"Recycling cans and bottles is easy. You just biff them in the appropriate recycling bin," he said. "But many other items need more careful consideration. For example, a juice drink will have recyclable base and lid but the drinking straw needs to go in the 'rubbish'.
"And often recyclable food containers need a rinse first to make them acceptable for recycling.
"So we're providing small bins and instructions on a table at the front of the tent, along with help from our 'recycling educators' to show the public how to do the recycling.
"All this work by the trust and the Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre is supported by funding from Keep New Zealand Beautiful and the district council's waste levy fund," he said.
Mr Pearson said by recycling, event organisers don't have to pay for so much for waste disposal.
At the Masters Games earlier this year about 90 per cent of the waste was recycled, but only one waste skip was needed for the whole event rather than a skip bin every day.
Mr Pearson said the pop-up tent builds on from the initial work by Nelson Lebo and Hadi Gurton, who initiated Zero Waste Events in Wanganui.
Mr Gurton is available to help organisers plan their events to maximise recycling and minimise the waste.
He can be contacted on 021 0232 0033 or email: radiohadi@hotmail.com.
