Waipa’s ways to reduce waste
A book exchange made out of an old telephone booth is just one of Waipa’s waste minimisation activities.
Jeremy Suisted from Creativate is working with councils to raise awareness of ways to reduce waste in the Waikato district and encourage residents to make small steps towards living more sustainably.
The book exchange was started by the Cambridge Community Board in 2015 and has become a town attraction.
People can bring in books they no longer want and take a book they find interesting in return.
‘‘This cuts down on unnecessary waste and encourages the sharing community,’’ Suisted said.
So far there had been no vandalism to the book exchange, e.
It was originally a phone booth, built in the 1990s with a 1911 design.
Other waste minimisation activities he wanted to highlight was The Sharing Shed in Te Awamutu, which is where people can donate and take produce, and the Walton St Cafe, which aims to have no food left over by the end of the day.
He would be working with Waipa District, Waikato District, Hamilton City and Waikato Regional councils to promote ways of reducing waste in the different areas.
‘‘We’re going to be doing a video series to show people what they can do at home and we’ll be talking to the likes of Emma’s Food Bag to see what they do with their excess food,’’ he said.
Another Cambridge woman they’re talking to is Nicola Turner from Mainstream Green, who turns her excess food into com- post with a worm farm.
Her family has reduced their plastic use by so much they rarely put rubbish bags out for collection.
‘‘We want to normalise waste minimisation,’’ said Suisted.
‘‘A lot of people think it’s just for hippies or they focus on recycling, instead of thinking in the beginning how they can reduce their plastic intake, instead of just recycling.’’
Some schools were getting involved as well.
‘‘We also visited Te Kauwhata Primary School and they have a community garden, and with the extra food they make worm juice,’’ said Suisted.
‘‘One third of the juice goes to the community house, and the rest is actually sold.’’