Tribe aiming to promote policy of zero waste at Pasifika

Auckland tribe Ngati Whatua o Orakei is calling for all events in the city to aim for zero-waste status and plans to promote that message at the Pasifika Festival.

After managing to keep 90 per cent - 5.7 tonnes - of waste away from landfills at the iwi's Waitangi Day Festival at Okahu Bay, the tribe's position is simply about putting kaitiaki (guardianship) responsibilities into practice, said Ngati Whatua heritage manager Ngarimu Blair.

"We thought it would be hypocritical to celebrate our identity as clean, green and papatuanuku [Earth]-loving Maori if then we held an event which creates rubbish, which adds to carbon emissions and makes the whenua [land] look bad."

It was also about supporting neighbouring hapu such as Ngati Naho, who had the giant Hampton Downs tip - which will take 30 million cu m of solid waste, much of it from Auckland, during the next 25 years - in their backyard.

Ngati Whatua is managing the tangata whenua village at Pasifika next Saturday and will aim for zero waste at the event. Mr Blair hopes that other villages at the event will try to do the same at future festivals.

He wants other Auckland events, such as the Big Day Out or rugby matches, to make the same commitment. And while dealing with rubbish has often been thrown in the too-hard basket, waste minimisation is often just about getting volunteers to man bins and show people where rubbish is expected to go, he says.

"If they aren't there, people throw rubbish at a bin, not in it."

Sponsorship dollars used to put on the events in the first place could also be tagged to a budget for dealing with waste. Zero Waste New Zealand Trust is a charitable trust that monitors and helps events plan waste strategies.

Ngati Whatua's diversion rate is one of the best efforts for events, with over 30,000 attending, spokeswoman Jo Knight said.

There were plenty of opportunities to show leadership. "I'd love to see the Rugby World Cup adopt the policy."