Editorial: Litter - what a waste

TEDx speaker Marty Hoffart at his Waste Management office.

Like many locals, I attended TEDx Tauranga on the weekend. It was a great day, based on the concept of ideas worth sharing. Of the nine speakers, Marty Hoffart, director of a Tauranga-based waste minimisation consultancy, struck the greatest chord with me.

Hoffart spoke about New Zealand's terrible recycling statistics and showed pictures of local park rubbish bins overflowing with recyclable waste. Within 24 hours of this, some charming person illegally dumped 14 bags of rubbish at Papamoa beach.

Both events raise questions about our local waste management services and whether the city council is doing enough to encourage us to be clean, green Kiwis.

If the Rena disaster taught me anything, it's that most Bay of Plenty locals are fiercely protective of our local environment.

Looking after our gorgeous beaches, forests and walkways is everyone's responsibility and most people see it that way. So it's no surprise that when we posted the illegal rubbish dumping story on our Facebook page, comments were rife.

Many commenters criticised the council's waste management services. The council should be doing everything it can to encourage a culture of respect and care for our environment, which includes minimising waste and maximising recycling.

Here at the Bay of Plenty Times office, we have recycling bins for paper and cardboard, plastics and glass, and general waste bins. Even Bayfair's bins are segmented for recycling and waste. Many of us recycle at home as well, but we're paying for the privilege through user-pays roadside bins (through private waste businesses) or petrol to get to one of the city's two waste transfer stations.

Surely if the council is keen on sustainability and waste minimisation then kerbside recycling should be included as part of our rates. The key to getting participation in anything is to make it as easy as possible.

It's time the council put our rates money where their mouth is and introduced recycling bins as part of their kerbside rubbish collection service. And while they're at it, they should look at introducing the segmented street bins that other cities have. Maybe then those of us not already recycling will be less inclined to dump rubbish in our parks or beaches.