Love a challenge and the planet? Then take part in the daily challenges this Recycling Week. It’s an excellent opportunity to rethink your waste minimisation and recycling behaviours and to support Tāmaki Makaurau’s goal to be zero-waste by 2040.
Buy wise on Procurement Monday
Your mission for Monday is to only purchase products that can be recycled, reused or repurposed.
Before you buy anything, consider how much waste the product or its packaging will create. Where possible opt for products packaged in cardboard, paper, glass and aluminium. If plastic is the only option, use types 1 (PET), 2 (HDPE) and 5 (PP) as these are the most easy to recycle in New Zealand.
Consider buying in bulk as well. Instead of putting individually-packaged chips or snacks in kids’ lunchboxes, opt for ‘naked lunches’ without any packaging and keep food fresh in bento-style lunch boxes with separate compartments.
Waste not on Waste-free Tuesday
Yes, waste is a dirty word and the stats are filthy: More than 1.6 million tonnes of total waste end up in Auckland’s landfills each year, and a third of that could be recovered, reused or recycled.
Your mission is to create less of it. If your workplace recycling system could do with improving, encourage your colleagues to recycle correctly by providing them with bins for food scraps, recyclables and waste. Make it super easy by printing out guides with images of what goes in what bin.
Make sure you also recycle paper separately, and better yet, reconsider whether you really need to print that document out - it’s the digital age, remember.
Use it again on Reusable Wednesday
With loads of cute keep cups and drink bottles around, there’s plenty of reasons to switch out single-use takeaway coffee cups and water bottles (which take more than 450 years to break down in landfill!) for reusable options.
Make sure you take your keep cup to work on Reusable Wednesday and every day after that forever!
If you’re ordering takeaways, ask the restaurant to pack them into your own reusable containers. You might feel a bit self-conscious the first time you do it but the more people do this, the more mainstream this practice will become.
Top marks for recycling but set yourself a goal to try and reduce the amount that goes into your recycling bin by reusing as much as possible.
It often feels impossible to avoid buying products with large amounts of packaging but times are a-changing and more manufacturers are using minimal-waste packaging. Buy cleaning products in small sachets that can be mixed with water in reusable spray bottles and bring back the bar of soap instead of purchasing flowing soap in plastic bottles.
Scrub up well on Rinse and Clean Thursday
We all know a wish-cycler - someone who sneaks unrinsed food containers into the recycling bin or items that aren’t meant to go in there. Not only is this a massive headache for the people who sort recycling, but it costs the council hundreds of thousands a year.
Dispose of food scraps in your adorable new food scraps bin so they can be transformed into clean energy and liquid fertiliser, and encourage your household and workplace to empty out containers and rinse and dry them before popping them into the recycling bin.
Remember to take lids off all bottles and containers before putting them in your rubbish bin.
Encourage your household to rinse their recyclables.
If you’re unsure what you can put in your recycling bin, read the rules here. Make it fun for your whole family, workplace or flat by taking this fun quiz.
Take a good look at yourself on Reflection Friday
If we’re going to move from a take-make-waste model to a circular economy, we all need to examine our recycling behaviours.
Brainstorm ideas and adopt the ones that appeal the most to you. Maybe you want to set yourself a challenge to only buy second-hand clothes for a year rather than fast fashion, or repair broken items or have them repaired, rather than throwing them away.
Consider how you can make celebrations low-waste events. Reuse wrapping paper, give experiences or acts of service rather than things, or spread the kaupapa (purpose) by gifting people items such as keep cups or drink bottles.
Sort it out during Spring Clean Weekend
It's time for a big sort-out sustainability style. Motivate your household by setting everyone a challenge to donate 10 items they no longer use or want that can be donated to your local community recycling centre.
Get yourself some boxes, label them with their intended destination, e.g. ‘community recycling centre’ or ‘op shop’, ‘sell online’ and ‘clothing bin’.
Auckland Council has 13 community recycling centres across the region that accept a range of items, from fridges to bicycles to household odds and ends. Check out the list here for locations, opening hours and a list of what they accept and what items, e.g. old tyres, incur a fee.
Donate unwanted items to your local community recycling centre.
Don’t forget that once a year, Auckland Council will pick up a cubic metre of unwanted items for free during the inorganic collection. Find out when this is next happening in your area and how to book here.
If you’re unsure about whether an item can be recycled, this comprehensive list covers pretty much anything you can think of, and for more recycling inspiration, learn more about Auckland’s zero-waste journey here.
