The 2024 Queenstown Lakes District Council Waste Minimisation Community Fund (WMCF) is now open.

The WMCF is on a mission to empower individuals, community groups, businesses, Iwi/Māori organisations and education providers to pioneer initiatives that reduce or divert waste from landfill and encourage community participation in waste minimisation.

This year, a funding pool of $50,000 is available for community projects that encourage enduring change in behaviour, and $10,000 for commercial waste minimisation or resource recovery projects.

“Whether you're a grassroots community group, a local business or school, or an enthusiastic individual with a great idea that supports reducing waste at the source and or diverts material from landfill, we want to hear from you,” QLDC Senior Sustainability Advisor, Kath Buttar said.

“We want to support projects that prevent waste in the first place as well as projects that focus on keeping resources in circulation through re-use, repair, and repurposing of materials,” she said.

Founded in 2018, the WMCF has seen some incredible projects come to life. In 2023, 15 projects were supported across the district spanning food rescue, textile waste reduction, composting and reuse initiatives.

2023 applicant, the Wakatipu Toy Library, purchased additional soft play and climbing toys for their members to enjoy thanks to the WMCF.

“The benefit of borrowing these types of quality toys is that it reduces waste, allows for the borrowing of age and stage appropriate toys without families having to get rid of them afterwards and is much cheaper for families. As well as being fun, these toys help with motor skill development - for example climbing and safely navigating stairs,” Sarah Fredric, Wakatipu Toy Library spokesperson said.

“Access to this grant has enabled us to purchase toys to replace much loved toys which we had to run a waitlist for,” she said.

Applications for the fund will be open for five weeks, closing on 17 May 2024.

To learn more about QLDC’s Waste Minimisation Community Fund, visit https://www.qldc.govt.nz/services/rubbish-recycling/waste-minimisation-community-fund/

FURTHER INFORMATION | Kā pāroko tāpiri

2023 Waste Minimisation Community Fund Recipients

· Kiwi Harvest’s Hack Off Campaign – will make personal food waste reduction methods interesting and entertaining for younger generations, while involving six local chefs.

· Mountainside Educare’s waste minimisation programme – further building their sustainability efforts and educating their tamariki in a play-based way about by reducing their waste through reuse and composting initiatives.

· Remarkable Fungi Qt coffee grind recovery project – this project will divert coffee grind from landfill to produce mushrooms.

· Wakatipu Toy Library – will further increase membership and replace toys in the library, reducing landfill waste from discarded toys and packaging.

· SPCA Queenstown Op Shop’s purchase of an electrical testing enabler – training a volunteer to test electrical equipment and purchase equipment required to test electrical equipment so it can be sold in the shop.

· Tikki Studio Queenstown education programme for textile sustainability – hosting regular events, workshops, and ongoing sewing classes to support the community in learning how to upcycle, repair and alter textile goods, in turn sending less textile items and clothing to landfill.

· Aspiring Beginnings Early Learning Centre Aspiring Beginnings Kaitiaki – receiving funding to enhance its composting systems and to educate its tamariki around sustainability.

· Kids First Kindergarten’s Hāwea Composting Naturally project – will allow the kindergarten to set up a composting system and educate its tamariki on the benefits of composting.

· Kiwi Harvest’s Café Collections – funding will expand its successful e-bike waste collection to cafés in Frankton and Wānaka CBD.

· Sustainability Workshop for the community – local artists will show the community how to upcycle old T-shirts into usable items like reusable shopping bags.

· Wānaka Community Workshop, Fabricate – will continue to build the community’s capacity to repair, amend and create clothing from waste.

· Wanaka Squash Club Project Baseline – will obtain a waste audit of their sports club to support strategies to reduce their waste.

· Remarkables Market Journey to Zero Waste – will increase the capacity of its market dishwashing facility to enable the use of more reusable serve ware by vendors, displacing single-use items destined for landfill.

· Dumpster Dive Dinner Time – will increase awareness about where our food comes from in the form of an engaging and inspiring educational presentation.

· Lake Hayes A&P Show – has made a commitment to becoming a waste-free event within three years. The grant will further its efforts towards this goal

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