WHAT WE DO …

First and foremost what Sustainable Whanganui Trust volunteers do is keep the WhEB open for business.

Whanganui Environment Base (WhEB)

The WhEB is located in the main building across the forecourt from the recycling cages at the WRRC, 83 Maria Place. The WhEB serves as the office of the Trust and houses the Eco Library, ReUse Academy and Green Bikes.

Eco Library. Just inside the door of the office, the Eco Library has hundreds of good books and magazines available to subscribers. The books are split in two sections: philosophical/political and practical/”how to” guides. A subscription to the library is per year and four books may be borrowed for a month at a time.

Green Bikes is located along the right-hand corridor just past the WhEB office at 83 Maria Place. Green Bikes, initially set up in 2007, has reconditioned hundreds of donated bikes, making them roadworthy and available at affordable prices. See the Resources page for more information.

The ReUse Academy is a collection of rooms which are home to all manner of items which can be recycled, repurposed, and reused, You’ll get the idea from the rooms’ names: Garden Room, Nik Nak Nook, Textile Treasures, Jar Bar, Mosaic Mansion, Crafty Corner, Paper Palace, Cardboard Corner. More information on the Resources page.

COMMUNITY PROJECTS, SERVICES, EVENTS and ACTIVITIES

As the WhEB is Sustainable Whanganui Trust’s meeting place, it is the command centre for all the various activities we undertake.

Fruit Trees in Schools (FTiS) started in 2005 when the HEHA fruit in school programme was about to end, and with the realisation that schools needed to have their own fruit trees. With funding from Council and PowerCo, FTiS has been going strong since then with over 60 schools in the Whanganui region taking part. A wide variety of fruit and nut trees are available for schools to select from, and SW volunteers do the preparation, help with planting and education, and return for pruning and after-care support.

Zero Waste is another of SWT’s activities. Small and large events in the region benefit from our Zero Waste educator and team taking care of the recycling using the recycling trailer and/or gazebo with recycling station. The Zero Waste team successfully diverted from landfill over 90% of waste from the 2013 Masters Games (which attracted 7000 participants and supporters!) and saved the Masters Games organisers money in the process.

Adopt-A-Plot is a community garden initiative.

Sustainable Schools assists in the development of vegetables gardens at schools/kura/ECEs.

We do school holiday programmes, events and festivals aplenty.

Sustainable Whanganui applied for and was awarded a WDC Community Contract which it used to commission this mural for the Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre. Created by local artist/designer Cecelia Kumeroa (IHI Design Studio) it incorporates many local taonga and motifs. As you exit the 24-hour recycling drive-through, you can appreciate this beautiful mural on the facing fence.

Sustainable Whanganui advocates to local and regional Council and government on matters of the environment and sustainability.

The Plastic Free Whanganui (PFW) group sits snuggly under the Sustainable Whanganui umbrella. This group’s focus is, obviously, freeing Whanganui from plastic pollution and educating to reduce consumption of plastic and seek alternatives to plastic. These are the guys who strung 2000 plastic bags along the river boardwalk to illustrate how many single-use plastic bags left the four main Whanganui supermarkets in one hour (bag count done in November 2016). One of PFW’s successful projects involved setting up a sewing workshop at Whanganui Prison which has made 4000+ Inside>Out cloth shopping bags donated to the community.