Extra funds helps childcare centre cut waste
A cash injection from the Hamilton City Council Waste Minimisation Fund is enabling a Hillcrest Childcare centre to fight the landfill.
Hillcrest Community Childcare manager Tania Charteris-bakker is passionate about sustainability. After doing a waste audit of the centre, she realised they needed to find solutions to the waste they were creating.
“It was shocking how much food waste we were making,” said Charteris-bakker. “We were filling 50-litre bins each week with waste from lunchboxes, as well as the morning tea we provide.”
Charteris-bakker met the council’s waste minimisation education adviser, Belinda Goodwin, at a sustainability workshop, where they discussed ways the centre could deal with food waste.
After the workshop, Charterisbakker wanted to learn more, especially about the issues Hamilton faces around waste. She booked a group visit to see Goodwin at the Education
Room, overlooking the Materials Recovery Facility, where the city’s recycling is sorted.
Goodwin recommended applying to the council’s Waste Minimisation Fund, for the centre to use to help reduce waste.
“We decided we wanted to concentrate on reducing food waste, and applied for funds towards a composting system and vegetable garden. Applying was a really easy process, and I recommend it to other small organisations like ours.”
The garden is established and the vegetables are nourished each day by the children, who, as part of their daily routine, take their food waste to the compost bins, and weed and water the young plants.
Do you have a cool project to reduce waste sent to landfill? The city council will be taking applications for the Waste Minimisation Fund from March 13.