INTRODUCING SUSTAINABLE WHANGANUI

Sustainable Whanganui is an open and inclusive group whose members choose to put their time and energy into looking after the local environment and community, and advocating for national and international change.

OUR AIM

… is to lead our community in becoming more resilient: offering comprehensive, useful and timely advice to help people become more self-sufficient. Sustainable Whanganui Trust intends to put Whanganui on the map in terms of assisting the community to create and utilise practical solutions for sustainability.

OUR PEOPLE

Sustainable Whanganui Trust was registered as a charitable trust in May 2008 following several years of activity. The Trust can comprise up to 10 Trustees and 4 Advisers at any time, all of whom are volunteers.

Chair

Hadi Gurton teaches Zero Waste education in schools and provides recycling at events. Hadi thinks globally and acts locally at SWT because he loves Papatūānuku mother earth

co-Chair

Chris Smith is passionate about the environment and our role as kaitiaki. He believes that sustainability is at the core of fulfilling this responsibility.

Treasurer

Graham Pearson enjoys the opportunities through Sustainable Whanganui’s many activities to be an “environmental educator”. It keeps him busy and interacting with people in his retirement!!

Secretary

John Milnes is one of the founding members of Sustainable Whanganui and whose roots are firmly planted in building community and resilience.

Health & Safety

Bernadine Bourke says being involved and connected gives her the opportunity to contribute to a better future.

Trustee

Katy Newton is Whanganui born and raised and is passionate about the environment and conservation.

Legal Adviser

Marion Sanson volunteers with Sustainable Whanganui as it seemed a logical step after retiring from work as a community lawyer. It needs to be easier for people to make choices that are good for the environment and that’s what SWT is about.

OUR COORDINATORS and MANAGERS

WhEB Coordinator

Maddie Stanley brings energy, enthusiasm and a love for community to her role as WhEB Coordinator. She hopes to make sustainable living more achievable for more people.

Fruit Trees in Schools Coordinator

Sharon Francis is thrilled to share her 20+ years of gardening expertise and speciality training in fruit trees and vegetables with whanau, kura and school communities.

Predator Free Coordinator

Rosi Merz is a local Ecologist who has learned to understand natural ecosystems and predators and now harnesses that knowledge to craft systematic restoration and predator control strategies.

Green Bikes Manager

Alastair Goodwin is dedicated to Green Bikes and hopes to turn Whanganui into a bike users’ paradise.

Green Bikes Mechanic

Mike Williamson’s mission is to keep bikes from landfill, get them back in use in the community and share some fix-it skills along the way

Envirohub Volunteers

We LOVE our other Volunteers as well who we call Hubsters. They keep the Envirohub office and ReUse Academy space stocked and also help at events and on projects out in the community. Some of our Volunteers are in the Envirohub office for a four hour rostered shift once a week, and others come in for an hour or so when they have time. We’re flexible like that. We offer induction training for new Volunteers and they can buddy with a more experienced Volunteer until they feel confident to go solo in the office.

OUR LIVING VALUES

Cultivating guardianship/kaitiakitanga for our Earth.

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

Taking responsibility for the results of our actions.

OUR PURPOSE

We stand for environmental sustainability, social equity, cultural richness and community participation in the Whanganui region.

  1. Preparing and re-localising our community, making it vibrant, resilient and truly sustainable in the face of the impending energy, climate and financial disruptions expected with the onset of Peak Oil and Climate Change.
  2. Developing an Environmental Resource and Learning Centre.
  3. Being involved in advocacy on matters relating to environmental sustainability, social equity, cultural richness and community participation.
  4. Facilitating the adoption of sustainable living within the community.
  5. Promoting environmental education.
  6. Fostering a clear awareness of economic, social, political and ecological interdependence in rural and urban Whanganui.
  7. Networking locally, nationally and globally.
  8. Acknowledging the kaitiakitanga of tangata whenua; to pursue bicultural and multicultural solutions to regional environmental issues; and to give full respect to all creatures and citizens of the world.

Providing any other support and assistance consistent with this charitable purpose.

OUR HISTORY

In 2006 a passionate and committed group of people came together realising that sustainability and resilience for our community was becoming increasingly important. The group included an engineer, organic gardeners, a teacher and a regional councillor who became Mayor. From these first discussions Sustainable Whanganui (SW) has spread its sphere of influence across our community.

There are many ways in which our group of committed volunteers connects with our community — Green Bikes, Greening Whanganui, ReUse Academy, Repair Cafe, Zero Waste, Adopt-A-Plot, Sustainable Schools, school holiday programmes, community art and craft programmes, festivals and events such as Earth Day and our popular Feijoabulous Festival.

Over the years SW has hosted many educational talks and films and there has been a range of hands-on, practical workshops like composting, cloth-bagmaking and more.

In 2011 Sustainable Whanganui saw a need and suggested the establishment of a resource recovery centre to the Whanganui District Council. Their vision included more than just recycling. Happily, this found a receptive audience at Council which was interested in creating partnerships for progress. A perfect central site was identified: the former Whanganui gaol, which was land-banked and thereby offered the chance to partner with Whanganui iwi, and recycle and reuse a whole prison site!

Sustainable Whanganui enjoyed many years at the WRRC site, until its imminent change of use required SW to find a new place to operate from. A central location was found and the Envirohub opened in April 2024 at 23 Drews Avenue. 

RECYCOLOGY IN ACTION!

Sustainable Whanganui is well-connected around our region: in addition to the more than 60 schools/kura/ECEs that Greening Whanganui (formerly Fruit Trees in Schools) works with, we can add twice that many local and national businesses and community organisations.

We let people know what we’re up to and what’s happening environmentally and sustainably through the Sustainable Whanganui Google Group which has 300+ subscribers, as well as Facebook (1000+ followers), and Instagram posts.