Bag end: the rubbish bag to end them all
Still smiling over that headline tbh
About once a month I take a 65 litre bag of rubbish and drop it by the road for collection.
That adds up to about 780 litres of rubbish destined for the landfill each year from our family of four.
I think we are doing pretty good, but could also be doing much better.
But then there is Steve Walker.
I did a story on the Dunedin councillor just over a year ago. You can read about it here.
It was about his magnificent obsession: reducing rubbish. In that case Walker, and his wife Liana Machado, were putting out just two rubbish bags a year (spoiler alert: the much smaller 45 litre bag).
Walker revealed his obsession during a council meeting where councillors agreed to introduce wheelie bins for general waste.
I later did a follow-up with Walker, after he finally put out that bag in September.
“We would have made it to the end of the year, but lockdown has changed what we’ve been buying unfortunately,” Walker said at the time.
Still, eight months to fill one rubbish bag is very impressive.
So how is he doing one year on?
Pretty. Damn. Well.
“It is getting much easier,” Walker, who lives in Port Chalmers, said.
“We are rarely putting anything into it now.”
While he doubted he would ever achieve their zero waste goal, “we are getting close”.
Walker said the successful move to reduce their household rubbish from two bags to one was made possible by readers responding to his story.
In that story, Walker, who rummaged through his waste, lamented the likes of toothpaste tubes and aluminium foil in the rubbish.
Readers advocated him buying toothpaste in a jar, while others suggested replacing tinfoil with a silicon base for cooking.
Every few months Walker would source a new item, such as cooking oil, but use a refillable jar.
Perhaps the biggest move was not putting any food waste in the bag.
Instead, the couple now buried the likes of chicken bones, but he feared if they ever sold their home it may need some explaining.
Walker said they were in a privileged position, and did not have children.
He was a firm believer that it was important not to get onerous about people reducing their waste, but instead encourage small steps, which quickly add up.
That lifestyle included refilling their glass containers with items from selected stores.
Walker cycled to Dunedin almost everyday - a 26km round journey - and was doing about 6000km a year on his electric bike.
He was looking forward to the new cycleway opening up, with the current ride along SH88 recommended for experienced riders.
Walker said he often returned from the city with a jar full of a household item.
“It sounds awkward if you have never done it, but once you are in the habit you don’t even think about it.”
But he has one regret.
And that was buying a five-pack of the rubbish bags, which will eventually be phased out when Dunedin moves to a new kerbside collection.
This Wednesday morning I received a message from Walker and the following photo:
That message read:
“Today's containers coming with me on the bike to be refilled at Taste Nature.”
“Olive oil, curry powder (very important!) and fish container for Harbour Fish - easy!”
Good work.
My family enjoyed attending Mana Moana on Sunday night, with council estimating about 20,000 people attended the event at the Dunedin waterfront.
DCC Manahautū Māori Partnerships & Policy general manager Jeanette Wikaira said:
“It is the first time we have worked with mana whenua to deliver an event of this scale for Dunedin, and we are just blown away by the enormous support and huge crowds that attended.”
More of this. And I’m sure iwi and council will be key players in developing that waterfront area, which hasn’t really changed since the below video:
A brief update to last week’s story featuring Kelly Smith. She operates a couple of businesses out of Dunedin, which have attracted a slew of complaints.
I was all set to interview her last Wednesday, but she has Covid-19. Another request to interview her met with a bounceback email from her lawyer, who has now resigned.
This needs to be a Netflix show…
ICYMI: I covered a councillor’s push for a groyne to be reinstated at St Clair. You can watch that debate via YouTube.
I would not be surprised if that vote will be close.
Expect a follow-up on the story regarding the dumping of waste in the Clutha River. The matter is expected to be discussed by the Otago Regional Council.
I also got an Official Information Act back from the University of Otago (188 pages SWOON), regarding the graduation ceremonies being cancelled after a shooting threat. That was a weird time.
And now for the highly coveted Tweet of the Week.
I love this picture of Mosgiel (a sentence I never thought I would write):
And I’m still laughing over this:
I’m a bit of a vinyl junkie these days, and I was wondering what is the most highly sought after/expensive vinyl record hailing from a Dunedin artist/group.
Well, it turns out it may belong to Lutha and their album Earth.
Check out this track. Super nice!
Here is a profile of the band here, and you can pick up a copy for a mere $US600 here.
Enjoy your week!
On reflection, if we all parked for free, DCC would go bankrupt.
I remember Cate Wilson in the last election cycling all the way from Middlemarch to Dunedin in like a day or so? And not on an electric bike either. That was pretty damned impressive. Superhuman even.