Kirsty Venter moved to Hobsonville Point earlier this year, and is already making a positive impact on the environment and the community by sharing her journey towards living a zero-waste lifestyle.

She started looking at reducing her waste almost a year ago and was initially solely focused on the trash she was sending to landfill. Her advice is to start slow and not try to change everything at once. Taking a good look at what you put in the bin is a good first step. “Look at your trash – figure out what makes up the majority of it, and change something to avoid it (e.g. take your own containers to get your takeaways in or swap to a reusable drink bottle). Additionally, become familiar with the soft plastics recycling facility at Countdown – it drastically reduces your kerbside trash with minimal effort, and stops the light-weight plastics from ending up in the ocean.”

There are plenty of great resources available online to help you reduce what goes into landfill. Kirsty recommends researching blogs, YouTube videos, documentaries, and the ‘Zero Waste NZ’ Facebook page. “Observing how individuals and families are working towards a zero-waste lifestyle is inspiring, they made it look so easy... I knew I had to make a change.”

Kirsty is part of a group of local residents aiming to make a difference in our community by sharing ideas and having fun workshops such as making DIY beeswax food covers. Keep an eye out on the ‘Hobsonville Point Community’ Facebook page for events, and/or contact Kathleen. waldock@hlc.co.nz to join the group.