When it comes to Recycling, us kiwi’s would love to think we are upholding the clean, green identity Aotearoa is so famed for. Unfortunately, the results of a recent Consumer NZ led assessment revealed that New Zealand is pretty low on the environmental leader board. Brazil and New Zealand proved to be the worst countries for practical recycling rates; we don’t have the means to recycle around 57% of our packaging and Brazil is unable to process 92% of its recycling. The countries with the best recycling rates were Hong Kong, closely followed by Portugal.

Recycle A Device is an initiative aiming to reuse our resources, improve public knowledge and facilitate change in the technology sector from a community based perspective. Recycle A Device encourages businesses, schools, learning institutions and individuals to participate in a circular waste economy. Upcoming updates in stewardship regulations will hopefully become better understood by our communities, enabling best sustainability practices.

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"MOANA HOUSE IS A WELL-ESTABLISHED RESIDENTIAL THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY FOR ADULT MALE OFFENDERS WHO WANT TO CHANGE THEIR LIVES AND BEHAVIOUR FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THEMSELVES, THEIR WHANAU AND THEIR COMMUNITIES."

"Since 1984, we have taken the initiative to provide genuine therapeutic services for adult male offenders who wish to change their lives for the greater good."

Many of Moana House’s residents may also have a history of alcohol and/or drug abuse. They wish to provide a supportive family environment and a safe place to change.

The sun is shining here in the deep south which means silly season is upon us! Many of us are privileged enough to have some time off and a bit of pocket money to play with, allowing us to feast and frolic with loved ones. We get away with socialising more, saying ‘heck yes!’ to dessert and even popping open that cheap bottle of bubbles before midday. Afternoon naps, long bushwalks and taking any opportunity to whip out our favourite set of frightfully tiny togs to embarrass the better half with are just a handful of activities we may find ourselves indulging in over summer. One area of our lives we hope we won’t get too carried away with this silly season is the amount of waste we bring into our homes. If you are struggling to think of a gift idea for that person who just seems to have everything, try and resist the urge to run out and buy a silly, novelty gift that will probably end up shoved in a drawer somewhere…. or worse, in a landfill! For many, gifting is a ceremonial way of showing we care and a part of Christmas time we are just not ready to part with. So the team at Res.Awesome are here to share some tips on how to keep the waste flow not-so-silly this silly season!

As a planet, we churn out 2.01 billion tonnes of waste every year, with over 33% of which not being dealt with in a manner deemed environmentally safe (World Bank Group, 2020). Each resident of Aotearoa pumps around 401kgs of waste into our landfills every year - and that is just in a domestic setting. That doesn’t take into account our workplace waste or the rubbish we produce when we are out and about. Often we are doing damage to our natural environment without even realising it. This makes the sustainability movement very important so what exactly is zero waste?

We are here to talk about the latest proposal for a $350 million project which entails building a Waste to Energy Plant in Waimate. This proposed ‘solution’ to our waste problem would aim to see our waste transported to Waimate by the truckload and then incinerated; harvesting energy to be pumped back into Kiwi homes and various businesses via electricity. While this is a lovely idea that many believe would see our waste problem disappear, the facts just do not support that there are benefits to this business venture.