Thinking back to last Christmas, you may remember on Boxing Day cramming a big pile of paper rubbish in your recycling bin plus putting masses of other packing and stuff in your rubbish bin. This year let’s try to reduce waste and recycle as much as we can. Here are some ideas that you may find useful.
Recycling soft plastic is a great place to start- many product wrappings have the soft plastic symbol on them, telling you that you can recycle these in the soft plastic bins at Countdown Māngere or Māngere East, Pak’nSave or the Warehouse or Huckleberry Farms in Royal Oak. Recycling soft plastic waste enables a sustainable circular economy where waste materials are re-processed into new valuable products and commodities by NZ companies like Future Post in Waiuku and Second Life Plastics in Levin. Fence posts, garden edgings, ducting cable covers, courier bags and many other products are made from soft plastic waste.
Maybe this Christmas will be the start of a year round habit.
Even before we get to recycling rubbish, how about taking a few steps to minimise rubbish in the first place? Instead of using the brightly coloured single use Christmas paper, you can wrap a present in an op shop scarf, teatowel or pillowcase, or make or buy some fabric bags that can be used again and again. Maybe you could enlist your children or grandchildren to help make wrapping paper from plain brown paper using stamps or potato cuts to decorate it. A great holiday project for a wet day. Kidspot have easy instructions for this activity: click here
Home baking is always a winner at Christmas or indeed any time of the year, and especially useful for those of us who aren’t very good at planning ahead. Here are a few ideas:
- muffins in a jar – you don’t even have to make these, just gather the ingredients into a jar
- shortbread with writing printed on – can be used as present labels (if you don’t have a dog!)
- Christmas mince pies
- Peppermint candy – fondant icing with a few drops of peppermint flavouring squished together, rolled flat and cut out
Overall Kiwi families are buying fewer Christmas crackers. Some opt out and others use recyclable crackers. Visit wastefreecelebrations.co.nz to see what this New Zealand based company are offering.
For those families who enjoy Christmas crackers, part of the fun is the corny jokes and the paper hats. You could collect hats from your dress up box and hand them out to the family, with a joke to read out – it’s easy to find jokes on the internet or find a book of jokes in the local library.
Or make some hats – visit firstpalette.com for some ideas.
Imagine how much less waste you would produce. Or maybe enjoy a Christmas quiz with your family. The fun is being together and enjoying those special times.
Looking ahead to holiday fun or maybe doing some DIY projects, visit mutu.co.nz – It’s a website where you can rent, lend, hire or share outdoor sports equipment, kayaks, garden tools and equipment. Started 12 months ago, it now has 12,000 registered users. It’s a home grown recycling initiative.
We can all do lots of things to conserve the precious resources of our planet and keep our footprint light. Most of these ideas can be used for birthday or other celebrations.
Friends of the Farm Māngere Bridge wish you a safe and happy summer holiday season.
Friends of the Farm has partnered with Auckland Council for nearly 10 years to deliver education and waste reduction services.
Story by Robyn Martin for Friends of the Farm
Wastewise with Friends of the Farm
- Save the dates! Lots of Wastewise events coming up!
- Sew Good!
- Māngere Bridge – A Busy and Rewarding October
- 2025 Seedling Swap Day and Giant Pumpkin Competition
- Māngere Bridge Recycling – blister packs, batteries, and more!
- 6500+ more plants at Ambury Regional Park, Māngere Bridge
- Māngere Bridge – It’s a Hive of Wastewise Activity!
- Village Lights Festival 2025
- Tonnes of eWaste Collected at Ecofest – Māngere Bridge eWaste Day 2025
- Wash Against Waste
