Welcome to the Wanaka Wastebusters Winter Newsletter

It’s been a busy few months (when has it not?) Wanaka Wastebusters has taken over the running of Green Waste, and been instrumental in the birth of GetReal – a campaign by Kiwis to improve the country we live in.

As a result of GetReal’s first campaign, New World and Pak ‘N Save supermarkets around the country will stop giving away free plastic bags next month. We have free windscreen stickers to remind you to take your own bags, pick one up from our shop.

Thanks for washing and squashing your recycling, and checking that plastics have a triangle with a number 1 to 7 on the bottom. With the help of our hand-sorters, we end up with a high quality product that’s in demand, even in a recession. Remember we can’t take tetra-pak eg soymilk and fruit juice cartons (no processor in New Zealand) or meat-trays (contaminated with blood).

The date for national eDay 2009 has just been announced – 12th September is the day you can drop off all e-waste (computers, computer accessories and mobile phones) for free. Wanaka Wastebusters will be the drop-off place in Wanaka, so save up all your e-waste and dispose of it responsibly on eDay.

24th October will be marked worldwide with mind-blowing, pictorial representations of 350, in preparation for climate change negotiations in Copenhagen. 350 parts per million is the safe level of CO2 in the atmosphere. Wanaka Wastebusters and Sustainable Wanaka will coordinate a local action, which we’ll let you know about closer to the time?

Need some inspiration for back-to-school lunches? With help from Jeannie Crawford (Health, Nutrition and Smart Food Choices) we have got together some great ideas and recipes. In the first of Wastebusters' colourful fact-sheets, tips for packaging-free lunches. Download a printable version here.

Meet some of our staff members: Ivy, third fiddle in department of dreams and ideas. Sophie, project manager and Les, truck driver and resident poet.

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