Ambury Riding Centre Car Boot Sale and Family Fun Event

Ambury Riding Centre Car Boot Sale and Family Fun Event

, , , , ,

Friends of the Farm were busy at the recent Ambury Riding Centre event and collected 51kgs of rubbish. Our food fairies raided all the bins in the centre and sorted everything they could, so much of this waste was event prep and general school-day waste. The final tally was recycling 26% and compost 27%, which equals 53% diverted from landfill. That’s just over 25kg of rubbish! 

The Food Scraps fairies had lots of good conversations with people at the event including the pros and cons of using insinkerators or waste disposal units to get rid of food waste. 

Given that you shouldn’t put corn husks, egg shells, grease, meat bones, onion skins, banana skins, tea bags or paper towels down waste disposal units, we reckon our new food scraps bins which take all that stuff are a much better option. The food scraps are turned into biogas and fertilizer whereas the sludge from waste disposal units just goes to wastewater or sewage treatment plants. Once the waste from kitchen disposal units reaches the treatment plant, water is evaporated, solid particles are screened out and turned into fertiliser or sent to landfill or pumped out to sea.

Waste disposal units can create significant environmental and structural challenges as aging pipes are pushed beyond breaking point and contamination leaks into the harbour, as has happened recently in both Wellington and Auckland.

Australia banned insinkerators in 2013 because of the extra load they put on wastewater and sewage systems. They are also banned in parts of Europe, Scotland and Canada too.

Home compost systems, worm farms, bokashi systems and the Food Scraps bins are more climate-friendly options.

Food Scraps

Visit our Food Scraps section – information and tips.

Latest News

  • 2024 Winter Repair Café – Records Broken

    2024 Winter Repair Café – Records Broken

    We wondered, why do skilled locals volunteer their Saturday mornings to diagnose faults and mend household items? Repair Cafes are a worldwide movement, gaining in popularity each year as people try to reduce waste being sent to landfill and repair damaged household items.


  • Māngere Bridge – It’s a Hive of Wastewise Activity! 

    Māngere Bridge – It’s a Hive of Wastewise Activity! 

    Friends of the Farm members have been busy bees this month, buzzing around, running 3 different working bees.   An orchard working bee, a mangrove working bee and a sewing bee!


  • Village Lights Festival 2025

    Village Lights Festival 2025

    Two massive light installations transformed Bill and Naomi Kirk Park in Māngere Bridge village into a magical looking place…


  • Tonnes of eWaste Collected at Ecofest – Māngere Bridge eWaste Day 2025

    Tonnes of eWaste Collected at Ecofest – Māngere Bridge eWaste Day 2025

    Over six tonnes of e-waste was collected at our very own Ecofest eWaste recycling day…


  • Māngere Bridge Repair Café #9 was so fine!

    Māngere Bridge Repair Café #9 was so fine!

    A jacket turned into a sleeveless vest, a 13 year old favourite suitcase repaired, a 65-year-old Kenwood mixer running again and more at our 9th Repair Café…


  • Kiwi Esplanade and Mangroves- Update for Residents 2025

    Kiwi Esplanade and Mangroves- Update for Residents 2025

    An update for residents on mangrove management in our Māngere Bridge area…


  • Community Orchard Budding Workshop

    Community Orchard Budding Workshop

    This literally takes a bud from a plant that you want to reproduce, and attaches it to a host plant. If you’re successful, it grows a branch of the original bud plant on the host. Amazing!


  • Preserves Workshop

    Preserves Workshop

    We are always looking for ways in which we can bring people together, with a common interest, to learn new skills, and how we can utilise the resources we have, as in knowledge and in this case feijoas.


  • Wash Against Waste

    Wash Against Waste

    Battery and blister pack collections are growing steadily each month as more of our community become aware of the service at the library. Be sure to tell your friends and family…


  • That’s just peachy!

    That’s just peachy!

    What do you do when you have masses of ripe peaches?  Put the word out to see who wants some!  A Heritage peach tree in Mangere Bridge had a bumper crop this year so the tree owner asked who wanted some.


  • 2024 Volunteer Celebration and Thank You

    2024 Volunteer Celebration and Thank You

    Over 60 locals gathered recently to celebrate the end of another year of working together to make Mangere Bridge a caring, connected, wastewise community.