Organic garden business saves $10,000!

16th May 2005

Organic garden business saves $10,000!

A Raglan Organic garden saved at least $10,000 by reusing 9 kilometres of irrigation pipe that was listed on the Waste Exchange Service by Te Puke based Samba Orchard as an alternative to disposal.

When Te Puke couple Steve and Annette Bassett bought Samba Orchard, the older Kiwifruit vines no longer needed the irrigation pipes they required whilst they were young vines. Pulling the pipes up left them with 9 kilometres of irrigation pipe and spray emitters they no longer had a need for.

Coiled in 180 metre lengths the pipe was going to be too labour intensive and costly to dispose of. Looking for solutions Steve and Annette called The Waste Exchange a free service to businesses in the Bay of Plenty area.

The Waste Exchange co-ordinator Annabelle Ellis registered the irrigation pipe on its website and set about contacting business co-ordinators in other regions looking for a possible re-user.

"We began targeting the business and community sectors that would find the irrigation pipe purposeful in its current form" said Annabelle. "Word spread pretty quickly and through the Hamilton Permaculture Trust an organic garden run by local Iwi in Raglan was pretty quick to put up its hand and collected it within a week"

Investigations undertaken by the Waste Exchange showed that Steve and Annette of Samba Orchard saved $350 by looking for an alternative to disposal and the Raglan Organic garden saved at least $10,000 from reusing the 9 kilometres of pipe.

"This is a great example of how we work with businesses on a daily basis" said Annabelle. "We focus on reducing the costs of disposing waste by redirecting into reuse and recycling opportunities". "It's a win win situation for all"

The Waste Exchange is a free service funded by Environment Bay of Plenty and your local councils. For more information go to www.nothrow.co.nz or contact Annabelle on 0800 NO THROW (0800 668 4769)

ENDS

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