Funding granted to reduce waste



Thousands of dollars have been allocated to the Wanaka Wastebusters Resourceful Communities project, giving it more scope to help reduce waste.

The funding, which was announced late last week, to the tune of $121,827, will come from the Ministry for the Environment’s waste minimisation fund.

Wanaka Wastebusters project manager Sophie Ward said the funding meant Wastebusters could further support people to find practical ways to reduce waste.

“Recycling is a good first step but it’s even better not to buy things that will only be useful to us for a very short time,” she said.

“Repairing and reusing things is a great way for people to make the best use of the energy and materials that go into making the things we use every day.”

An example of that was the many clothes that come through the reuse shops, which have hardly been worn.

“We are looking forward to exploring the local impacts of fast fashion so we can share ideas with others who are concerned about textile waste.”

Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage said everyone needed to take responsibility for reducing the impacts of waste.

Showing people how to do that was a great way to reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions from waste that goes to landfill.

The Wanaka Wastebusters Resourceful Communities project aims to get people involved in reducing waste in Wanaka and surrounding areas. As part of that, events are planned in Wanaka, Queenstown, Alexandra and Cromwell, including repair cafes and zero waste workshops.