GETTING TO ZERO COMMUNITY WASTEWISE IMPACT 2016-2017 - Waste Solutions Auckland Council - Weaving Change

Page created by Todd Wolfe
 
CONTINUE READING
GETTING TO ZERO COMMUNITY WASTEWISE IMPACT 2016-2017 - Waste Solutions Auckland Council - Weaving Change
GETTING
TO ZERO
COMMUNITY WASTEWISE
  IMPACT 2016-2017

     Waste Solutions
    Auckland Council
GETTING TO ZERO COMMUNITY WASTEWISE IMPACT 2016-2017 - Waste Solutions Auckland Council - Weaving Change
Ko te hīkoi tuatahi te tīmatanga o ia haere				                                One step is the start of each journey
    Kotahi te kākano ko te Wao Nui a Tane				                                      One seed is the start of a great forest
    Kotahi te pata wai, ke rere he awa					                                        One drop of water is the start of a river
    He wā takitaro he tīmatanga mutunga kore			                                    One moment in time is the start of eternity

                                       School trip to the Learning Zone – Waitākere Transfer Station

                           Front cover: Participants at the June 2017 Community WasteWise Hui at Papatūānuku Marae

2
GETTING TO ZERO COMMUNITY WASTEWISE IMPACT 2016-2017 - Waste Solutions Auckland Council - Weaving Change
A MOVEMENT
FOR CHANGE
Across Tāmaki Makaurau, passionate people are forging a
movement to transform our approach to waste and achieve
zero waste to landfill in Auckland by 2040. The Community
WasteWise team in Auckland Council works with community
partners to strengthen and grow this ‘Getting to Zero’
movement.
This report presents the Community WasteWise approach
and collective impact from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017.
Overview
A summary of Community WasteWise activity, reach, impact
and learning 2016-2017
Intent
The Community WasteWise purpose and approach
The difference being made
•   Aucklanders engaged in waste minimisation in 2016-
    2017
•   Reducing domestic waste to landfill per Aucklander
•   Activity and impact in targeted areas
Learning
•   What supports zero waste behaviour change at the
    community level?
•   Other learnings so far                                  ME Family Services Zero Waste approach

                                                                                                     3
GETTING TO ZERO COMMUNITY WASTEWISE IMPACT 2016-2017 - Waste Solutions Auckland Council - Weaving Change
OVERVIEW OF WASTEWISE ACTIVITY 16-17
                 WHO                                       PRIORITIES                                           REACH                                         WASTE
   26 funded community partners:                   Community-led change                             186,700 Aucklanders engaged by                          DIVERSION
   •   9 community organisations                   Iwi-led waste movement                         community partners - 12% of the                   10% less household waste per
   •   1 iwi organisation                          Educating, resourcing, inspiring               population                                       Aucklander sent to landfill in 2016,
   •   15 compost facilitators                     Targeted behaviour change                                                                       compared to 2010
   •   1 Waste Free Parenting                      Preparing communities for waste                  Online platforms:
       facilitator                                service changes                                   Making the Most of Waste
                                                                                                    Compost Collective
   Auckland Council Community                                                                       Zero Waste Events
 WasteWise team                                                                                     Community partners Facebook
   1580 waste champion volunteers                                                                 and social media

          ATTITUDES*                                      BEHAVIOUR*                                     COMMUNITY                                           LEARNING
  74% of Aucklanders agree that                    35% of Aucklanders compost                             BENEFITS                                    Community willingness to
 waste is an important issue                      some of their food waste                         Social connection and belonging                  engage and change is increasing
  59% of Aucklanders feel                          7% of Aucklanders engage in 8 or                Increased health and wellbeing                     Relationships and enabling waste
 responsible for their impact on the              more of 20 ‘ideal’ waste reduction               Saving money                                     champions drives success
 environment                                      behaviours                                       Creating jobs and enterprises                      Connect waste with things
                                                   8% of parents use cloth nappies all             Connecting people to food, nature,               people care about
                                                  the time                                        culture and sustainability                          Provide incentives

* These are baselines drawn from a survey of 3,210 representative Aucklanders in October 2012, The Auckland Household Waste Prevention Study, 2013.. This survey is planned to be repeated in
2021/2022.

  4
GETTING TO ZERO COMMUNITY WASTEWISE IMPACT 2016-2017 - Waste Solutions Auckland Council - Weaving Change
COLLECTIVE APPROACH TO
ZERO WASTE 2040

The Zero Waste to
landfill 2040 vision
is pursued by a
council supported
community-led
approach, powered
by Te Ao Māori (the
Māori world).

                         5
GETTING TO ZERO COMMUNITY WASTEWISE IMPACT 2016-2017 - Waste Solutions Auckland Council - Weaving Change
RESTORING MANA
TO PAPATŪĀNUKU
(EARTH MOTHER)
The Community WasteWise approach is informed by Te Ao Māori or the Māori
world. For Māori, the connection between people and Papatūānuku or Earth
Mother is paramount. Humankind is just one child of Papatūānuku, and our
role is to act as protector and guardian rather than master over the earth.

Traditionally, a closed-loop waste system returned all resources back to
Papatūānuku without harm to the whenua (land) or moana (oceans). Tikanga
(custom) guided the protection of waterways, wāhi tapu (sacred sites) and
food gathering. The modern concept of Para Kore (zero waste) brings Te Ao
Māori values, mātauranga Māori (indigenous knowledge) and tikanga into
the sustainable waste management sector.

Photo: Trenching Bokashi at Papatūānuku Marae

  6
GETTING TO ZERO COMMUNITY WASTEWISE IMPACT 2016-2017 - Waste Solutions Auckland Council - Weaving Change
SMALL ACTIONS BIG IMPACT
Successful social movements are driven by communities and by collaboration    Ultimately, the intent is to support a shift from a linear economy that turns
towards shared goals. The Community WasteWise theory of change is that        resources into waste, to a circular one in which resources are reused and
building strong relationships, investing in community-led approaches via      minimal to no ‘waste’ is produced.
local community organisations and waste champions, and ensuring breadth
and quality of engagement with diverse communities will drive waste related
behaviour change, reduce waste to landfill and produce a wide range of
individual, community and environmental benefits.

                                                                                                                                                       7
GETTING TO ZERO COMMUNITY WASTEWISE IMPACT 2016-2017 - Waste Solutions Auckland Council - Weaving Change
COMMUNITIES AND WASTE CHAMPIONS
LEADING CHANGE
Auckland’s communities are diverse and require        •   Pacific Vision Aotearoa – in Ōtara-Papatoetoe
tailored approaches to waste minimisation. Local          and with Pacific organisations and communities
people told council in 2012 that key ingredients to       region wide
bringing communities on board with zero waste         •   Shunya Waste Solutions - Papatoetoe South
were: local people teaching local people; building        Indian residents and temples
on people’s passion for food and gardening;
                                                      •   ME Family Services - Māngere-Otahuhu
making it fun and involving families, children
                                                      •   Friends of the Farm - Māngere Bridge
and young people; street and neighbourhood
                                                      •   Te Awa Ora Trust - Manurewa
led initiatives; supporting waste champions;
creating local employment and enterprises; and        •   Tāmaki WRAP - Maungakiekie-Tāmaki
modelling good waste minimisation practices.          •   Multi-Education Support and Services Trust -
These themes have become the foundation of                working with Pacific families in Onehunga                   Waste Champion Naomi Roberts

the WasteWise approach across Auckland.               •   Kaipatiki Environment Centre and
                                                          EcoMatters Environment Trust - North, West       Another key community partner, though not
Council works with communities on zero waste in
                                                          and region wide                                  contracted currently, is The Roots Creative
many ways, informally and more formally through
                                                                                                           Entrepreneurs in South Auckland.
funded partnering agreements, especially in           •   Waiheke Resources Trust – Waiheke Island
South and East Auckland, including Hauraki            •   Envirokiwi – Great Barrier Island                There is also a team of 15 part time compost
Gulf Islands. From 2014, council’s WasteWise                                                               facilitators and a waste free parenting
                                                      •   Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Whai Maia Ltd
team has held partnering agreements with the                                                               facilitator working across the region.
                                                      •   Te Whānau Hapori Trust in Papakura
following community partners, to undertake                                                                 See makethemostofwaste.co.nz/waste-
                                                      •   Gardens4Health
community-led waste minimisation engagement,                                                               champions for stories of everyday people
education and action:                                                                                      making changes.

  8
GETTING TO ZERO COMMUNITY WASTEWISE IMPACT 2016-2017 - Waste Solutions Auckland Council - Weaving Change
COMMUNITY PARTNERS IN ACTION

                                    Chinese Conversation Group Panmure Community       Kai Conscious library display
ME festival volunteer               Garden Workshop                                    Waiheke

Rethink Waste - The Roots   Te Awa Ora Talking Trash                          2017 Zero Waste Awards Winners

                                                                                                                       9
GETTING TO ZERO COMMUNITY WASTEWISE IMPACT 2016-2017 - Waste Solutions Auckland Council - Weaving Change
GROWING ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP                                                                                                           LOCAL

AND CONNECTION                                                                                                                     CHAMPIONS
                                                                                                                            Bharatiya Mandir in Balmoral is one of

“This is a proven and a magic way                                                                                          Auckland’s oldest Hindu temples and is

of working.”                                                                      TĀMAKI                                 working with the council’s WasteWise team
                                                                                   WRAP                                    to become a zero-waste model for other
                  - Karen Clifford, Community                                                                              temples and a leader in sustainability for
                                                                    Tāmaki WRAP is a charitable trust based
                              Waste Facilitator                                                                             the good of the community. The work
                                                                  in Tāmaki (Glen Innes, Panmure, Pt England).
                                                                                                                              includes waste audits, workshops
                                                              Tāmaki WRAP grew out of a partnership with council,
The Community WasteWise approach supports                                                                                         and the creation of edible
                                                             supporting passionate local people to spread the waste
Auckland residents to ‘do the right thing’ in terms                                                                                        gardens.
                                                            minimisation kaupapa. Tāmaki WRAP catalyses jobs and
of dealing with their waste and turning waste into
                                                            social enterprises such as the United Sustainable Sisters
resources. It also connects people in many ways
                                                              (see page 24) and is helping people save money and
- with nature through composting and growing
                                                              connect with their neighbours. It inspires many stories
food, with other people, by reaching people on
                                                                of transformation, and motivates early childhood
the margins, creating opportunities for active
citizenship, building community capacity and
                                                                   centres, groups, families and individuals to              LOVE ZERO
networks, celebrating success and helping people
                                                                          make positive waste changes.                      WASTE AWARDS
to save money and live their cultural and spiritual                                                                     Council partnered with the Zero Waste
values. Here are just a few examples.                  PACIFIC                                                     Guardians Group and Papatūānuku Marae to

                                                       VISION                                                     host the annual Community Waste Wise hui and
                                                                                                                  the inaugural Love Zero Waste Awards Night in
                                                      AOTEAROA
                                                                                                                   June 2017. There were over 100 nominations
                                            Pacific Vision Aotearoa works with Pacific                              from across Auckland for these awards and
                                        communities in Auckland to minimise waste. See                                  the Awards Night was attended by 150
                                        their Facebook page for a three-minute Tagata                                                  people.
                                        Pasifika programme on some aspects of this work.

 10
AUCKLANDERS ENGAGED IN WASTE
MINIMISATION BY COMMUNITY PARTNERS
From 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017, community partners engaged 12% of Auckland’s population as follows.

     
   186,700
                            873                   198
                                                      O                   47
                                                                                                
                                                                                                 725
  People engaged         Workshops and       Markets and events      Zero waste events     Community groups
                         presentations           attended               supported            worked with

                  
                 1,580
                                        188
                                                               643
                                                                                        35
              Champions and        Media interviews       Social media blogs,    Groups supported
                volunteers          and articles             tweets, posts        to run their own
                                                                                 WasteWise projects

                                                                                                        11
THE ENABLING ROLE OF COUNCIL
Council has a small community engagement and education team called the Community WasteWise team, which aims to catalyse, connect, enable and grow
innovation to make step changes towards zero waste. It plays these roles via these action areas.

 Support community partners and other                               Work directly with diverse communities                             Provide leadership, influence and advice
 waste champions to flourish                                        • WasteWise Advisors work with communities                         • Specialist advice in and out of council to
 • Build strong relationships with partners and                          and groups across the region (migrants, youth,                     achieve waste minimisation outcomes
      collaborators                                                      elderly, disabled), for example supporting the                •    Support council staff and the organisation to
 •    Provide materials, resources, training and                         visually impaired community to produce the                         model WasteWise minimisation
      support, including skill shares                                    Feeling Rubbish Guide to minimize waste                       •    Internal advocacy within council to support
 •    Manage partnering agreements and track                        •    The WasteWise team supports schools and                            WasteWise goals
      performance and delivery                                           community groups to visit three learning
 •    Support groups to obtain funding and                               centres, where they can experience recycling
      resources                                                          and see ‘waste’ turned into resources

 Programme delivery and development                                 Inform and strengthen the Community                                 Prepare communities for waste service
 • Develop and help deliver programmes and                          WasteWise network                                                  changes
      campaigns (such as the Compost Collective,                    • Annual Community WasteWise Hui since 2014                        • WasteWise Advisors in council work with
      Love Food Hate Waste, Zero Waste Events,                           and inaugural Awards in June 2017. The Zero                        community partners and the general public
      early childhood centre programmes)                                 Waste Guardianship Group* formed from the                          to prepare Aucklanders for waste service
 •    Research and evaluation to support planning,                       2016 annual hui                                                    changes, including the Red Bin Roll Out (see
      programme design, learning and improvement                    •    Communicate, inform and share                                      next page), bringing in organic food waste
                                                                         stories, see makethemostofwaste.                                   collections and user pays for refuse
                                                                         co.nz, compostcollective.org.nz and                           •    This team also handles recycling queries
                                                                         zerowasteevents.org.nz                                             and is part of the Auckland Litter Prevention
                                                                    •    Envision is funded to provide a monthly                            Steering Group and the national Packaging
                                                                         newsletter, see gettingtozero.co.nz                                Forum
*
  The Auckland Zero Waste Guardians Group is an informal group of kaitiaki or guardians of the zero waste 2040 vision, hailing from a range of organisations and backgrounds across Auckland, including
council. This group has produced ‘Zero Waste 2040: The Way - Our Collective Approach’, a path and set of actions to move toward the 2040 vision.
 12
RED BIN ROLL OUT
Council waste service changes provide an opportunity to start a
conversation with people on how to minimise their waste. The 2017 Red
Bin Roll Out project provides each household in the legacy Manukau
City Council area (110,000 households) with a 120L rubbish bin for their
household refuse. Post September 2017, rubbish bags will no longer
be collected from the kerbside.
Workshops were held with community partners to understand potential impacts of this change on
communities and work out how to get communities ready. Preparing Aucklanders for the Red Bin Roll
Out began in February 2017 with WasteWise Advisors and community partners seeking to reach as
many people as possible with information and support for the roll out. Compost Facilitators provided
workshops and advice. WasteWise Advisors alone engaged around 8,670 people via 75 markets, events
and library visits in South Auckland. This is being followed up with more in-depth discussion, information
and workshops on how people can reduce their waste with this new service. A ‘train the trainer’ approach
is taken, with locals being trained to pass key messages onto others.

A creative engagement group called The Open Fort was contracted to design fun and engaging ways to
spread the message about this new service. Games were designed for people to play, that showed them
how to use the new bins and minimize waste at the same time. Open Fort employed local people via the
community partners to be part of the team that delivered this community engagement programme. This is
an example of short term job opportunities being provided as part of campaigns. The Open Fort now has
the contract to run an 0800 community hotline for the illegal dumping campaign, which was underway
alongside the Red Bin Roll Out in South Auckland.

                                                                                                             13
IMPACTING HOUSEHOLD WASTE
The community and council WasteWise collaboration is helping to reduce the amount of waste that Aucklanders
send to landfill.
Auckland Council manages 20% of Auckland’s waste via household or domestic kerbside waste collection services. Council’s first Waste Management Plan (2012-
2017) focused on reducing domestic waste by 30% by 2018. In 2017, on average each Aucklander sent 12kg less to landfill than in 2010 (a 13% decrease). This is
projected to decrease to 110kg per person per year by 2020 (the 30% target), once the organic waste collection service begins in urban areas in 2017 and as user
pays for refuse rolls out across Auckland.

Strategies to reduce domestic waste sent to landfill include:
• removing food and garden waste from household waste, through
     community education to reduce food waste and increase home
     composting, supported by new organic (food and garden) waste
     collection services in urban areas from 2017
•    community education on WasteWise parenting and waste free living
•    normalizing and modelling waste minimisation via zero waste events and
     campaigns
•    a new inorganic collection service that takes material that can be reused
     to a central warehouse, where registered community groups can access
     goods to generate revenue and create social enterprises
•    increasing local economic development through enterprises relating to
     repurposing, upcycling and recycling of ‘waste’.

The remaining 80% of Auckland’s waste to landfill comes from commercial and construction and demolition waste. As well as continuing to reduce domestic
waste to landfill, the 2018 to 2023 Waste Management Plan will work on reducing this 80%.

    14
IMPACTING ZERO
WASTE ON MARAE
Through the innovative Para Kore ki Tāmaki initiative
of Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei, Auckland Council is
supporting an important zero waste movement on
Auckland marae.
The Para Kore programme is designed to support marae to reduce waste. The
Para Kore team:

  •   makes presentations to Auckland marae committees
  •   provides waste advisors to work with marae
  •   delivers Para Kore wānanga to whānau
  •   helps marae set-up recycling and composting systems
  •   provides education on Para Kore at zero waste events
Pare Kore has worked with 25 marae to date, with increasing demand for this
                                                                               Engagement and activity in 2016-2017

                                                                                                                      
work from kura, Māori organisations and marae-based events. Ngāti Whātua
Ōrakei have decided however not to continue with the Pare Kore contract in
2017-2018 as they wish to focus on their hapū’s priorities.

  Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei hosted the 64th Māori
  Women’s Welfare League Conference at Ōrakei
                                                                                             188
                                                                                              Activities   
                                                                                                           1189
                                                                                                                      12,081
                                                                                                                     People engaged

  Marae and with Para Kore achieved an 85%
                                                                                  64          engaged                 at zero waste
                                                                              Organisations                 People        events
  diversion rate.                                                                                          engaged
                                                                                engaged
IMPACTING ORGANIC WASTE
In Auckland, around 45% of household rubbish is organic waste such as food scraps and garden waste. Over
120,000 tonnes of organic waste needlessly goes to landfill each year.

The Compost Collective is a collaborative project to increase the number of Auckland households composting and reducing organic waste. It involves EcoMatters
Environment Trust, Kaipatiki Project, Compost Facilitators and council’s WasteWise team. It has these core components.

   Free composting
                                      Free advice and                Compost Collective                                               Links to Auckland
    workshops and                                                                                      Online learning
                                        information                      website                                                     community gardens
  discounted systems

Free two hour workshops offer a basic introduction to three composting systems. Participants register through the Compost Collective website and after attending
the workshop receive a $40 discount code via email, for the system of their choice.

                                             Engagement and activity in 2016-2017

                                                                                                                                       
      10,040                            7,350                            2,690                              527                            1927
  People engaged                   People received                 People engaged at                       Activities                   Facebook likes
                                 face-to-face training                   events

 16
IMPACTING ORGANIC
WASTE
The Compost Collective provides composting workshops and
Compost Facilitators tailor their work to suit their particular
communities.
The 10,000+ people engaged can share what they learn with their families and communities. The
Compost Collective works across the Auckland region, including Waiheke and Great Barrier Islands.
Skilled and passionate Compost Facilitators also work specifically with Māori, Pacific, Chinese,
Korean and South Asian communities. Gardens4Health support community gardens region wide.

Composting is far more than reducing food and garden waste to landfill. It connects people to
nature and the food cycle, restores soils, increases food growing, educates people about healthy
food, connects people with each other and is a key part of turning ‘waste’ into resources. It closes
the loop between the soils that grow our food and the nourishment of that soil. Reducing food waste
and growing food also saves people money. The power of composting is shared best through
community stories. Read some stories at compostcollective.org.nz/stories.

                                           “I love composting as I feel like I am
                                           giving back to the earth what I have
                                           taken, as if I have borrowed the nutrients
                                           from the soil to grow a vegetable and
                                           then returned them with compost.”
                                                                    - Jacinta, 25, Herald Island

                                                                                                       17
IMPACTING ORGANIC WASTE

Hands-on sheet mulching workshop at Massey University Albany campus                        East Tāmaki workshop

Indoor workshop at Orewa                   Composting for families workshop in Māngere (supported by Pacific Vision Aotearoa)

18
IMPACTING FOOD
WASTE
Love Food Hate Waste (LFHW) is a national campaign
to reduce food waste led by WasteMinz. Council’s
WasteWise team and community partners work
together to deliver the Auckland LFHW campaign.
In November 2016 this campaign began in Auckland and is ongoing. A LFHW
fund allocated $40,000 to grassroots community groups across the region to
deliver workshops, events, training and education to reduce food waste. To
30 June 2017 the campaign achieved the following.

                                                                                                                               
                                     70
                                Events and
                                workshops
                                                        600
                                                                               39
                                                                             Projects
                                                                             funded
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                  11,000
                                                                                                                                 1500
                                                                                                                           People exposed to
                                                                                                                          campaigns in public
        50                                                                                                                      spaces
Love Food Hate                                         Attendees                                  Social media
Waste champions                                                                                    responses

Reducing food waste holds great appeal to most people - it saves money, prevents precious food from being wasted and once a person learns ways to stop
wasting food, they can show others.

                                                                                                                                                 19
IMPACTING FOOD WASTE
Two projects from the Auckland LFHW campaign were picked up and
shared by the national LFHW campaign: the Community Fridge and
Orchard to Lunch Box.
LFHW funded project – the Community Fridge

Zero waste blogger Amanda Chapman and a group of waste champions set up a Community Fridge
offering free food to those in need in Auckland’s CBD in November 2016. Businesses and individuals can
leave excess food in the fridge for anyone to take. The fridge was salvaged from the inorganic collection
and repaired by Resource Rescue. Amanda got the idea from a friend who had used a ‘Solidarity Fridge’ in
Germany. The Community Fridge was featured in the New Zealand Herald.

Orchard to Lunch Box

This project takes people through the
process that a kiwifruit or apple goes
through from the orchard to a school
lunch box. It is a kit that schools can
facilitate in their schools.

20
IMPACTING FOOD WASTE

                                                                                           “For minimal investment we have seen
                                                                                           huge returns from the LFHW funding. The
                                                                                           lessons shared during the LFHW classes were
                                                                                           valuable to all the participants and helped
                                                                                           remind us of the tragic food waste that
                                                                                           occurs and the simple ways we can remedy
Multicultural workshops, food rescue and distribution
                                                                                           the situation by small changes to our home
                                                                                           cooking habits”
                                                                                                - Kelston Community Hub, which delivered five
                                                                                                             LFHW classes to 75+ participants

Media launch in Aotea Square November 2016 with a bread mountain representing food waste

                                                                                                                                                21
IMPACTING WASTE
FREE PARENTING
Sanitary products such as nappies and menstrual
products account for around 10% of waste to landfill.
Waste Free Parenting Facilitator Kate Meads (‘The Nappy Lady’) and
community partners promote WasteWise Parenting and Waste Free Living.
Kate believes that people first need to feel the need for change, then be
supported with knowledge, incentives and encouragement, to create their
‘new normal’.

Regional workshops are provided for parents and communities. Attendees
receive a Waste Free Parenting pack worth $90 retail to take home (which
includes cloth nappies, reusable menstrual products and beeswax wraps).
Smaller community workshops are provided for local groups, with ten waste
free parenting packs worth $50 for $5 available for sale at each workshop.
Cloth nappy trials are also delivered by a council WasteWise Advisor with
early childhood centres. A ‘train the trainer’ approach is taken throughout,
encouraging residents to pass what they know to other parents and families.
                                                                               Te Pāpapa Preschool in Mt Wellington reduced
                                                                               their waste from 9.5kg per day to 1.5kg, by improving
                                                                               their recycling, using cloth nappies and using their
                                                                               worm bin for food scraps. Before their two month
                                                                               trial ended they began buying cloth nappies from
                                                                               TradeMe.

22
IMPACTING WASTE FREE PARENTING

                  
                  29
                                           
                                           2,932
                                                                     
                                                                     25
             Workshops and            People engaged             Organisations
             presentations                                         engaged

    
    1600
                             
                             68%
                                                       
                                                       9
                                                                             
                                                                             100%
  Cloth nappies          Waste diversion         Early Childhood        Participants satisfied
   distributed           rate from ECEs         Centre cloth nappy
                                                       trials

                                                                                                 23
A MOONCUP REVOLUTION
The United Sustainable Sisters (USS) story demonstrates the increasingly
interconnected nature of Community WasteWise activity.
Enterprising women involved with community partner Tāmaki WRAP got inspired after attending a waste-
free parenting workshop run by Kate Meads. They saw the need to increase girls and women’s access to
sustainable menstrual products, to reduce associated costs and the amount of waste sent to landfill. USS
tested out some ideas on women in the community and set up a Facebook page. They gained a council
Waste Minimisation and Innovation Fund grant to pursue three goals:

1. Equip women with menstrual cups and cloth menstrual pads

2. Develop a social enterprise model around cloth menstrual pads

3. Grow awareness and education around reuseable menstrual options, including in schools

As of June 2017, they had equipped 95 Auckland women with menstrual cups, facilitated workshops
around Auckland, developed their own menstrual pad sewing pattern, created a closed Facebook group
for women and engaged with the health sector to promote reusable menstrual options.

24
GIVING CLOTH NAPPIES A GO
Every year eight early childcare centres in Auckland
can take part in Auckland Council’s free cloth nappy
trials.
The participating centres are provided with loan kits of modern cloth nappies
to use for an eight-week period, along with waste audits at the beginning and
end of the trial. They also receive support and advice from the Nappy Lady
and Council’s WasteWise team about nappy use, improving recycling and
dealing with food waste.

The Tamariki Ātaahua Early Learning Centre in Panmure has an environmental
champion in charge, who’s determined to run a low-impact business. With
approximately 25 children using nappies in the Centre at any given time,
Tamariki Ataahua prevents around 80 nappies going into landfill and saves
around $60 each day – a direct financial benefit to the community of parents
using the facility. Educating staff and parents has had a community-wide
impact. Centre owner operate Sharon Stephens says, “Once we had the
cloth nappies in place, of course we started wondering what else we could
do.” That led to replacing paper towels with washable face cloths, a hungry
worm bin farm and 12 bokashi bins. Funding for the worm farm came through
                                                                                Staff at A’oga Fa’a Samoa in Grey Lynn with their centre’s cloth nappies
Auckland Council’s Waste Minimisation and Innovation Fund.

                                                                                                                                                           25
IMPACTING ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR
THROUGH ZERO WASTE EVENTS
Events in Auckland each year attract over 1.5 million people and contribute at least $479 million to the Auckland economy. Waste generated at events ranges
between one to two litres of uncompacted waste per patron, and overall waste to landfill of around 50,000 tonnes. Events are a great opportunity to educate and
‘normalise’ waste minimisation behaviour. Strategies are to target large events and build event organiser capacity to minimise waste.

Zero Waste Events          Online hub with free            Free zero waste            Build community            Supporting zero         Tracking waste
advice to large            advice, training and            event loan gear            capacity                   waste at council        diversion from
event organisers           resources for event             available for hire                                    events                  events
                           organisers

19 events supported       Online platform for             Hired to 13 large          Community partners         For example, Movies      This is a work in
involving 5,000+          Zero Waste Events               events such as             supported 47 zero          in Parks is tracking     progress – the
people each               launched September              Polyfest and Parnell       waste community            waste diversion from     strategy is to
The Lantern Festival      2017, in partnership with       Festival of the Roses,     events                     2017-18                  support event
alone has 200,000+        EcoMatters Environment          and 25 smaller events                                                          organisers and
attendees over one        Trust                           such as school galas                                                           communities
weekend                                                   and community days                                                             to track waste
                          zerowasteevents.org.nz                                                                                         diverted from
                                                                                                                                         events

26
CHANGING LIVES AND COMMUNITIES
As well as changing thinking and behaviour to minimize waste, the WasteWise approach has major ripple
effects. The 2017 annual hui with community partners identified the following community benefits and impacts
from Community WasteWise action.

 “To date we have helped over
 12 youths, six single Mums and                                                                                       Health and wellbeing
                                                              Creating financial                                            - Reduced social isolation
 four families into employment”
                     - Community partner                        opportunities                                 - Increased food security through learning how to grow
                                                         - Saving money, reducing food waste and                     food, compost and reduce food waste
                                                                      reusing resources                              - Better health through healthier eating
                                                                - Improving financial literacy                - Healthier waterways through use of bokashi in septic
                                                          - Employment, income, social enterprises                                   tanks
                  Awareness,                                          and skill building                                     - Sense of belonging
               connection, culture                                                                                        - Increased community pride
          - Stronger and increased social connections in                                                                    - Improved mental health
                           communities                                                                                      - Improved physical health
          - Connection with Māori tikanga and traditions                                                            - Increased resourcefulness and resilience
  - Surfacing diverse cultural and traditional practices (including                        Making a
                 those of thrifty older generations)                                       difference
   - Raised awareness and connection to Papatuanuku or earth                       - Providing a way to volunteer and
                              mother                                                             contribute
   - Waste provides an entry point to wider sustainability issues              - People learn they can make a difference
          - People become more conscious consumers                                   and then share that with others
           - People connecting with their place through                            - Confidence and self-esteem from
                community gardens and local hubs                                      participating and influencing
                                                                                                  change
WHAT SUPPORTS BEHAVIOUR CHANGE AT
THE COMMUNITY LEVEL?
Investing in relationships and empowering                  Small is beautiful (and so is easy, fun and            Strong and creative communication
skilled and passionate waste champions                     meaningful)
 Locals teaching locals is highly effective; communities    Supporting communities through little bits of          Online platforms are increasingly effective at
respond better to local people                             resources and funding, such as $1k grants for Love     informing, educating and supporting people to act
 Multicultural community partners and council staff        Food Hate Waste                                         Early communication around waste service changes is
who understand and work well with communities               Making it easy to change one thing; keeping it        effective
across Auckland                                            manageable                                              Using creative ways to engage people, eg The Open
 Community partners and council staff walk their talk       Connecting waste with things people care about –      Fort, who use hands-on games to teach people about
 Building reciprocal relationships with communities to     environment, culture, saving money, health             waste reduction
drive change                                                The small actions, big impact message is powerful      Getting messages across in diverse ways – role
                                                                                                                  modelling, visual information, using humour, Facebook,
                                                                                                                  other social media and pop up events

Breadth and depth of engagement and                        Connecting and networking                              It’s a journey of change, provide incentives
leveraging off waste service changes                                                                              and ongoing support
 A spectrum of engagement approaches is needed,             Connecting people with local networks and              Provide incentives to hook people in – such as
from light touch to in-depth, as people are at different   communities of interest                                subsidies, free or cheap products and ways to save
levels of awareness around waste                            Connecting people with local hubs and facilities to   money, such as cloth nappies and compost systems
 Using service changes as a lever for waste behaviour      support local action                                    Follow up and provide ongoing support; help people
change                                                                                                            to make ongoing changes and be there if people need
                                                                                                                  help

28
WHAT ELSE ARE WE LEARNING?
The Community WasteWise approach is an example of effective community and council collaboration, and          “Zero waste is a bug and once you
of Auckland Council enabling community action for social change. The getting to zero waste movement is
                                                                                                              catch it, it influences everything
widespread and diverse, which makes tracking impact and attributing change directly to the Community
                                                                                                              you do – what you buy; what you
WasteWise team and community partners challenging. Clear and meaningful ways to track progress and
impact are evolving.
                                                                                                              eat; your everyday choices. This
Community partners and council staff are seeing more diverse parts of the community getting involved,         feels like a real movement, people
with people making connections between waste and other issues such as saving money, eating healthy            feel connected with each other in
food and caring for the environment. Community partners report that they are joining up more around           this space, everyone has waste and
different aspects of waste action, such as composting, zero waste events and food waste. They also notice     can talk about it; it’s a connecting
that communities are strongly motivated around getting rid of single use plastic bags. Things that could
                                                                                                              subject and a leveller.”
help to make a greater difference include the following.                                                                          - WasteWise Team Member

     ADVOCACY                 KEY SUPPORT                   INCENTIVISING              LOCAL HUBS             FOOD AND                     TRACKING
                                   NEEDS                                                                    GARDEN FOCUS                    IMPACT
 Stronger community                                        Accelerating change       Supporting the
 and council advocacy                                      though a wide range       development of local   Continue the               Getting better at
                            Support needs relate
 to central government                                     of rewards, incentives,   sustainability hubs    campaign to                tracking waste
                            to spreading the net
 on key issues such                                        subsidies and             where people can       reduce food waste,         diversion from landfill,
                            out to different parts
 as landfill charges,                                      encouragement             connect and learn      compost and grow           having agreed
                            of the community;
 becoming plastic                                                                                           food, including            impact measures and
                            resources and training
 bag free, reducing                                                                                         increasing resourcing      embedding evaluation
                            to support marketing
 packaging and                                                                                              and support for            into the Community
                            and communicating;
 encouraging people                                                                                         community gardens,         WasteWise approach
                            increasing the
 to make more waste                                                                                         local and fair food
                            volunteer base and
 conscious buying                                                                                           projects
                            train the trainer
 choices                    approaches

                                                                                                                                                            29
You can also read