Nowaste policies work well for Luma
COMMUNITY event organisers in the Queenstown Lakes District will be able to follow the Luma Southern Light Project’s lead as it works towards being zero waste by 2020.
Before this year’s event, which finished in the Queenstown Gardens last night, organisers worked with Sustainable Queenstown and waste minimisation managers Dishrupt, the brainchild of Esther Whitehead, to create an event policy and framework focused on minimising waste.
The policy, funded by the Central Lakes Trust, would now be given to the council for use by other noncommercial community event organisers in the district.
Luma’s objective was to become a cleaner and more environmentally friendly event — this year organisers trialled initiatives around waste reduction, composting and reusable items.
Organisers aimed for landfill bins to be empty, so stainless steel dishes were used instead of disposable plates, all waste and recycling was audited and there was ‘‘verifiable composting’’ at the event.
Ms Whitehead said in the past waste was ‘‘piled together’’ and went to landfill because there was not, as yet, a commercial composting facility in the Wakatipu.
‘‘This year, a large percentage of waste has been avoided altogether, by simply disrupting our dependence on disposables and instead washing reusable ware.
‘‘Waste avoidance is all part of a managed framework of event waste management, that has the potential to reduce waste by 90%.
‘‘This will not only help from the environmental perspective by not creating unnecessary waste, but also keep costs down for participating businesses, stall holders [and] organisers.’’
During Luma, where possible, all food items were put on reusable stainless steel, provided by Dishrupt, or in plantbased containers or wrap.
Recycling stations were located throughout the gar dens, and ‘‘Lumateers’’ were stationed at each one to help guests place their waste into the correct bins.
Ms Whitehead said the behindthescenes effort was a ‘‘gamechanger’’ for other events in the district.