Western News: June 03, 2021

WESTERN NEWS Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Thursday June 3 2021 7
to look after the environment
If only businesses took more
steps to reduce waste by being
actively involved in where it went
next and ensuring products were
made to last in the first place.
Things like household appliances
produced en masse to be
sold in chain stores may lower
the cost for consumers, but not
the cost it has on the environment.
Said Kramers: “I’m disappointed
that we haven’t dealt with this
sooner because it’s a problem that
people have talked about for a
long time, everyone keeps sweeping
it into the too hard basket.
“It blows me away what comes
through the door, you can tell
someone purchased it earlier in
the year and it’s already in the
bin.”
Kramers channels this energy
into educating the next generation
the reason why organisations
like Molten Media exist.
He has been involved with the
trust since its early days to enable
better access to raw materials for
this purpose.
Along with teaching children
how to code, the workshops allow
them to experiment with recycled
parts.
It could be using a motor that
used to power a printer – perfect
for building robots.
After all, they are the ones who
have to deal with the waste later
on, he said.
“It gives kids an opportunity to
see what happens to old computers
when they die, and we can
explain to them how much bad
materials are inside them.
“I think phones are one of
the worst as far as the number
of toxic chemicals that go into
building it.
“One of the things they enjoy
the most is ripping something
apart or throwing too many volts
into something and finding out
how much it takes before smoke
comes out.”
A portion of laptops and desktop
computers are donated back
to charities.
This was something Kramers
was proud of, particularly when
helping vulnerable families have
access to technology through a
partnership with 0800 Hungry,
Canterbury’s largest foodbank.
But ultimately, the most rewarding
part was when people
SCRAPS:
The Molten
Media Trust
promotes
ethical
recycling of
electronic
equipment
and last year,
it diverted
30 tonnes of
waste away
from landfill.
made an effort to reuse waste.
“I really like that side of it
where people come in and want
to do the right thing,” said Kramers.
Even though he was “spreading
himself a bit thin” juggling a day
job, raising three children with
his wife and helping the trust
survive, he enjoyed what he did
more than he ever has.
What kept him going was the
ability to combine his love of
building electronics with giving
‘It gives kids an
opportunity to see
what happens to old
computers when they die’
– Rudy Kramers
back to the community.
A fascination with artificial
intelligence meant his latest project
was building a robot, but that
was still a work in progress.
In the meantime, Kramers had
a few simple messages to consumers
about the power they had
to instil change.
“When you’re buying something
always go for the next
model up, never go for the cheapest
item. It will find itself in our
waste stream much quicker,” he
said.
“More pressure on the council
on what they’re doing about
waste minimisation would hopefully
mean people like us are
brought to the forefront.”
•If you want to donate
electronics, phone the
trust on 377 1154 or email
dispatch@molten.org.nz in
the first instance. There is
usually a minimum charge
of $5 depending on what is
being received to help the
trust with overhead costs for
recycling.
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