Recycling on a roll in the Bay

GB Community Board

Golden Bay Community Board’s monthly meeting took place on Monday afternoon at Tasman District Council Service Centre in Tākaka.

Public Forum

Andy Clark spoke on a very topical subject – community resilience in the face of serious seismic and/or extreme weather events. With reference to the “infrastructure failures” exposed by Cyclone Gabrielle, Andy highlighted the damage caused to housing, communications and food and water supply in the North Island and warned it could happen here. “Golden Bay is very vulnerable… there is one road in and our power line comes over the Hill.”

Andy said that, while the Bay has “been lucky” so far, “little has been done” to address its vulnerability to climate and earthquake events and, although some people are prepared, many are not. He urged the board to help get the message across to the community. “Information needs to be put out in the public domain so people can get prepared.”

Felicity Fitz-William drew the board’s attention to the Environmental Protection Authority’s current proposal regarding changes for managing and disposing of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which she said “will affect recycling centres and landfills”. Felicity explained that the detailed proposal was available on the EPA website and the public could make submissions until 5 April.

Presentations

Steve Cottle has an aptitude for rebuilding bicycles using salvageable parts from those that are defunct. Now a year old, Rebikle is a labour-of-love business run from the family home at 122 Commercial Street, Tākaka.

“It started as a hobby that turned into something else,” says Steve.

He has been fixing up bikes for “many, many years” for friends and family. Rebikle came about to spread the good work, aiming to help families by equipping them with bikes “better than the substandard cheap options on the market”. He sometimes finds monetary value in the bikes that deserve to be repaired.

“I do charge a bit now, but it’s just enough to keep the wheels turning.”

Offering a free drop-off service for “any old bike”, Steve uses the parts to upcycle into a better option. He sees it as a way the community gives back to itself, by recycling back rather than becoming landfill or scrap metal.

Some bikes return to Rebikle a few times over. Families outgrow the need for a particular size and return them for repair and recycling.

If people don’t know which bike is best for their needs, Steve is always happy to help, “but always second-hand”. He shares a reciprocated and mutually beneficial relationship with Paul Michel of The Quiet Revolution bike shop. Steve can often source second-hand bike parts and Paul is able to set people up with a good quality new bike.

Currently Rebikle is running basic bike maintenance and puncture repair classes at the Youth Habitat on 16 and 30 March, which is something he does according to demand.

Crediting his wife Nerissa with allowing him to spend his time giving back to the community, Steve finds it all worthwhile. His motivation is simple: “It’s getting kids offscreen and seeing them on a bike… Also, to stop people buying sub-standard bikes.”

Another local business doing their bit for the planet is Colovaria , the hair salon behind The Wholemeal Café. Owner-operator Charlotte Dodson bundles up all her plastics, aluminium, paper, and the left-behind hair from her clients, to send to Sustainable Salons for recycling.

“The hair is used for mopping up oil spills,” says Charlotte. “And the bottles – everything plastic we use in the salon – is recycled into useful products.”

Sustainable Salons is a social enterprise helping its salon members to reduce their impact on the planet and support local community initiatives. There are three recycling depots in New Zealand and several operating in Australia.

Donated ponytails from 20cm in length are passed on to charitable organisations to create wigs for people suffering from cancer or alopecia.

Plastics are sent away to be recycled into a number of products, including sunglasses, plant pots, dog leashes, combs, and coasters.

All metals, including aluminium foil, cans, and colour tubes, plus cardboard and paper, are recycled into refoil for salons to purchase. The proceeds are donated to KiwiHarvest who provide meals for hungry people.

Chemicals are also collected and sent...

Continued on page 3

Thank You

We look forward to working with you in the future...

Project De-Vine: Project director of Project De-Vine Environmental Trust (PDET) Chris Rowse provided the Board with an update on the trust’s activities.

Chris began with a brief history of the organisation – from its start-up in 1999 as a small band of volunteers removing pest vines, through to its current status as a wellfunded, highly-resourced conservation group tackling wilding pines, carrying out mass plantings and managing traplines.

Chris explained that PDET now operates across the District, employing 32 FTE field staff plus 3.5 FTE office staff. Over its existence the group has received $2.7m in funding and killed more than 1.25 million invasive plants.

One of the group’s latest projects is to help protect three Ecosystem Management Units (EMUs) in the lower Tākaka Valley – an initiative that involves controlling invasive weeds, trapping pests, and extensive planting. In the context of a total budget ...

Continued on page 3

Want to have a say in how our health services operate?

Join our consumer network and share your thoughts.

We have a mission to work with the people of our community to promote, encourage and enable their health, wellbeing and independence. To achieve this, we recognise that individuals, families, whānau and communities need a voice in the system.

We know that engaging with you as our health consumers provides many benefits for not only our community but healthcare workers and providers.

We have created a consumer network so we can listen to your ideas, suggestions and feedback about our health system. Anyone who accesses health services can join the consumer network, it’s free and there is no minimum commitment. We would love to hear from you.

To find out more and to register head to www.nmdhb.govt.nz/consumers