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Let's make it a waste free summer!

The Ministry for the Environment has launched a "waste free summer" campaign. They are running a series of short videos to encourage us to think about our actions in order to reduce waste. The first video titled "You have lips" is encouraging us not to use single use plastic straws. Of course, if you would still prefer to use a straw you can easily source multiple use straws and carry it around in your bag. you can view the video at the link below.

You can see all of the waste saving tips at the Ministry website - click this link to view.

Thinks about that wardrobe and those Christmas presents!

Inge from Carbon Neutral Kerikeri has been doing a little research and came across an editorial in The Listener of Nov 17, 2018, that highlighted comments from the Ellen McArthur Foundation that textile production emits 1.2 billion tons of greenhouse gases annually, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined!

A look at the Foundations website : Redesigning fashion’s future, identifies the fashion industry’s current take-make-dispose model as the root cause of its environmental problems and economic value loss. Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned. An estimated USD 500 billion value is lost every year due to clothing being barely worn and rarely recycled. If nothing changes, by 2050 the fashion industry will use up a quarter of the world’s carbon budget. Washing clothes releases half a million tonnes of plastic microfibres into the ocean every year, equivalent to more than 50 billion plastic bottles. Read more...

While the new textile economy gets sorted we can do our bit by thinking about those purchases before we make them. Do we really need that new fashion item when the old one is still got plenty of wear left in it? Think about that gift you are giving for Christmas. Is the recipient really going to need it or will it simply be an item that finds it's way to the landfill just before the get next years instalment?

Merry Christmas and a waste free New Year!

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