“We couldn’t be prouder to see this come together the way it did,” says Kate Gislason, founder of Without Waste.

Global Games is a regular in Taupō’s annual events calendar and this year’s event successfully achieved a whopping 92 per cent of waste diverted to recycling. That’s no mean feat.

“It’s not by accident we achieved this zero-waste goal. It took years of education and strategies geared towards changing attendee behaviour, massive support from Global Games management, and the hard work of Without Waste team members and volunteers on the ground,” says Kate.

The Global Games has thousands of participants and spectators but only sent three bags of waste to landfill this year. How?

Without Waste set up waste stations to sort rubbish and recycle everything possible. Food was served on leaf plates and bowls provided by Leaf No Trace, which were composted by the Taupō Community Garden after the event. Taupō District Council’s Waste Minimisation Fund helped to buy a set of reusable coffee cups to use with their coffee vendor, resulting in a single-use cup free event.

Jo Newton from Global Games found it inspiring to see attendees embracing the changes, and the impact it created.

“We’re incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made toward zero-waste events, and the reusable cup initiative was a game changer,” says Jo. “A huge thank you to Taupō District Council for their support through the Waste Minimisation Fund — initiatives like this simply wouldn’t be possible without it.”

Shannon Hanson, Taupō District Council’s waste minimisation officer, is excited that the Global Games results show how working together can achieve great outcomes.

“To not use one single-use coffee cup throughout the entire event is an incredible achievement. There were about 4000 people from New Zealand and Australia here for the three-day festival!” says Shannon. “Reducing the environmental impact from events is important to locals who volunteer and enjoy the benefits these events have across the whole district.”

Taupō District Council’s district events manager Sinead Vincent says reducing waste is just one part of the help the events team offer.

“Working closely with organisers and council’s waste minimisation team means we can provide a cohesive solution for events, from small to large, local to international, so that events don’t have to be huge waste generators. We have lots of information that can help and even free equipment for hire. Get in touch with us at eventwaste@taupo.govt.nz. We’d love to talk trash with you!”

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