Now Plastic Free July has been and gone, how are we going to say ‘no love to litter’ for the rest of the year?

Fortunately, there are more and more products, businesses and organisations offering fantastic solutions to reduce the amount of plastic we use that ultimately ends up in landfill.

According to recycle.co.nz about 252,000 tonnes of plastic waste is sent to New Zealand landfills each year – that’s massive when you think one bread bag weighs next to nothing. 

Even more worrying is that all this plastic takes up about 20 percent of the space in our landfills and could take between 450 years and 1000 years to breakdown depending on what it’s made of. And we all know about nasty leachate and the impact plastic production and disposal is having on climate change (sad emoji).

So, I was pretty stoked to come across a few gems for Plastic Free July that I’m going to stick with in the months to come. These include:

• baking my own gluten free bread – I’ve finally found a mix that doesn’t taste like cardboard or sawdust and comes in a paper bag. Check out Oh My Goodness at the Matakana Farmers Market or buy online from their Silverdale bakery. 
• organic cleansing sponge, reusable make-up wipes, bamboo cotton buds and floss picks - who knew these could be so satisfying! The sponge is infused with collagen and the crocheted make-up wipes are the same size as the disposable cotton ones. The cotton buds are bamboo with silicone tips (round at one end, pointed at the other) and I’ll never use dental floss again now I’ve discovered bamboo floss picks! If Wholefoods Bin Inn Warkworth is out of stock, I buy online from www.greenelephant.co.nz or www.thewellstore.com.au
• shampoo and conditioner blocks – I started using these before July, but worth a mention. I use two different brands to avoid build up and with a lot of dry, frizzy hair, this is the best shampoo and conditioner I’ve ever used. Check out Bin Inn or local pharmacies
• making my own body butter – very quick and satisfying, and I just love the feel of it. I get my organic supplies and recipes from www.gonative.co.nz
• recycling soft plastic packaging – this has been a bugbear for yonks especially since New Work Warkworth removed their drop off station (New World Orewa is now the nearest unless you live in Leigh where the community set up their own). We do My Food Bag a few days a week to minimise the amount of leftover food being thrown away. For $6.49 MFB provides a courier bag for returning soft plastics for recycling. To say I was shocked at how quickly we filled our first bag is an understatement – I thought we were way better than we actually are! We’ve got our soft plastics down a lot, but there’s still a long way to go. See www.myfoodbag.co.nz
• make-up – primer, foundation, concealer, cheek and eye colour. I am an Aleph Beauty convert! Aleph will colour match from a photo, and their make-up looks and feels gorgeous. Made in NZ, they also have a circular initiative for recycling primer and serum bottles, glass jars and lids, powder compacts and sample shells. See www.alephbeauty.com

One thing I’m struggling with is bamboo toothbrushes – I’ve recently discovered that the bristles on the brand I use don’t decompose – argh! Has anyone got any suggestions?

So Plastic Free July has opened some new doors to me that will help keep my waste to landfill down throughout the year - I’d love to hear your suggestions and recommendations for saying ‘no love to litter’ year-round. Please share your ideas in the comments below.

Big shout out to Durham Farms for using home compostable packaging which breaks down completely in compost bins and worm farms.  Did you know that most compostable packaging needs high heat for a good length of time to break down?  Which means it has to be hot composted in a commerical facility, otherwise it just goes to landfill.  
​Good on you Durham Farms, leading the way!

We are proud to be offering our compost for sale!  We've been collecting ingredients from local businesses over the last months and turning them into rich compost which is finally ready for sale at our Lawrie Road Recycling Centre. And don't forget, you can drop off your food scraps for free for us to add to our compost.  

Join our Waste Educator Tineke at the Snells Beach Library on Friday 30 April at 10 am to learn about worms and the amazing job they do in converting our food scraps to beautiful fertiliser!  Have a look at some worms under a magnifying glass!  Can you tell their mouth end from their bum end?  Do the worm dance with Tineke!  We don't think that's gross at all - do you?

A huge shout out to our waste ambassadors at the Warkworth A&P Show on Saturday for supervising our waste stations, helping the public to get their refuse in the right bin.  And big thanks to the show patrons for all your positive comments about our work and for being so interested in what happens to the waste.  We are thrilled to have diverted 74.7% from landfill.  Of that, nearly 60% was food scraps and compostable coffee cups, cardboard plates and serveware, which will all go into our compost bins at our Lawrie Rd recycling centre tomorrow.  In about 3 months it will come out the other end as compost! 
Another 16% was recycling (cans, bottles, etc). 

And thanks to our local politicians Marja Lubeck (Labour) and Chris Penk (National) for taking the time to come and see what we were doing.   We appreciate you taking an interest.   

Awesome artwork along the edge of the stream and walkway at Snells Beach by the pupils of Snells Beach School - and what a great message to get across.  Taking care of our environment.  Well done kids (and sponsors).