Ngā Hua te Taio - Issue 13

Good news stories (and more) for the planet 

Kia ora, Salient reader! Welcome to our fortnightly column on the environment, sustainable living, and the small, stubborn act of hope amongst a world on fire! Check in every second week for waste-free recipes, genuinely good news, and practical ways to lend a hand—nudging a happier, healthier earth a little closer into view.

Waste-free recipe of the week:

The easiest homemade muesli recipe you can find!1 big jar of oats (screw measurements)2x tbsp cinnamon or/and 2x tbsp mixed spice 

1 tsp salt 

Handfuls of sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds

½ cup brown sugar

1 cup oil

1 cup milk (of your choice)

1 cup coconut (don't bake)

Heat oven to 180, oil a large tray. Stir all the dry ingredients in the tray EXCEPT for the coconut, then add the oil and the milk + mix well.

Cook for roughly 50mins, (stir sometimes) until crispy brown. Add the coconut once out of the oven. Put it into a jar when it's cold! 

Eat for breakfast, for snacks, even have breakfast for dinner in those busy times of year. 

Te Aro Zero Waste

Recently we had the privilege to go down to Te Aro Zero Waste and ask them some questions! 

This place is a treasure trove for students!

So what is Te Aro Zero Waste, you may ask? Well, it's an amazing community and environmental enterprise off Tory Street, run by Sustainability Trust at 2 Forresters Lane. They have so many incredible incentives, there may not be enough room to express how tremendous they all are.

First up, go and visit the second-hand shop that is open from 10am to 4pm, Wednesday to Saturday. They have amazing deals on kitchen and other home appliances, so many tech things (seriously, a cord for everything), PCs, laptops, speakers, and even a small library on environmental subjects! They are selling on TradeMe too. These guys are so much more than an op-shop: they provide repair and e-waste recycling services, you can donate your old electronic items, they host lots of interesting events, and are a key recycling drop-off centre in the CBD for all your hard-to-recycle items, like food-grade silicone and tetrapaks. 

Look out for their creative craft events, such as their regular Just Sew sessions or upcycling workshops. If you are a techy person (calling all Electronic, Computer Science, Software Engineering, and Mechatronic students) there is an opportunity to volunteer and help out with the testing and building usable objects out of e-waste. This is not only an amazing experience (and may look good on a CV) but you could be actively preventing things from entering the landfill.

On site is also the Wellington Curtain Bank, which provides people in Wellington with made-to-measure curtains! All you need to be eligible is have someone in your house with a community services card, and it’s completely free. Their goal is to help keep our houses nice and cosy, and prevent housing-related illness. Toast Electric is also on-site, and is the only not-for-profit electricity supplier in Aotearoa. Their website states they “re-invest their profits to provide support for low-income households that are making the tough choice between heating and eating.” What a hub of cool things.

So why is an organisation like Sustainability Trust, with its resource recovery centre Te Aro Zero Waste, actually needed? If you have read this far, I’m sure you will already be conscious of this. Sustainability is more than being environmentally friendly, you also need to sustain a healthy community. Supporting people who are living with low income in a way that helps the planet is really important. Connecting people through these projects is growing a community that is able to be sustainable while balancing the hard bits life throws at us. 

A visit to Te Aro Zero Waste is highly recommended. Go down to chat, shop, or even help out by volunteering. They love students!