GETTING TO ZERO COMMUNITY WASTEWISE IMPACT 2016-2017 - Waste Solutions Auckland Council - Weaving Change
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GETTING
TO ZERO
COMMUNITY WASTEWISE
IMPACT 2016-2017
Waste Solutions
Auckland Council
Ko te hīkoi tuatahi te tīmatanga o ia haere One step is the start of each journey
Kotahi te kākano ko te Wao Nui a Tane One seed is the start of a great forest
Kotahi te pata wai, ke rere he awa One drop of water is the start of a river
He wā takitaro he tīmatanga mutunga kore One moment in time is the start of eternity
School trip to the Learning Zone – Waitākere Transfer Station
Front cover: Participants at the June 2017 Community WasteWise Hui at Papatūānuku Marae
2
A MOVEMENT
FOR CHANGE
Across Tāmaki Makaurau, passionate people are forging a
movement to transform our approach to waste and achieve
zero waste to landfill in Auckland by 2040. The Community
WasteWise team in Auckland Council works with community
partners to strengthen and grow this ‘Getting to Zero’
movement.
This report presents the Community WasteWise approach
and collective impact from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017.
Overview
A summary of Community WasteWise activity, reach, impact
and learning 2016-2017
Intent
The Community WasteWise purpose and approach
The difference being made
• Aucklanders engaged in waste minimisation in 2016-
2017
• Reducing domestic waste to landfill per Aucklander
• Activity and impact in targeted areas
Learning
• What supports zero waste behaviour change at the
community level?
• Other learnings so far ME Family Services Zero Waste approach
3
OVERVIEW OF WASTEWISE ACTIVITY 16-17
WHO PRIORITIES REACH WASTE
26 funded community partners: Community-led change 186,700 Aucklanders engaged by DIVERSION
• 9 community organisations Iwi-led waste movement community partners - 12% of the 10% less household waste per
• 1 iwi organisation Educating, resourcing, inspiring population Aucklander sent to landfill in 2016,
• 15 compost facilitators Targeted behaviour change compared to 2010
• 1 Waste Free Parenting Preparing communities for waste Online platforms:
facilitator service changes Making the Most of Waste
Compost Collective
Auckland Council Community Zero Waste Events
WasteWise team Community partners Facebook
1580 waste champion volunteers and social media
ATTITUDES* BEHAVIOUR* COMMUNITY LEARNING
74% of Aucklanders agree that 35% of Aucklanders compost BENEFITS Community willingness to
waste is an important issue some of their food waste Social connection and belonging engage and change is increasing
59% of Aucklanders feel 7% of Aucklanders engage in 8 or Increased health and wellbeing Relationships and enabling waste
responsible for their impact on the more of 20 ‘ideal’ waste reduction Saving money champions drives success
environment behaviours Creating jobs and enterprises Connect waste with things
8% of parents use cloth nappies all Connecting people to food, nature, people care about
the time culture and sustainability Provide incentives
* These are baselines drawn from a survey of 3,210 representative Aucklanders in October 2012, The Auckland Household Waste Prevention Study, 2013.. This survey is planned to be repeated in
2021/2022.
4
COLLECTIVE APPROACH TO
ZERO WASTE 2040
The Zero Waste to
landfill 2040 vision
is pursued by a
council supported
community-led
approach, powered
by Te Ao Māori (the
Māori world).
5
RESTORING MANA TO PAPATŪĀNUKU (EARTH MOTHER) The Community WasteWise approach is informed by Te Ao Māori or the Māori world. For Māori, the connection between people and Papatūānuku or Earth Mother is paramount. Humankind is just one child of Papatūānuku, and our role is to act as protector and guardian rather than master over the earth. Traditionally, a closed-loop waste system returned all resources back to Papatūānuku without harm to the whenua (land) or moana (oceans). Tikanga (custom) guided the protection of waterways, wāhi tapu (sacred sites) and food gathering. The modern concept of Para Kore (zero waste) brings Te Ao Māori values, mātauranga Māori (indigenous knowledge) and tikanga into the sustainable waste management sector. Photo: Trenching Bokashi at Papatūānuku Marae 6
SMALL ACTIONS BIG IMPACT
Successful social movements are driven by communities and by collaboration Ultimately, the intent is to support a shift from a linear economy that turns
towards shared goals. The Community WasteWise theory of change is that resources into waste, to a circular one in which resources are reused and
building strong relationships, investing in community-led approaches via minimal to no ‘waste’ is produced.
local community organisations and waste champions, and ensuring breadth
and quality of engagement with diverse communities will drive waste related
behaviour change, reduce waste to landfill and produce a wide range of
individual, community and environmental benefits.
7
COMMUNITIES AND WASTE CHAMPIONS
LEADING CHANGE
Auckland’s communities are diverse and require • Pacific Vision Aotearoa – in Ōtara-Papatoetoe
tailored approaches to waste minimisation. Local and with Pacific organisations and communities
people told council in 2012 that key ingredients to region wide
bringing communities on board with zero waste • Shunya Waste Solutions - Papatoetoe South
were: local people teaching local people; building Indian residents and temples
on people’s passion for food and gardening;
• ME Family Services - Māngere-Otahuhu
making it fun and involving families, children
• Friends of the Farm - Māngere Bridge
and young people; street and neighbourhood
• Te Awa Ora Trust - Manurewa
led initiatives; supporting waste champions;
creating local employment and enterprises; and • Tāmaki WRAP - Maungakiekie-Tāmaki
modelling good waste minimisation practices. • Multi-Education Support and Services Trust -
These themes have become the foundation of working with Pacific families in Onehunga Waste Champion Naomi Roberts
the WasteWise approach across Auckland. • Kaipatiki Environment Centre and
EcoMatters Environment Trust - North, West Another key community partner, though not
Council works with communities on zero waste in
and region wide contracted currently, is The Roots Creative
many ways, informally and more formally through
Entrepreneurs in South Auckland.
funded partnering agreements, especially in • Waiheke Resources Trust – Waiheke Island
South and East Auckland, including Hauraki • Envirokiwi – Great Barrier Island There is also a team of 15 part time compost
Gulf Islands. From 2014, council’s WasteWise facilitators and a waste free parenting
• Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Whai Maia Ltd
team has held partnering agreements with the facilitator working across the region.
• Te Whānau Hapori Trust in Papakura
following community partners, to undertake See makethemostofwaste.co.nz/waste-
• Gardens4Health
community-led waste minimisation engagement, champions for stories of everyday people
education and action: making changes.
8
COMMUNITY PARTNERS IN ACTION
Chinese Conversation Group Panmure Community Kai Conscious library display
ME festival volunteer Garden Workshop Waiheke
Rethink Waste - The Roots Te Awa Ora Talking Trash 2017 Zero Waste Awards Winners
9
GROWING ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP LOCAL
AND CONNECTION CHAMPIONS
Bharatiya Mandir in Balmoral is one of
“This is a proven and a magic way Auckland’s oldest Hindu temples and is
of working.” TĀMAKI working with the council’s WasteWise team
WRAP to become a zero-waste model for other
- Karen Clifford, Community temples and a leader in sustainability for
Tāmaki WRAP is a charitable trust based
Waste Facilitator the good of the community. The work
in Tāmaki (Glen Innes, Panmure, Pt England).
includes waste audits, workshops
Tāmaki WRAP grew out of a partnership with council,
The Community WasteWise approach supports and the creation of edible
supporting passionate local people to spread the waste
Auckland residents to ‘do the right thing’ in terms gardens.
minimisation kaupapa. Tāmaki WRAP catalyses jobs and
of dealing with their waste and turning waste into
social enterprises such as the United Sustainable Sisters
resources. It also connects people in many ways
(see page 24) and is helping people save money and
- with nature through composting and growing
connect with their neighbours. It inspires many stories
food, with other people, by reaching people on
of transformation, and motivates early childhood
the margins, creating opportunities for active
citizenship, building community capacity and
centres, groups, families and individuals to LOVE ZERO
networks, celebrating success and helping people
make positive waste changes. WASTE AWARDS
to save money and live their cultural and spiritual Council partnered with the Zero Waste
values. Here are just a few examples. PACIFIC Guardians Group and Papatūānuku Marae to
VISION host the annual Community Waste Wise hui and
the inaugural Love Zero Waste Awards Night in
AOTEAROA
June 2017. There were over 100 nominations
Pacific Vision Aotearoa works with Pacific from across Auckland for these awards and
communities in Auckland to minimise waste. See the Awards Night was attended by 150
their Facebook page for a three-minute Tagata people.
Pasifika programme on some aspects of this work.
10AUCKLANDERS ENGAGED IN WASTE
MINIMISATION BY COMMUNITY PARTNERS
From 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017, community partners engaged 12% of Auckland’s population as follows.
186,700
873 198
O 47
725
People engaged Workshops and Markets and events Zero waste events Community groups
presentations attended supported worked with
1,580
188
643
35
Champions and Media interviews Social media blogs, Groups supported
volunteers and articles tweets, posts to run their own
WasteWise projects
11THE ENABLING ROLE OF COUNCIL
Council has a small community engagement and education team called the Community WasteWise team, which aims to catalyse, connect, enable and grow
innovation to make step changes towards zero waste. It plays these roles via these action areas.
Support community partners and other Work directly with diverse communities Provide leadership, influence and advice
waste champions to flourish • WasteWise Advisors work with communities • Specialist advice in and out of council to
• Build strong relationships with partners and and groups across the region (migrants, youth, achieve waste minimisation outcomes
collaborators elderly, disabled), for example supporting the • Support council staff and the organisation to
• Provide materials, resources, training and visually impaired community to produce the model WasteWise minimisation
support, including skill shares Feeling Rubbish Guide to minimize waste • Internal advocacy within council to support
• Manage partnering agreements and track • The WasteWise team supports schools and WasteWise goals
performance and delivery community groups to visit three learning
• Support groups to obtain funding and centres, where they can experience recycling
resources and see ‘waste’ turned into resources
Programme delivery and development Inform and strengthen the Community Prepare communities for waste service
• Develop and help deliver programmes and WasteWise network changes
campaigns (such as the Compost Collective, • Annual Community WasteWise Hui since 2014 • WasteWise Advisors in council work with
Love Food Hate Waste, Zero Waste Events, and inaugural Awards in June 2017. The Zero community partners and the general public
early childhood centre programmes) Waste Guardianship Group* formed from the to prepare Aucklanders for waste service
• Research and evaluation to support planning, 2016 annual hui changes, including the Red Bin Roll Out (see
programme design, learning and improvement • Communicate, inform and share next page), bringing in organic food waste
stories, see makethemostofwaste. collections and user pays for refuse
co.nz, compostcollective.org.nz and • This team also handles recycling queries
zerowasteevents.org.nz and is part of the Auckland Litter Prevention
• Envision is funded to provide a monthly Steering Group and the national Packaging
newsletter, see gettingtozero.co.nz Forum
*
The Auckland Zero Waste Guardians Group is an informal group of kaitiaki or guardians of the zero waste 2040 vision, hailing from a range of organisations and backgrounds across Auckland, including
council. This group has produced ‘Zero Waste 2040: The Way - Our Collective Approach’, a path and set of actions to move toward the 2040 vision.
12RED BIN ROLL OUT
Council waste service changes provide an opportunity to start a
conversation with people on how to minimise their waste. The 2017 Red
Bin Roll Out project provides each household in the legacy Manukau
City Council area (110,000 households) with a 120L rubbish bin for their
household refuse. Post September 2017, rubbish bags will no longer
be collected from the kerbside.
Workshops were held with community partners to understand potential impacts of this change on
communities and work out how to get communities ready. Preparing Aucklanders for the Red Bin Roll
Out began in February 2017 with WasteWise Advisors and community partners seeking to reach as
many people as possible with information and support for the roll out. Compost Facilitators provided
workshops and advice. WasteWise Advisors alone engaged around 8,670 people via 75 markets, events
and library visits in South Auckland. This is being followed up with more in-depth discussion, information
and workshops on how people can reduce their waste with this new service. A ‘train the trainer’ approach
is taken, with locals being trained to pass key messages onto others.
A creative engagement group called The Open Fort was contracted to design fun and engaging ways to
spread the message about this new service. Games were designed for people to play, that showed them
how to use the new bins and minimize waste at the same time. Open Fort employed local people via the
community partners to be part of the team that delivered this community engagement programme. This is
an example of short term job opportunities being provided as part of campaigns. The Open Fort now has
the contract to run an 0800 community hotline for the illegal dumping campaign, which was underway
alongside the Red Bin Roll Out in South Auckland.
13IMPACTING HOUSEHOLD WASTE
The community and council WasteWise collaboration is helping to reduce the amount of waste that Aucklanders
send to landfill.
Auckland Council manages 20% of Auckland’s waste via household or domestic kerbside waste collection services. Council’s first Waste Management Plan (2012-
2017) focused on reducing domestic waste by 30% by 2018. In 2017, on average each Aucklander sent 12kg less to landfill than in 2010 (a 13% decrease). This is
projected to decrease to 110kg per person per year by 2020 (the 30% target), once the organic waste collection service begins in urban areas in 2017 and as user
pays for refuse rolls out across Auckland.
Strategies to reduce domestic waste sent to landfill include:
• removing food and garden waste from household waste, through
community education to reduce food waste and increase home
composting, supported by new organic (food and garden) waste
collection services in urban areas from 2017
• community education on WasteWise parenting and waste free living
• normalizing and modelling waste minimisation via zero waste events and
campaigns
• a new inorganic collection service that takes material that can be reused
to a central warehouse, where registered community groups can access
goods to generate revenue and create social enterprises
• increasing local economic development through enterprises relating to
repurposing, upcycling and recycling of ‘waste’.
The remaining 80% of Auckland’s waste to landfill comes from commercial and construction and demolition waste. As well as continuing to reduce domestic
waste to landfill, the 2018 to 2023 Waste Management Plan will work on reducing this 80%.
14IMPACTING ZERO
WASTE ON MARAE
Through the innovative Para Kore ki Tāmaki initiative
of Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei, Auckland Council is
supporting an important zero waste movement on
Auckland marae.
The Para Kore programme is designed to support marae to reduce waste. The
Para Kore team:
• makes presentations to Auckland marae committees
• provides waste advisors to work with marae
• delivers Para Kore wānanga to whānau
• helps marae set-up recycling and composting systems
• provides education on Para Kore at zero waste events
Pare Kore has worked with 25 marae to date, with increasing demand for this
Engagement and activity in 2016-2017
work from kura, Māori organisations and marae-based events. Ngāti Whātua
Ōrakei have decided however not to continue with the Pare Kore contract in
2017-2018 as they wish to focus on their hapū’s priorities.
Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei hosted the 64th Māori
Women’s Welfare League Conference at Ōrakei
188
Activities
1189
12,081
People engaged
Marae and with Para Kore achieved an 85%
64 engaged at zero waste
Organisations People events
diversion rate. engaged
engagedIMPACTING ORGANIC WASTE
In Auckland, around 45% of household rubbish is organic waste such as food scraps and garden waste. Over
120,000 tonnes of organic waste needlessly goes to landfill each year.
The Compost Collective is a collaborative project to increase the number of Auckland households composting and reducing organic waste. It involves EcoMatters
Environment Trust, Kaipatiki Project, Compost Facilitators and council’s WasteWise team. It has these core components.
Free composting
Free advice and Compost Collective Links to Auckland
workshops and Online learning
information website community gardens
discounted systems
Free two hour workshops offer a basic introduction to three composting systems. Participants register through the Compost Collective website and after attending
the workshop receive a $40 discount code via email, for the system of their choice.
Engagement and activity in 2016-2017
10,040 7,350 2,690 527 1927
People engaged People received People engaged at Activities Facebook likes
face-to-face training events
16IMPACTING ORGANIC
WASTE
The Compost Collective provides composting workshops and
Compost Facilitators tailor their work to suit their particular
communities.
The 10,000+ people engaged can share what they learn with their families and communities. The
Compost Collective works across the Auckland region, including Waiheke and Great Barrier Islands.
Skilled and passionate Compost Facilitators also work specifically with Māori, Pacific, Chinese,
Korean and South Asian communities. Gardens4Health support community gardens region wide.
Composting is far more than reducing food and garden waste to landfill. It connects people to
nature and the food cycle, restores soils, increases food growing, educates people about healthy
food, connects people with each other and is a key part of turning ‘waste’ into resources. It closes
the loop between the soils that grow our food and the nourishment of that soil. Reducing food waste
and growing food also saves people money. The power of composting is shared best through
community stories. Read some stories at compostcollective.org.nz/stories.
“I love composting as I feel like I am
giving back to the earth what I have
taken, as if I have borrowed the nutrients
from the soil to grow a vegetable and
then returned them with compost.”
- Jacinta, 25, Herald Island
17IMPACTING ORGANIC WASTE Hands-on sheet mulching workshop at Massey University Albany campus East Tāmaki workshop Indoor workshop at Orewa Composting for families workshop in Māngere (supported by Pacific Vision Aotearoa) 18
IMPACTING FOOD
WASTE
Love Food Hate Waste (LFHW) is a national campaign
to reduce food waste led by WasteMinz. Council’s
WasteWise team and community partners work
together to deliver the Auckland LFHW campaign.
In November 2016 this campaign began in Auckland and is ongoing. A LFHW
fund allocated $40,000 to grassroots community groups across the region to
deliver workshops, events, training and education to reduce food waste. To
30 June 2017 the campaign achieved the following.
70
Events and
workshops
600
39
Projects
funded
11,000
1500
People exposed to
campaigns in public
50 spaces
Love Food Hate Attendees Social media
Waste champions responses
Reducing food waste holds great appeal to most people - it saves money, prevents precious food from being wasted and once a person learns ways to stop
wasting food, they can show others.
19IMPACTING FOOD WASTE Two projects from the Auckland LFHW campaign were picked up and shared by the national LFHW campaign: the Community Fridge and Orchard to Lunch Box. LFHW funded project – the Community Fridge Zero waste blogger Amanda Chapman and a group of waste champions set up a Community Fridge offering free food to those in need in Auckland’s CBD in November 2016. Businesses and individuals can leave excess food in the fridge for anyone to take. The fridge was salvaged from the inorganic collection and repaired by Resource Rescue. Amanda got the idea from a friend who had used a ‘Solidarity Fridge’ in Germany. The Community Fridge was featured in the New Zealand Herald. Orchard to Lunch Box This project takes people through the process that a kiwifruit or apple goes through from the orchard to a school lunch box. It is a kit that schools can facilitate in their schools. 20
IMPACTING FOOD WASTE
“For minimal investment we have seen
huge returns from the LFHW funding. The
lessons shared during the LFHW classes were
valuable to all the participants and helped
remind us of the tragic food waste that
occurs and the simple ways we can remedy
Multicultural workshops, food rescue and distribution
the situation by small changes to our home
cooking habits”
- Kelston Community Hub, which delivered five
LFHW classes to 75+ participants
Media launch in Aotea Square November 2016 with a bread mountain representing food waste
21IMPACTING WASTE
FREE PARENTING
Sanitary products such as nappies and menstrual
products account for around 10% of waste to landfill.
Waste Free Parenting Facilitator Kate Meads (‘The Nappy Lady’) and
community partners promote WasteWise Parenting and Waste Free Living.
Kate believes that people first need to feel the need for change, then be
supported with knowledge, incentives and encouragement, to create their
‘new normal’.
Regional workshops are provided for parents and communities. Attendees
receive a Waste Free Parenting pack worth $90 retail to take home (which
includes cloth nappies, reusable menstrual products and beeswax wraps).
Smaller community workshops are provided for local groups, with ten waste
free parenting packs worth $50 for $5 available for sale at each workshop.
Cloth nappy trials are also delivered by a council WasteWise Advisor with
early childhood centres. A ‘train the trainer’ approach is taken throughout,
encouraging residents to pass what they know to other parents and families.
Te Pāpapa Preschool in Mt Wellington reduced
their waste from 9.5kg per day to 1.5kg, by improving
their recycling, using cloth nappies and using their
worm bin for food scraps. Before their two month
trial ended they began buying cloth nappies from
TradeMe.
22IMPACTING WASTE FREE PARENTING
29
2,932
25
Workshops and People engaged Organisations
presentations engaged
1600
68%
9
100%
Cloth nappies Waste diversion Early Childhood Participants satisfied
distributed rate from ECEs Centre cloth nappy
trials
23A MOONCUP REVOLUTION The United Sustainable Sisters (USS) story demonstrates the increasingly interconnected nature of Community WasteWise activity. Enterprising women involved with community partner Tāmaki WRAP got inspired after attending a waste- free parenting workshop run by Kate Meads. They saw the need to increase girls and women’s access to sustainable menstrual products, to reduce associated costs and the amount of waste sent to landfill. USS tested out some ideas on women in the community and set up a Facebook page. They gained a council Waste Minimisation and Innovation Fund grant to pursue three goals: 1. Equip women with menstrual cups and cloth menstrual pads 2. Develop a social enterprise model around cloth menstrual pads 3. Grow awareness and education around reuseable menstrual options, including in schools As of June 2017, they had equipped 95 Auckland women with menstrual cups, facilitated workshops around Auckland, developed their own menstrual pad sewing pattern, created a closed Facebook group for women and engaged with the health sector to promote reusable menstrual options. 24
GIVING CLOTH NAPPIES A GO
Every year eight early childcare centres in Auckland
can take part in Auckland Council’s free cloth nappy
trials.
The participating centres are provided with loan kits of modern cloth nappies
to use for an eight-week period, along with waste audits at the beginning and
end of the trial. They also receive support and advice from the Nappy Lady
and Council’s WasteWise team about nappy use, improving recycling and
dealing with food waste.
The Tamariki Ātaahua Early Learning Centre in Panmure has an environmental
champion in charge, who’s determined to run a low-impact business. With
approximately 25 children using nappies in the Centre at any given time,
Tamariki Ataahua prevents around 80 nappies going into landfill and saves
around $60 each day – a direct financial benefit to the community of parents
using the facility. Educating staff and parents has had a community-wide
impact. Centre owner operate Sharon Stephens says, “Once we had the
cloth nappies in place, of course we started wondering what else we could
do.” That led to replacing paper towels with washable face cloths, a hungry
worm bin farm and 12 bokashi bins. Funding for the worm farm came through
Staff at A’oga Fa’a Samoa in Grey Lynn with their centre’s cloth nappies
Auckland Council’s Waste Minimisation and Innovation Fund.
25IMPACTING ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR
THROUGH ZERO WASTE EVENTS
Events in Auckland each year attract over 1.5 million people and contribute at least $479 million to the Auckland economy. Waste generated at events ranges
between one to two litres of uncompacted waste per patron, and overall waste to landfill of around 50,000 tonnes. Events are a great opportunity to educate and
‘normalise’ waste minimisation behaviour. Strategies are to target large events and build event organiser capacity to minimise waste.
Zero Waste Events Online hub with free Free zero waste Build community Supporting zero Tracking waste
advice to large advice, training and event loan gear capacity waste at council diversion from
event organisers resources for event available for hire events events
organisers
19 events supported Online platform for Hired to 13 large Community partners For example, Movies This is a work in
involving 5,000+ Zero Waste Events events such as supported 47 zero in Parks is tracking progress – the
people each launched September Polyfest and Parnell waste community waste diversion from strategy is to
The Lantern Festival 2017, in partnership with Festival of the Roses, events 2017-18 support event
alone has 200,000+ EcoMatters Environment and 25 smaller events organisers and
attendees over one Trust such as school galas communities
weekend and community days to track waste
zerowasteevents.org.nz diverted from
events
26CHANGING LIVES AND COMMUNITIES
As well as changing thinking and behaviour to minimize waste, the WasteWise approach has major ripple
effects. The 2017 annual hui with community partners identified the following community benefits and impacts
from Community WasteWise action.
“To date we have helped over
12 youths, six single Mums and Health and wellbeing
Creating financial - Reduced social isolation
four families into employment”
- Community partner opportunities - Increased food security through learning how to grow
- Saving money, reducing food waste and food, compost and reduce food waste
reusing resources - Better health through healthier eating
- Improving financial literacy - Healthier waterways through use of bokashi in septic
- Employment, income, social enterprises tanks
Awareness, and skill building - Sense of belonging
connection, culture - Increased community pride
- Stronger and increased social connections in - Improved mental health
communities - Improved physical health
- Connection with Māori tikanga and traditions - Increased resourcefulness and resilience
- Surfacing diverse cultural and traditional practices (including Making a
those of thrifty older generations) difference
- Raised awareness and connection to Papatuanuku or earth - Providing a way to volunteer and
mother contribute
- Waste provides an entry point to wider sustainability issues - People learn they can make a difference
- People become more conscious consumers and then share that with others
- People connecting with their place through - Confidence and self-esteem from
community gardens and local hubs participating and influencing
changeWHAT SUPPORTS BEHAVIOUR CHANGE AT
THE COMMUNITY LEVEL?
Investing in relationships and empowering Small is beautiful (and so is easy, fun and Strong and creative communication
skilled and passionate waste champions meaningful)
Locals teaching locals is highly effective; communities Supporting communities through little bits of Online platforms are increasingly effective at
respond better to local people resources and funding, such as $1k grants for Love informing, educating and supporting people to act
Multicultural community partners and council staff Food Hate Waste Early communication around waste service changes is
who understand and work well with communities Making it easy to change one thing; keeping it effective
across Auckland manageable Using creative ways to engage people, eg The Open
Community partners and council staff walk their talk Connecting waste with things people care about – Fort, who use hands-on games to teach people about
Building reciprocal relationships with communities to environment, culture, saving money, health waste reduction
drive change The small actions, big impact message is powerful Getting messages across in diverse ways – role
modelling, visual information, using humour, Facebook,
other social media and pop up events
Breadth and depth of engagement and Connecting and networking It’s a journey of change, provide incentives
leveraging off waste service changes and ongoing support
A spectrum of engagement approaches is needed, Connecting people with local networks and Provide incentives to hook people in – such as
from light touch to in-depth, as people are at different communities of interest subsidies, free or cheap products and ways to save
levels of awareness around waste Connecting people with local hubs and facilities to money, such as cloth nappies and compost systems
Using service changes as a lever for waste behaviour support local action Follow up and provide ongoing support; help people
change to make ongoing changes and be there if people need
help
28WHAT ELSE ARE WE LEARNING?
The Community WasteWise approach is an example of effective community and council collaboration, and “Zero waste is a bug and once you
of Auckland Council enabling community action for social change. The getting to zero waste movement is
catch it, it influences everything
widespread and diverse, which makes tracking impact and attributing change directly to the Community
you do – what you buy; what you
WasteWise team and community partners challenging. Clear and meaningful ways to track progress and
impact are evolving.
eat; your everyday choices. This
Community partners and council staff are seeing more diverse parts of the community getting involved, feels like a real movement, people
with people making connections between waste and other issues such as saving money, eating healthy feel connected with each other in
food and caring for the environment. Community partners report that they are joining up more around this space, everyone has waste and
different aspects of waste action, such as composting, zero waste events and food waste. They also notice can talk about it; it’s a connecting
that communities are strongly motivated around getting rid of single use plastic bags. Things that could
subject and a leveller.”
help to make a greater difference include the following. - WasteWise Team Member
ADVOCACY KEY SUPPORT INCENTIVISING LOCAL HUBS FOOD AND TRACKING
NEEDS GARDEN FOCUS IMPACT
Stronger community Accelerating change Supporting the
and council advocacy though a wide range development of local Continue the Getting better at
Support needs relate
to central government of rewards, incentives, sustainability hubs campaign to tracking waste
to spreading the net
on key issues such subsidies and where people can reduce food waste, diversion from landfill,
out to different parts
as landfill charges, encouragement connect and learn compost and grow having agreed
of the community;
becoming plastic food, including impact measures and
resources and training
bag free, reducing increasing resourcing embedding evaluation
to support marketing
packaging and and support for into the Community
and communicating;
encouraging people community gardens, WasteWise approach
increasing the
to make more waste local and fair food
volunteer base and
conscious buying projects
train the trainer
choices approaches
29You can also read
