Meet the Awesome wahine toa behind Res.Awesome!
Res.Awesome Ltd - Kaiwhakaara - Fi Clements
Kia Ora koutou
Ko Tākitimu te mauka,
Ko Aparima te awa,
Ko Te Ara a Kiwa te Moana,
Ko Tākitimu raua ko Uruao raua ko Wairoa raua ko Viola raua ko Lady Egidea raua ko Mermaid oku waka,
Ko Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe, Kāi Tahu oku iwi.
Ko Clan Gordon ahau.
Ko Takutai o Te Titi te marae.
No Waitati ki Ōtepoti toku kainga ināianei.
Ko Paul toku matua.
Ko Glenys toku whaea.
Ko Fiona taku ikoa.
Kia ora
Fiona has been working as a zero-waste textile practitioner for 10 years under the label Senorita AweSUMO.
Res.Awesome is her initiative focused on shifting Dunedin's waste streams to a circular economy structure. Expanding on her learnings from this one waste stream, applying the zero-waste hierarchy principles to a broken system, and redeveloping it using the Disruptive Design Methodology. It's all interconnected, and we all have our place in this ecosystem we call life. Let's honour ourselves and Papatūānuku in the process.
Fiona is the former chair of Just Atelier Trust (Stitch Kitchen, 2015) and Resilient Dunedin Inc, formally Sustainable Dunedin City Inc (since 2018). She is a former advisory member of the Fashion Revolution NZ team and has a passion for environmental and social justice. Thinking in extensive big picture systems, she has spent many years seeing the elaborate holes we dig ourselves and actively working on how we might start regenerating those to create a thriving, resilient life.
Fiona was born in Ōtepoti, grew up in & currently lives in Waitati, Blueskin Bay, with her beautiful dog Princess Zela. She is proud to be a Takatāpui Māori owned business, co-creating and transforming lives through connection to Papatūānuku. If you want to know more about my journey before this, check out Senorita AweSUMO.
Mauriora whānau - I'm here to help, so please reach out!
It’s time to look after our earth.
Who is Fiona Clements, and why is she leading the zero waste charge in Dunedin?
How did Res.Awesome begin?
How do you participate in the world?
I was tired of picking up litter, inaction from society and seeing so much greenwashing. I can see a better vision for the future, one not limited by fear.
A thriving city operates from an interconnected biome where a diverse community is inclusive and celebrated. I've been challenged to thrive throughout my life by building resilience - be it emotional, physical, mental or collective - and by using my voice, creativity and actions to create change here in Dunedin.
I have big dreams for our resource systems. I want to see them become accessible, locally creative and inspiring spaces that enable us to reuse and reduce our daily impact on Papatūānuku.
I grew up in Waitati, Blueskin Bay, connected closely with nature. However, I didn't know my whakapapa until I was 12. Thanks to my mothers' interest in genealogy - it is a journey I feel deeply privileged to participate in.
My tipuna has supported me in all my challenges and growth points, and awakening to my true potential.
Kaiwhakaara - Res.Awesome Ltd
Fi Clements.
Res.Awesome began in 2019 after many passing kōrero about recycling, waste streams, and landfill issues with my father. He would express his deep-felt guilt at having to put polystyrene into the landfill because the system in our city does not cater for this.
For many years he has recycled, up-cycled and down-cycled as much as he could in assisting the community through his work with Habitat for Humanity. These conversations led me to ponder how I could effect change in this space. So I attended the Waste Jam run by Dunedin City Council and Start-Up Dunedin in 2019, where we brainstormed ideas intending to solve some of Dunedin's waste issues.
My concept for resource recovery hubs gained significant traction, and Res.Awesome was born from the incredible resources we were attempting to unravel. We tested the idea at the Valley Spring Clean in Sept 2019, breaking down items and weighing all the waste to create a report on volumes from the community, and the possibility of diverting waste from landfills if we break things down. It was incredibly successful and informed a Dunedin City Council community brochure on how to run this type of event.
Inspired, I applied for the DCC Waste Minimisation Commercial and Innovation grant to create a resource recovery hub, which was granted - and the rest is history.
Every day I ask myself how I want to show up in the world today to move towards the future I want to see, create systems of change that I want to be operating in, in a world where we are all valued, loved, and included.
I do this through waste minimisation and zero waste because I can see the links between human behaviour and reconnecting with Papatūānuku, and how that can change lives.
Most people want to do good and respect Papatūānuku and I know I can help by sharing my knowledge, and providing resources and connections where possible.
Whilst I want to see us hit our Zero waste by 2030 goal, I know we won't get there without community education and government-led changes such as product stewardship, container return, sterilisation, and reuse schemes.
We need investment in this infrastructure to stem the tide on our current negative feedback loops, and start bending the curve back the other way in our climate crisis. It comes down to creating meaningful change and building a resilient future.
“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly.
We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.”
— Anne Marie Bonneau (Zero Waste Chef)
Confirmed Awesomeness