Waste Levy Fund: Stratford projects stop waste going to landfill

Pregnancy Help Taranaki Stratford branch manager Corrine Coombe says it received $3600 for repurposing and recycling cloth nappies.

Less waste will be going to the landfill in Stratford thanks to a series of grants.

Stratford District Council’s Waste Levy Fund supports new projects focused on reducing waste going to landfill. The fund was created in November and uses funds from the Government’s national waste disposal levy.

Five projects were selected in February’s funding round this year, with a total of $24,276 to be distributed among them.

Stratford Community Childcare Centre teacher Robin Mischeski says the centre received $7030 for new composting systems.

“We want to focus on eliminating organic waste and use the composting systems as a teaching tool.”

The childcare centre will use the funds to buy a worm farm, a twin compost tumbler and a bokashi bucket, a small concealed container used for fermented composting.

“This allows us to compost more and also opens up the opportunity to teach the pupils about different composting methods. With the worm farm, the kids will learn about the type of worm used, their byproducts and also their life cycle. The twin compost tumbler allows for hands-on learning as they can get involved in making compost.”

Stratford High School is also focused on composting. Sports captain Arabella Barber,17, applied for funding on behalf of the school. It received $3120 for composting systems.

“We want to engage with the students and educate everyone about composting. We hope that by doing this we can create a culture of waste minimisation in the school and that students can then educate their families to do the same at home.”

Avon School’s project focuses on the community. Principal Lisa Hill says the school received almost $8995 to fund the development of a garden and composting system.

“We were lucky to receive this to begin a community-based mara kai (community garden) and composting system at Avon School. We are excited that this will kick-start our Enviroschools journey.”

She says the funds will cover the cost of a three-bay composting system and provide food collection bins for the local community.

“This will help remove the green food waste from the weekly kerbside collection and will support the development of our mara kai (community garden) in our old disused swimming pool. All produce grown will benefit not only Avon School and whānau, but the wider community too.”

The Stratford Repair Cafe Group’s project is also focused on the community, with the $2496 fund going towards the establishment of a bimonthly repair cafe event in Stratford.

The Pregnancy Help Stratford branch received $3600 for repurposing and recycling cloth nappies.

“This will include extending the services that we provide through our Cloth Nappy Bank, we already redistribute quality second-hand nappies, but now we will utilise those cloth nappies that have come to the end of their nappy life and can be repurposed as rags or as plastic waste to be recycled into play equipment.”

The 2023-24 funding round will open later this year. For more information about the Waste Levy Fund, go to Stratford.govt.nz/WasteLevyFund