t forget to be conscious about the waste you will be producing (reduce, reuse, recycle). We are looking forward to relaxing in the Summer weather and recharging for a super busy 2010. We have lots of plans and projects in place to continue reducing the amount of waste that goes to Canterbury’s landfills and look forward to sharing the successes and challenges here.
We will be signing off from the blog for a few weeks and won’t be back in the office till the 18th of January.
Until then Merry Christmas and all the best for a sustainable 2010.
Tags: Christmas, consumption, diverting waste from landfill, office, recycle, reduce, reuse, SIFT, waste
Posted in SIFT | No Comments »
Friday, December 18th, 2009 by Admin
This year we have made our Christmas decorations out of paper that we were going to recycle. Paper chains, paper snowflakes and a paper/cardboard snowflake wreath. The paper chains are being held together by a no-staple stapler (no unnecessary use of steel for staples). The wreath is from old cardboard, paper, a bit of glue and paper raffia from the handle of an old bag for the bow. A little bit of deft cutting and we have a lovely little Christmas theme all from waste paper! And it can all be composted on our return from holidays. A good bit of sustainability and creative craftiness in action.
Might look to match the heat with the theme next year though!
 Wreath and paper chain
 DIY snowflake wreath  Snowflakes
Tags: Christmas, compost, decorations, paper, recycle, SIFT, snowflakes, waste, wreath
Posted in SIFT, Sustainability in Action | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 by Admin
As you may remember the first competition we held was on what to do with un-recyclable styrofoam meat and vegetable trays (all 25 million that go to landfill in Christchurch). We had a stash of trays left over and our new temp Ally has used them, quite cleverly, as a desktop sorter and it looks great.
 Image - copyright SIFT
Don’t forget to check out our e-waste competition which is still open. We are looking for great ideas on how to reduce e-waste. You can enter here.
Tags: competition, desk tidy, ewaste, recycle, SIFT, styrofoam trays
Posted in SIFT Projects, Sustainability in Action, Waste Management | No Comments »
Monday, November 30th, 2009 by Admin
Via the lovely and informative blog Fake Plastic Fish we stumbled across the best bit of art from waste we have seen for a long time. As we have put the call out to Cantabarians on entering our e-waste competition which includes an artistic category it is interesting to see what others are doing.
There is a great interview with Dianna Cohen on the Fake Plastic Fish blog about her work with plastics, cardboard, styrofoam and even plastic ties.
But here are some photos of her arwork (via Fake Plastic Fish) and check out her website for more great photos.
 Dianna Cohen via Fake Plastic Fish  Dianna Cohen via Fake Plastic Fish  Dianne Cohen via Fake Plastic Fish
Tags: art, Dianna Cohen, diverting waste from landfill, e-waste, Fake Plastic Fish, plastic, recycle, waste
Posted in News on Sustainability | 1 Comment »
Monday, November 23rd, 2009 by Admin
Crop packaging manufacturer Agpac is leading the way on a product stewardship scheme that recycles the very crop packaging they manufacturer. You can read more about them here on an old blog post. Baleage wrap is used to wrap bales of hay and other grasses and instead of farmers burning or burying the plastic or leaving it to blow around the farm they can now put it in a handy Agpac collection bin (which also decreases the risk of contamination) and it is then recycled.
Agpac recently opened a new baler with the help of Minister for the Environment Hon. Dr. Nick Smith who is quoted as saying “These initiatives are part of the future for New Zealand’s most important industry. Companies are expected to take responsibility for the full life of their products not just manufacture and sales. This includes removing waste at the end of the product’s life-cycle. Agpac is taking a lead in developing this broader view.”
He also went on to say “New Zealand’s agriculture exports are coming under increasing scrutiny regarding their sustainabiltiy and environmental impact. Currently 10 to 20 percent of agriculture plastics are being recycled and we need to increase this to 100%”.
This new baler has the ability to be transported across the South Island where it can bale up used plastic baleage wrap and sileage pit covers at the farm making it easier for farmers to be apart of the scheme. Agpac’s Chris Hartshorne states that “Product Stewardship is a partnership that includes us as the distributor, our customers, the recycling industry and the reprocessors who create new products from the recycled materials.” This is exactly where all businesses and industries need to be moving to in order to create a sustainable future for New Zealand and its products.
And as Mastagard’s Sebastian Stapleton said in the press release for the new baler farmers need to start looking at where their old products are being sent to for recycling – “There is significant risk that waste plastic shipped to Asia will be processed in environmentally reckless and inhumane conditions”.
As well as a new baler Agpac have recently entered into a new agreement with plastics recycler Mastagard who will recycled the used baleage wrap here in Christchurch. Mastagard recently opened a $5 million wash and plastics recycling plant in Sockburn, which you can read about here. They will also be able to take the agrichemicals plastic containers.
All Agpac and Mastergard need now is for more farmers to be apart of the scheme.
 The Hon. Dr. Nick Smith with new Agpac baler
Tags: agpac, agrichemicals, baleage wrap, diverting waste from landfill, Mastagard, plastic, plastic wrap, producer responsibility, product stewardship, recycle, recycling, recycling projects, SIFT, sileage, waste
Posted in Events, SIFT Projects, Waste Management | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 by Admin
Only 3.5 days to go to enter the e-waste competition so get your entry in now. We have two iPod Nanos as the prizes and you can enter online here.
We have already had some great entries but would love to get some more ideas.
Tags: competition, consumption, diverting waste from landfill, ewaste, recycle, reduce, reuse, SIFT
Posted in SIFT Projects, Waste Management | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 by Admin
 No Impact Man - Colin Beavan No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal who Attempts to Save the Planet and the Discoveries he Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process by Colin Beavan.
After spending the past couple of years following No Impact Man’s (Colin Beavan) blog I was looking forward to reading his book on the year he spent (with his wife and child) living with no impact on the environment. If Colin Beavan and his family can make profound, lasting, positive environmental changes to their lifestyle in order to tackle climate change while living in a ninth floor apartment in the middle of Manhattan then I can certainly make some changes to my life (while I live in the much easier NZ suburbia – where I can grow my own vegetables for instance!).
This book (and the blog) is now a favourite. Beavan discusses what he has done (and is still doing) to live a lower impact life and the decision-making/thought processes he has while doing it. From zero waste to zero carbon transportation to eating only local food from the farmers market to not buying anything new to taking a reusable jar (for coffee) and taking napkins with him to switching off the electricity this book has many ideas (and ideals) we can take away to improve our lives to improve the health of the environment.
Not only does Colin Beavan give the facts of the why and the how but also discusses the social, cultural, political and global issues surrounding climate change and global warming (such as consumption and poverty). Beavan questions why we are all living the way we do and why we have not questioned it before. A cultural shift is required in order to solve the problem and Colin Beavan delved deeply into that new culture and came out the other side with a healthier body, family, life and a much lowered impact on the environment.
It is a must read for anyone who has made the decision to try to make a difference. I ordered mine from the library and had to wait a few weeks due to the number of other people wanting to read it but that’s a good thing. The more people who read it the better. It is an emotive and compelling read that will make you think. But, it also reminds you that you are human and we can make a difference, together (while having fun and laughing – lots of smiles from this book too).
Here’s the NoImpactMan blog and here’s the recently set up NoImpactProject which will help more people to live a no impact life. And hopefully in NZ we will see it soon but there is also a documentary about Colin Beavan’s No Impact Man year – here’s a preview.
Courage, conviction, strength, integrity, heart (and soul), conscious living and determination (with fun thrown in). This is No Impact Man and this is what we all need to hold true to in order to live differently for a better earth. Thank you Colin Beavan. I think I will read the book again!
Change must start today.
Tags: climate change, Colin Beavan, conscious living, consumption, environment, Manhattan, No Impact Man, recycle, reduce, reuse, sustainable living, zero waste
Posted in Other Sustainable Initiatives, Pratical Action, Sustainability in Action | No Comments »
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