Ruapehu District residents encouraged to reduce, re-use, recycle, compost

Emily Jasmine will teach Ruapehu residents how to avoid unneeded plastic. Photo / supplied

Ruapehu District Council has appointed Emily Jasmine to new role - educating people in how to produce less waste in their daily lives.

She's the new waste minimisation project officer, and will be working with schools, marae and other groups.

She's needed, because people will have to make changes to the way they live for the council's new Waste Management and Minimisation Plan to work. If they don't, it will cost them more to send waste to landfill.

Jasmine aims to protect Ruapehu's environment, and give people simple, practical ideas to reduce the amount of rubbish they produce.

"For many people producing less waste will require a change to their current behaviour, however this doesn't need to be difficult or time-consuming," she said.

Jasmine and the council are encouraging people to sign up to avoid getting single-use plastic. They can sign at the plasticfreejuly.org website, and refuse to take single-use plastic bags, straws and bottles.

During the month the council will run workshops on avoiding unneeded plastic. They will include one on making beeswax wraps to eliminate the use of cling film, and another on making yoghurt from milk powder, to reduce buying single use yoghurt cartons.