The environmental impact of plastic has become a growing concern worldwide and here in Aotearoa. To uphold the belief that Kiwi’s are clean, green and environmentally conscious we must show respect for our land and ensure that the future production, consumption and disposal of plastics follow sustainable guidelines. One of the biggest barriers we currently face as a community is the lack of public knowledge around the different kinds of plastic. This blog post is dedicated to informing our readers about the different ways we can dispose of our plastic. We think is a good place to start when tackling our plastic problem.

I spoke with entrepreneur and business coach Harshmeen Kaur a few weeks ago about my life and how zero waste infiltrated it and taught me some big lessons.

“What you have and are as a being will always be honest to self and earth alike!”

Fiona Clements AKA Senorita AweSUMO 2007

At Res.Awesome we are all about showing appreciation for like-minded people in the community, those who are doing their best to tackle Dunedin’s waste flow. The humans at Connections Centre are doing valiant work and we want to use our platform to showcase their amazing community project. Connections Centre is a community-based support centre for people with increased needs due to intellectual and/or physical disabilities. Their kaupapa is to facilitate meaningful and active participation in community life with a holistic and collaborative approach. The folk here work to ensure the most vulnerable members of our community have access to all the resources they need to express themselves creatively. They offer excellent resources, well-qualified staff and a warm welcoming environment.

The Living Wage rate is voluntary and is paid by employers who want to make sure their workers get enough money to live with dignity.

Res.Awesome is proud to share the news that we are a living wage accredited business! The living wage concept is simply a common sense approach to looking out for our people. We believe that everyone should have access to adequate resources to keep their whānau safe and happy. Food, transportation, housing, childcare, clothing and healthcare are the basic things our wages should easily cover. Sadly a large chunk of the New Zealand population has been trying their best to survive on an inadequate rate of pay.

Dunedin has an ambitious goal to become a zero waste city by 2030 and the team at Res.Awesome have an exciting project in the works to help get us there. Tackling our waste problem will require action at all levels; government, local council, businesses and individual consumers. A significant contributor to our local waste problem is Ōtepoti’s food and beverage industry. We believe with a few simple steps, this can change. The hospitality industry’s adoption of single-use products has become a normalised part of dining out culture and our Rewash Truck is just the solution.

Heaps of R’s

Unless you have been living under a rock made of trash, you have undoubtedly heard of the three R’s commonly associated with best sustainability practices. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. While these terms pretty much explain themselves, we thought we would give this topic a wee breakdown for our Res.Awesome readers. While the focus on Recycling has been an important cultural shift over the past few decades, we would like to shed some light on some important steps that are perhaps more sustainable. Recycling is a great step in the right direction but if we want to really tackle our waste flow, we need to come at it from all angles. ReduceReducing our use of the petrol fuelled car is a great step for our environment. Biking, walking and using public transport are better choices and can take away the stress of looming parking tickets!In a consumer capitalist world, it has been drilled into us that we can buy items to make us feel happy or fulfilled.

Speaking up for the environment comes naturally to Res.Awesome’s Fiona Clements and some may even say it runs in the family. With Fiona’s Dad acting as the Chair of Dunedin’s Habitat for Humanity, an environmental advocate and role model was never far away. For many years, Fi’s father worked on the frontlines of community building projects, striving to create new and innovative ways to repurpose materials. The father and daughter duo share the same goal of reducing waste and protecting our environment. In Fi’s family home, countless hours have been spent discussing the details of waste minimisation and resource recovery. The support felt in this space inspired Fi. Today, she uses her voice to empower the people of Dunedin to take the matter of climate change into their own hands.

Yes, that’s right we are up-cycling some of Dunedin Cities street flags from Stitch Kitchen’s stash to make reusable bin liners for events. We are making these because we are currently using wool sacks and these take $40 of time to clean + scrub properly to make them reusable, this is unaffordable for community events, and we still want to provide this service to you.

We are making a set of 100 large bags to begin with and need to unpick 167 flags to do that, So we are hosting some

Unpicking Parties next week

August 20 10am - 4pm

August 21st 1 - 4pm

Speaking up for the environment comes naturally to Res.Awesome’s Fiona Clements and some may even say it runs in the family. With Fiona’s Dad acting as the Chair of Dunedin’s Habitat for Humanity, an environmental advocate and role model was never far away. For many years, Fi’s father worked on the frontlines of community building projects, striving to create new and innovative ways to repurpose materials. The father and daughter duo share the same goal of reducing waste and protecting our environment. In Fi’s family home, countless hours have been spent discussing the details of waste minimisation and resource recovery. The support felt in this space inspired Fi. Today, she uses her voice to empower the people of Dunedin to take the matter of climate change into their own hands.