Rod Heaps: What a load of rubbish

Hastings District councillor Rod Heaps

As we head into the festive holiday season we also head into a time when we accumulate and discard an enormous amount of unwanted stuff or rubbish.

As the world is quickly realising the effects that waste is having on the planet we are all being encouraged to play our part.

Recently I attended the annual WasteMinz National conference where it was all talk on a lot of rubbish. There was immense passion from council staff, waste contractors and key community members across the country on how and why we should minimise waste.

There were speakers on construction and demolition waste minimisation initiatives, farm waste and how to change farm disposal habits, the problem of the used tyre mountains, the realisation of what effects plastics have on the environment, and placing the packaging waste issue back on the producers.

There is also a proposal to bring back the refund on bottles with a container deposit scheme, and the many communities that are creating more and more drop off, repair and recycle centres. But the most challenging part is pushing that rubbish message out to the producers, the consumers and the people.

Every year New Zealanders toss 96 million tonnes of waste into landfills. Hastings and Napier contribute to that with 86 thousand tonnes annually, resulting in a landfill life expectancy of about 50 years. This will create extreme (and expensive) difficulties into the future with finding new locations and consents. So the less waste we produce, the longer the life of the landfill.

Reducing waste is not only about less waste to landfills but is also a focus on the effects of excessive waste on the environment. The time has finally come when effects from waste are being truly understood.

The latest facts tell us that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the sea than fish. Sea life, birds and many other living creatures are dying from the consumption of plastic.

Many types of plastic break down from sunlight and become plastic micro beads. These are continually being spread further around the planet and having detrimental effects on all living things.

We need to be conscious on everything we produce and purchase, even to the smallest things such as the glitter on our Christmas decorations.

So take care when buying presents and check if the packaging is recyclable or give the packaging back to the store.

Buying cheap, poorly made products also adds to the excess waste issue when they soon fail to function and are tossed in the rubbish bin.

The whole world over has always had the view that rubbish is someone else's problem.

The fact is, that load of rubbish is everyone's problem if we want our children and our families in the future to be able to enjoy the environment as we have.

As David Attenborough tells us, instead of controlling the environment for the benefit of the population perhaps it is now time we controlled the population to allow for the survival of the environment.

So over this Christmas holiday period consider what you are doing with your waste.

Remember there are the five Rs that should immediately come to mind:

Can I REFUSE it, as we all need to help REDUCE waste. Can it be RECYCLED? Can it be REUSED when no longer needed, or will it ROT?

If the five Rs are not on your radar just yet, at least put your rubbish in the bin.

Have a Merry Christmas.

Rod Heaps is a Hastings District councillor with the portfolio for the environment and climate change. Views expressed here are the writer's opinion and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz