Waimakaririr River Source: Teara.govt.nz
A productive (but rainy) week this week. As well as progressing a number of projects SIFT also spent some time meeting a some more people who work with waste and waste minimisation in Christchurch and Canterbury. Notably I met with the Solid Waste Asset Manager, Kitty Waghorn, from the Waimakariri District Council and learnt all about the waste systems in place for that district. They have two transfer stations – Southbrook and Oxford and have big plans for a new Resource Recovery Park at the Southbrook station as well as expanding into organics (they promote the use of home composting and you can pick up an EM Bokashi system from Waimakariri District Council Service Centre) and providing a recycling solution for the rural residents of the district. Southbrook transfer station includes a Resell shed which they are also looking to expand in order to reduce the amount of rubbish that is sent to Kate Valley Landfill. They will also be launching a Hazardous Waste drop off point in July. And the general outlook for waste reduction in this district is positive with an increase in the amount of recyclables being collected and a reduction in rubbish.
You can find more information on Waste and Recycling for the Waimakariri District here.
Here are the interesting links for this week:
- Trees weeping blue sap from PattersonEnvironmental – shocking dumping of Hazardous Waste in our backyard, Canterbury. It is in our backyard (IIIOB) not NIMBY!
- The desert island with a rubbish problem.
- Fake Plastic Fish takles getting rid of the small bit of plastic in the middle of the pizza – yet another unnecessary bit of plastic (we have seen these used in NZ but not sure how prevalent it is).
- More information on the Glass Packaging Forum’s newly accredited Glass Product Stewardship Scheme.
- A list of New Zealand’s top High School Environmental Champions for 2010 – no one from the South Island?
- Greenpeace’s updated Guide to Greener Electronics – big move to reduce hazardous components.
Tags: Fake Plastic Fish, Friday favourites, glass, Greenpeace, landfill, links, PattersonEnvironmental, recycling, rubbish, Waimakariri District Council, waste
