275 Times May 2018

Upcycle ME!
ME Family Services Resource Recovery Room Therapist
Georgina Kelly-Ngatoko had an “eye-opening experience” on
her recent trip with waste reduction organisation Waste Minz.
By Justine Skilling
Talking Rubbish, ME Family Services
During the two-day trip, Georgina
followed our trail of rubbish,
checking out the Visy recycle
plant in Onehunga, the Hampton
Downs Landfill and Green Gorilla
construction-waste recycling,
as well as two community
resource recovery centres.
“I went on the trip to see what
they do with our waste and how
other communities deal with it”,
says Georgina, whose work with ME
Family Services involves connecting
local families and organisations
with resources recovered from
Auckland Airport’s left luggage
and lost property departments.
Inspiration from ‘Upcycle Town’
A highlight of the trip was the visit
to Raglan, a small town of 2,000
households a couple of hours’ drive
south of Auckland. “It’s a real upcycle
town”, says Georgina, describing
the way the community reuses its
rubbish in creative ways – from the
upcycled wooden tables and chairs
in local restaurants, to the broken
plates used to create mosaics in
the pavements around the town.
“Even the waiting staff in a
local café wear aprons made
out of old jeans”, she says.
In Raglan, the group visited
the catalyst for all this upcycle
mania – Xtreme Zero Waste,
the community-owned and run
resource recovery centre.
The centre collects the town’s
recycling, and food and inorganic
waste, selling what it can back
to the community through
its onsite shop, and finding
outside markets for the rest.
“There’s a mixture of community
employed there – young and
old,” says Georgina. “They’re
passionate about what they do.
Everything is in its place”.
What a load of rubbish!
Contrast this with the final stop
of the trip – Hampton Downs
Landfill – a 386-hectare site in
the Waikato that receives rubbish
from most of the upper North
Island, including Auckland.
Hampton Downs has been operating
for 12 years, with another 13 to
go until it reaches capacity, at
30million cubic metres of waste.
Much of the rubbish inside the landfill
will stay there forever. “It was really,
really huge!” exclaims Georgina.
“I couldn’t believe the rubbish that
actually goes in there – 200 trucks a
day! It was an eye opener”, she says.
Throwing away tomorrow?
Georgina came away with lots
of questions and some pretty big
concerns for how our children will
deal with these landfills in the future.
“What will happen when that’s all full?
What if people need to build houses
there in the future? It could actually be
poisonous, damaging. It was horrible”.
Returning from her trip, Georgina
has mixed feelings. “At home we
collect our food waste and put it
Above:Georgina Kelly-Ngatoko
took a two-day trip to see what
happens to our rubbish.
Below:Hampton Downs Landfill receives
200 truckloads of rubbish a day.
in our bokashi bin. Having seen
that landfill, I wonder if it really
makes a difference. It’s out of
control”, she says. “I tell my family
about what actually happens down
there and that in time our children
will be affected by this. It’s sad”.
Taking another look at ‘junk’
But she’s also come back inspired.
“What’s happening in Raglan is
something I could imagine happening
here in our community”, she says.
“I’m starting to look at the rubbish
around my yard and thinking twice
before putting it in the bin. I know
we have people in our community
who are passionate about doing
things with unwanted junk.
“Every community in Auckland needs
a place to bring their unwanted and
broken things and to get inspired
about what they could make out of
them instead of just dumping them”,
Georgina says. “I think everybody
should open their eyes a bit wider
and see what’s happening with our
rubbish and what it looks like for
the future of our young ones”.
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