In week 4, I went on the Year 13 Sustainable Raglan camp. Not only did we do stand up paddle boarding, kayaking and game design, we also learned pest trapping and visited the Xtreme Zero Waste working site. I was truly inspired by the functioning of the site and the support from the local Raglan community. There is a lot to take away from this experience…
“Recycle is only a small part of what we do.” From the upside down triangle model above, we understand that “rethink” is the foundation of the objective at Xtreme Zero Waste. Their Zero Waste Education is offered to every school in the Waikato district- 210 schools are visited, and over 1,400 classes are delivered to over 35,000 students- this number is still increasing. Furthermore, community mentoring projects make the community involved in Xtreme Zero Waste’s mission. They have provided advice to 46 community groups on setting up recycling and waste minimization ventures. They supported the establishment of Wanaka Waste Busters, Arapuni Rural Recycling Centre, Seagull Reuse Centre in Thames and more recently a network of groups in Auckland City. “It’s about caring for the people, water and land.” Karen said.
All of these interactions with the local community make Xtreme Zero Waste particularly successful. Here, we visited the thrift shop that is made up of donated goods from residents. Lots of revenues are generated from the shop every year, and the bond between community members is strengthened. The people start to have a strong sense of ownership of this place, therefore more willing to help in protecting it. Community workshops are provided on zero waste topics, such as that of reusable nappies, composting, women’s woodwork, worm farming and gardening. For more information on each year, you can download the Annual Reports from the Reports and Financial page on their website.
This is the recycling station at Xtreme Zero waste, colourful and clear with instructions. The instructor Karen told us that they hire people to hand sort the rubbish, which is a way of providing job opportunities for locals. The sorted plastic, cans and bottles are then taken to a machinery which compacts the rubbish into dense cubes. Guess how many plastic bottles are contained in one block? In fact, there are about 20,000! This is for convenience of transport and storage, so when the truck goes to the recycling station in Auckland it is more efficient. Economically, minimal money is offered to plastic bottles, whereas blocks of cans come at a more decent price.
Karen then showed us a product they developed- trash liners, made from composted materials- even the ink printed on the bag is reused. This product is going to other councils across New Zealand, so hopefully we will all be able to get them in Auckland one day! Brilliant idea.
Xtreme Waste has planted over 6,000 trees and the programme set up to reduce possums rats, stoats, ferrets and cats on the Raglan Recycling Centre and Refuse Transfer site, has killed over 120 to date. The forest is an important bird habitat but is compromised by the history of waste disposal (largely weeds and animal pests). Xtreme Waste also works with WDC and WRC to control noxious plants throughout the adjoining forest areas. The compost bin in the photo below is in place across households in Raglan, producing products that are more organic and cheaper compared to those sold for commercial values.
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