Praneeta Mahajan
Hamilton, July 19, 2023
It is Plastic Free July, the global movement that helps millions of people be a part of the solution to plastic pollution. This month, ranging from free online courses to introducing environment champions, Hamilton City Council has some great opportunities to help you reduce your single use plastic, which is used only once before being thrown away. It can come from packaging for food and toys as well as disposable takeaway cups and containers.
Council’s Sustainable Resource Recovery Unit Director Tania Hermann said Plastic Free July aims to offer simple solutions for everyday people to reduce plastic pollution.
She said, “As a council, we are passionate about reducing waste, but we can be doing so much more. Close to 300 million disposable coffee cups go to landfill each year in New Zealand. The best and easiest way we can reduce this is by switching to reusable cups and containers.”
Take a free course
To help inspire people on their Plastic Free July journey, Council is offering Zero Waste for Everyday People, a free online course by Mainstream Green. “We are really proud to work with Nicola Turner from Mainstream Green and offer this course for free to Hamilton residents,” said Ms Hermann.
The five-week course has limited spaces and it is on a ‘first in, first served’ basis. It starts tomorrow, July 20, 2023 with a live Question and Answer session which participants can complete it at their own pace. The content covers the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of waste, as well as lots of easy ways to reduce waste at home.
Attend a workshop
Belinda Goodwin, Council’s Waste Minimisation Educator, uses workshops to teach people how to recycle right and reduce waste to landfill. There is nothing like seeing the scale of Hamilton’s recycling for yourself, to really understand the impact we have on the planet.
Ms Goodwin holds sustainability sessions at the Te Rapa-based Enviro NZ Education Room, sharing fun (and shocking) facts, while teaching the community how to reduce waste to landfill and recycle correctly. The room overlooks the Materials Recovery Facility, where Hamilton’s recycling is sorted and separated before being sent away to be recycled around the country.
“You get a close-up view of the sheer volume of recycling created by Hamiltonians as well as an understanding of the successes we have had with recycling and issues created when we don’t recycle correctly,” said Goodwin.
“You can see the staff sorting through all the recycling, from our yellow lidded bins, by hand. They remove a lot of non-recyclables such as food scraps, medical waste, used nappies and other items that don’t belong in recycling bins.”
Goodwin tailors each session to her audience, whether that is pre-schoolers, students or teachers wanting to use the room as a learning resource or organisations looking to implement more sustainable practices.
“I just want to get people inspired to get involved in reducing waste, offer ideas and solutions and support people to fight the landfill.”
For Goodwin, being a waste minimisation educator is more than just a job.“As a former teacher, I am passionate about learning and sharing knowledge. Waste reduction is an exciting topic because it is something everyone can get involved with at home, work, or school,” she said.
“Quite often we lead by example by just doing our own thing. You never know who you might inspire.”
Learn from others
Learning from others is a great way to stay motivated towards reducing your waste. The Council has highlighted some of the city’s ‘Zero Waste Champions’ who are doing great things to reduce their waste.
Some of the names include non-profit organisations such as Eco Emporium and Bikes on Campus, while some are businesses based in Hamilton such as Zibido Hair Salon and Volare Artisan Bakery and café. There are also conversations with multiple Waikato based construction brands and their efforts to reduce waste during construction and create a momentum towards waste reduction at all stages of the build, from design to disposal, from sustainable materials selection to on-site waste reduction.
You can watch these stories compiled by the Hamilton City Council here.
Praneeta Mahajan is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Hamilton.
