Getting Our Rubbish Sorted – Seminar organised by Civic Trust Auckland 

Tuesday 17 January, 7.00 to 9.00pm, Kinder House, 2 Ayr Street, Parnell 

Aucklanders have a unique opportunity, perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to have their say on a major resource management issue that affects us all. This is the Draft Waste Strategy – an initiative put forward to us by the new Auckland Council. 

It’s not really waste – it’s resources that we are land filling by the thousands of tons each day. How can we move beyond a wasteful mindset, and get our rubbish sorted? Landfills are extremely expensive to build, impossible to find a new site for, ticking time bombs in the environment (if and when their liners start to leak), and represent the dead-ending of our resources. The Auckland Draft WMMP (Waste Management and Minimisation Plan) aims to reduce waste by 30% per person by 2018. The Plan also indicates that wasted materials can be turned into new products or jobs or resources through one of the most intriguing ideas – a resource recovery facility, or a network of resource recovery centres.

Diane Winder presented to 25+ people including members of a variety of groups such as the CBD Residents’ Advisory Group, Mt Eden Village People, Friends of the Earth, the United Nations Association of NZ (Northern Region Branch), the Chinese Conservation Education Trust, Forest and Bird, the Kinder House Society and Auckland Council. Submissions on the “Draft Auckland Council Waste Management and Minimisation Plan” are due on 31 January and information on the plan and making a submission is available at this Auckland Council website 

Diane Winder is a member of ACZWA (Auckland Community Zero Waste Alliance), a trustee of the Sustainable North Trust, an educational group that helps inform people about topics on sustainability, waste and more. She is past National Vice-President of UNANZ (United Nations Association of New Zealand), and delegate to the UN DPI/NGO Conference on Climate Change. Diane will be ordained as an Interfaith Minister in New York City in June 2012. Amongst her interests include ecology, environmental and social justice, and spirituality and cultural diversity.