In Nelson Tasman, we have a Joint Waste Management and Minimisation Plan (JWMMP) with a goal of reducing waste to landfill by 10% per person by 2030.
Reaching this goal will require effort from all of us. The best place to start is at the top of the waste hierarchy by rethinking what we use and reducing the creation of waste in the first place.
Council supports a range of initiatives to reduce waste in our region.
We are part of the SeatSmart programme and subsidise the cost of recycling unwanted children’s car seats.
The usual price for getting rid of a seat is $35, but with our Council subsidy people pay only $20 when the seats are returned to our recycling partner Baby on the Move Nelson.
Metal and most plastics from the dismantled seats are recycled, while straps are repurposed for handmade bags.
Remember to check your car seats expiry date.
Manufacturers set an expiry date because during a car seat’s lifetime ‘Safe Use’ labels fade and become hard to read. Frequent use and exposure to sunlight can damage and weaken plastic. Food, drinks, cleaners, and other materials that may have been spilled or used on webbing may also prevent them from working safely.
Safety regulations and standards also change, and safer products come on the market over time.
Contact Baby on the Move Nelson, our car seat recycling partner, for more information. You can find them on Facebook or send them an email.
New Zealanders throw away an estimated 168 single use plastic bottles per person, every year. This adds to our landfills and contributes to the plastic pollution in our oceans.
Now there is a simple app-based solution. It's called RefillNZ and there are dozens of sites right across Tasman and Nelson where you can fill your drink bottles for free.
The RefillNZ app makes it easier to find free tap water in cafés, council venues and public drinking fountains.
Participating sites have a RefillNZ sticker in their window to show that they are a refill station where you are welcome to go in and fill up your bottle without any obligation to make a purchase.
Simply download the app from you usual app store, or you can also search for places to refill on their website map.
Choose to support your local charitable organisations by buying and reusing things from op shops.
Download the Tasman op shop map (pdf 794 KB)
Download the Nelson op shop map
Download the Sustainable Style Flyer. (pdf, 203 KB)
Council also makes grants available to Opportunity/Charitable Shops to help cover their waste disposal costs. Find out more about the grants and apply now.
If you are attending a community event or a market the best thing you can do to reduce waste is to bring your own (BYO) bag, plate, cup and water bottle. There are many innovative solutions for BYO available on the internet and in local shops, or you could simply bring something from home.
If you are organising a community event, check out the information on this page including ideas on how to reduce waste at your event
