Mangere Bridge Primary Car Boot Sale- 7 December 2013

The Friends of the Farm and Foreshore got down and dirty with waste at the local Mangere Bridge Primary School car boot sale earlier this month.  Janine Nillesen (who is also a parent at the school) arranged for 3 sets of 3 rubbish bins from Wee Compost to be set up around the school grounds, which required punters to sort their rubbish into compostable, recyclable and landfill items.  The bin stations were monitored by members of the “Friends” WasteWise group, who assisted people to work out which bin to put their rubbish into, using the bin lids supplied by Council as a guide. 

The exercise raised the issue that many people (us included!) are confused about where to put their rubbish.  Lots of conversations were generated about what our waste products are made of and how they can be disposed of, which the group hopes will get people thinking about these questions at home as well.

At the end of the morning, one bin of compostable materials, 2 bins of recycling and 2 ½ bins of general waste were produced. With support from the “Friends” group, the school had managed to cut the amount of waste going to landfill from this event in half!  The recyclable and compostable materials were taken away by Wee Compost.

The group has since generated some ideas about reducing waste at future community events.   Providing a rinsing area for recyclables would minimise contamination and enable these products to go in the correct bin.  It would also be beneficial for vendors to receive support in sourcing compostable/ recyclable food containers and in creating systems for sorting their own waste during the event itself.

The “Friends” group enjoyed making a WasteWise contribution to this community event and will be looking at ways we can partner with other Mangere Bridge event organisers in the future to help make our community a better, more sustainable place to live in.