With public events returning to Mid Canterbury, one might also expect to see the return of event-related rubbish and waste. However, the Ashburton District Council and local sustainability groups are working with event organisers to move towards a zero-waste future.

The Council requires event organisers to show how they plan to minimise waste when applying for funding for community events. They also need to be smokefree and promote sun-smart initiatives.

One of the groups helping to reduce waste is Eco Educate, who are contracted by the Council to audit kerbside recycling bins and provide sustainability education throughout the District. Eco Educate founder, Lesley Ottey, and her team currently work with 54 schools, preschools and colleges across Mid Canterbury.

They’re also becoming a common sight at events throughout the District, such as the recent Glow in the Park in the Tinwald Domain. Over three nights, the Eco Educate team worked with the organisers and food vendors to successfully divert a large amount of material from going to landfill.

“Instead of having a skip full of rubbish at the end of the weekend, we had a 240 litre bin full of perfect recycling, over 11kgs of food-soiled carboard for our worm farm and about 30 litres of food scraps for composting,” says Lesley.

Around two large kerbside bins of material were left for landfill. Lesley Ottey says the main culprit was takeaway coffee cups, but notes that there are good alternatives for those as well.

“One of the easiest ways we can help, is to have a reusable coffee cup with us in the car. If more people started bringing these to events, then we could see a really amazing result.”

Another area of focus for Eco Educate is helping food vendors learn about sustainable options for serving food and beverages. Lesley says most operators are making a genuine effort to get it right but can be tripped up by misleading product packaging.

“A lot of takeaway food containers say they’re compostable but can actually only be composted in commercial facilities which aren’t available to us.” says Lesley.

“So, we can help businesses avoid products that will end up in landfill, despite their good intentions”

The food-soiled cardboard from Glow in the Park has now found its way into a repurposed bathtub which serves as the Eco Educate worm farm. Inside, a mass of tiger worms are happily munching their way through the takeaway containers, which will be turned into worm castings and liquid tea - perfect for fertilising the garden.

Lesley Ottey says there’s an opportunity for the public to learn more about worm farms at the upcoming Eco Educate Open Day. Anyone interested is invited down to their education centre at the Ashburton Resource Recovery Park from 10am to 2pm on Saturday 3 September. The open day includes an introduction to Worm Farming at 10.30am, a Love Food, Hate Waste presentation at 12pm and a recycling tour at 1pm.

Keep an eye on Eco Educate Facebook page for more details about the open day.