Local Bay of Plenty newspaper; Sun live reported that 25,000 people gathered down Devonport rd and the Strand, Tauranga CBD for the annual Christmas parade.
The parade featured around 80 different groups and in the words of festival director Millie Newitt “the event is a truly collaborative communal effort.”
Waste Wizards was contracted to manage the waste by the stage on the strand and at the end of the Little Big Market from 10am until 3pm.
I, Vinnie Callister was joined by Jamie McCallum as we monitored the bin stations, picked up litter around the area and educated the public on waste minimisation.
We collected a total of 30.9 kgs of waste and diverted 22.2kgs away from landfill. (74%)
Approximately 5kgs of the landfill was compostable plastic. If I could divert this from landfill, the diversion rate would’ve risen to 90%
Disappointed to still have so much landfill.
Jamie and I picked up lots of waste from the site already there before the event and did what we could to leave the place tidier.
For the first time, soft plastics were collected and separated into its own bin. Future post in
Waiuku recently started taking locally collected soft plastic and using it to make fence posts.
Gift packs given out on site are made up of single use plastic and were found in the landfill bin unopened. Next year, a longer lasting or more useful promotional item should be considered for the stage sponsor. An alternative could be a hashtag backdrop that people could take photos with for a waste free promotional idea.
The public are getting better at finding the correct bins for their waste. A new sign I trialed for this event combining paper and food scraps was adopted well.
We really love this event and look forward to doing it better next year!