Recycling Week — New Zealand is Going Green Again

“100 % pure” is New Zealand’s official slogan of the country. However, is this country 100 % pure when you think about recycling, waste-free living, raising awareness and reducing the risk of future resource shortages?

Compared to European countries like Germany, New Zealand has an incredibly huge issue in waste disposal due to the current lack of recycling programs.
When the consumer buys a product, he should know that he buys any waste that is related with the product. Hence, he is responsible for all his purchases, which in turn could cause environmental degradation. Are the citizens of New Zealand aware of all these issues which surround them? Do they know that only 50 % of what should be recycled is actually recycled? Do they know that the annual amount of waste disposed to landfills will almost double within 10 years in Auckland alone? This would cause an increase of waste to 3 million tons of garbage that Aucklanders throw away currently.

“We are all responsible for waste, it starts with us and ends with us.” — recycle.co.nz

Sustainable waste management is in fact a global problem, but New Zealand is of course not the best example you should comply with. New Zealand should learn how to avoid these significant problems from leading countries in Europe.

Recycling Week from November 7th — 13th, 2016 is an excellent attempt for schools, companies and private householders to encourage fun and learn to be a little bit more proactive to avoid unnecessary waste. Especially for schools and businesses, there are a lot of examples that could help students learn more about waste management; such as many activities they could do to avoid waste and to learn more about it. For instance waste challenges and daily educational quizzes are a great start in order to become more aware with this topic. The recycling week has also special daily themes, e. g. the „Waste-Free Tuesday“ or the „Reusable Wednesday“

The minds behind this project came up with a lot of improvements to sustain New Zealands’ environment, but for now it’s up to New Zealands’ inhabitants to take responsibility and to show they can change, as long as they have the knowledge to do so.