Saving the planet one car seat at a time
A car seat retailer is driving the wheels of change in the way parents dispose of expired child restraints.
A partnership between Baby on the Move and recycling programme SeatSmart has lead to around 20 to 30 Nelson children’s car seats being recycled per month, instead of being dumped in landfill.
SeatSmart spokesperson Toni Bye said the programme was twofold and aimed to responsibly dispose of child restraints and educate parents about expiry dates.
‘‘More than 40,000 seats per year go to landfill and we know those seats are about 90 percent recyclable,’’ Bye said.
‘‘They’re bulky and can’t be crushed very easily so they take up unnecessary space as well as being a waste of resources.’’
She said the issue with restraints was the plastic degraded over time so they only had a lifespan of between six and 10 years.
‘‘People have often spent a fair bit of money on a seat, so they think they can pass it on to someone else,’’ she said.
She said it was dangerous if expired seats weren’t taken out of circulation, so it was helpful to have the support of franchise business Baby on the Move to provide collection points for seats to be recycled.
Nelson Baby on the Move owner Russell O’Donnell said he felt responsible for the end-of-life management for the products they sell.
‘‘It’s rewarding knowing that the product is not going into landfill.’’
He said people in Nelson had seemed happy to pay a small recycle fee of $10 to dispose of the seats responsibly.
Local woman Emma Saunders from The Green Collective used the straps to make shoulder bags which were sold at the Nelson market.
‘‘So some of the stuff is actually reused quite locally - it’s not just all heading back to [be recycled in] Auckland,’’ O’Donnell said.
He said they spoke with customers who purchased child restraints to tell them about the option of recycling expired restraints and the dangers of keeping them in circulation.
Every restraint had a different lifespan and O’Donnell said people were welcome to come into Baby on the Move if they needed help checking expiry dates.
Expired restraints can be left at Baby on the Move Nelson to be recycled for a fee of $10.